Opinion with Steve Ball

We live and work in challenging times. The Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine has, for good reason, dominated and shaped media attention, government priorities and our own perspective. Consequently there's less airtime for those of us who seek to advocate for the value of drama and theatre with children and young people.

But it needn't all be doom and gloom. I believe we can make progress in promoting drama and theatre with young people if we bear in mind three things.

Firstly; nobody else is going to do this for us. No one in government is going to advocate for the inclusion of drama in the National Curriculum or an annual entitlement for every child and young person to experience live theatre. It's up to us to join associations and make a social, educational and political case to politicians of all parties.

Secondly; we are all in this together. For decades, the drama and theatre education sector was riven by internecine warfare, with proponents of Dorothy Heathcote and David Hornbrook pitted against each other, while associations with differing views of the world fought each other rather than challenged government. Fortunately these factions now co-exist much more harmoniously and the false tension between drama as a learning medium and theatre as an art form has largely disappeared. Our sector is big enough to accommodate a range of political, artistic and educational perspectives.

Finally – and this is where it's going to get contentious – we need to dispel the myth that All Tories Are Evil. The DTEA convened a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference last October, and although it was successful, very few Tories showed up. When I asked one of them why this was the case he replied ‘because you all hate us!’ I'm not a Tory voter, and I am as frustrated by the government's narrow view of education and the arts as the rest of us, but I also recognise that many Conservatives love drama, theatre and the arts as much as I do.

We can all take steps to promote what we do – whether it's asking our headteacher if we can make a presentation at a governing body meeting, or inviting our local MP to a school production or a theatre press night, we can make a difference. Now more than ever we are all in this together.

Steve Ball, chair of the Drama and Theatre Education Alliance.