Divided opinion over Scottish theatres plan

There has been mixed reaction to a report recommending some of Scotland’s most prominent producing theatres could unite behind a federal approach to working to address challenges they are facing in the sector.

The independent study, titled Disappearing Act?, was commissioned by six of Scotland’s producing theatres: Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, The Traverse in Edinburgh and The Tron in Glasgow.

It suggests the theatres could create a company focused on producing popular shows that could be commercially exploited in other parts of the UK and internationally, to help combat reduced income and economic pressures.

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A joint statement from the six theatres says greater collaboration is required as they face upcoming challenges and opportunities.

“Confronting the consequences of decades of public funding reductions alongside rising costs is a daily reality for us. Whilst we recognise the strain on public resources, we also recognise that continuing to achieve more with less is not sustainable,” their statement said.

“That's why we find the proposal to adopt a common approach moving forward so compelling. Our collective diversity can serve as an asset for the people of Scotland even as we maintain our individual focus and purpose.”

The report reccomends the new company could “act nimbly and commercially”, be led by “an experienced commercial theatre producer” and be overseen by a board that included representatives from the six shareholding theatres. It adds it would generate a net profit that would result in a dividend for its shareholders – the six producing theatre companies – and sets an initial target of three new productions a year, two designed to play medium to large scale houses and a third for smaller capacities.

Spilt opinion from unions

Bectu Negotiations Officer Paul McManus said the announcement of a proposed new producing company has “created a great deal of concern for Bectu members”.

“It appears to suggest that greater casualisation and driving down costs is the way to deliver a successful venture,” he added.

“In our view that is the type of discredited thinking that only delivered a year-on-year erosion of the industry before lockdown and will not deliver any bright new future for producing theatre in Scotland.”

In contrast, in a statement released on its website, union Equity says it welcomes exploring the adoption of a federal approach to working, if it leads to increased production in Scotland, increased funding, and results in more jobs for its members.

Statements from both unions agreed any development of the proposal must guarantee no redundancies and reassurance the venture would operate on the basis of properly paid, permanent employment.

Territorial or inclusive?

Other bodies have also criticised the plans. In a statement first shared to The Scotsman, the Scottish Society of Playwrights said that, while the “aim of rescuing a future for homegrown productions in Scotland is to be lauded”, the model proposed could be perceived as a “territorial and fiscal land grab by the powers-that-be”.

“We should be looking for holistic rather than segregated solutions to the creative recovery of our sector,” it continued.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Front Row last week, Executive Director and Joint CEO of Tron Theatre, Patricia Stead, rejected claims the six theatres were being exclusive.

“We’re not, but you have to start a conversation somewhere. That conversation is now out there, looking for people to get involved with it and help us shape what the future is, rather than all just sitting about, wondering and waiting [and] getting more and more anxious and white-faced that we might shut tomorrow” she said.

“What we’re going to do is start a discussion about what we can proactively, strategically, do about the situation that we are all in.

“What I think is fantastic about being the collective of six theatres is that we all want to survive, we all want to make theatre, we all want to serve our audiences and really importantly, we all want to support Scottish theatre and Scottish talent.”

'Unsustainable' models

The report also recommends other ways the six theatres should work together, by introducing standard practices and approaches to recruitment and retention of staff, forming a working group to address major technical and legal issues, and exploring a range of shared-service models that could reduce costs and increase return on marketing investment.

Between 2017 and 2020, the six theatres combined average annual ticket sales totalled £423,000 and their collective turnover topped £20m. But they collectively posted a deficit in three of the four pre-Covid years, due to no growth in earned income and standstill government funding, leading the report to call the current model “unsustainable”.

The report adds that to avoid venue closures and the “very real possibility of the end to a credible producing theatre sector in Scotland”, fundamental sustained action is urgently required.

“[The theatres] have been doing all they can to deliver ‘more for less’ every year for over a decade but, in the wake of Covid and in the middle of a cost-of- living crisis, an existential threat looms for individual theatres and the sector as a whole,” said David Brownlee, Chief Executive of Data Culture Change, which conducted the research.

“The good news is that theatre managers know that no change is not an option and they will have to work in different ways to increase income, share skills and build audiences.”