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(6 months later)
England's national theatres are in the midst of a dazzling era. Tomorrow, the RSC's Matilda opens on Broadway, where shows like Jerusalem and One Man, Two Guvnors have already triumphed, while in London just short of 14m tickets were sold last year despite recession and the Olympics. New plays and creative interpretation of the classic repertoire are together generating some of the most interesting and provocative commentary on the state of the nation. Most reliably brilliant of all is Sir Nicholas Hytner's National Theatre, whose latest venture, the Shed, opened this week. So, although it was not unexpected, it was dismaying to hear today that both he and his executive director, Nick Starr, are stepping down in the next two years.England's national theatres are in the midst of a dazzling era. Tomorrow, the RSC's Matilda opens on Broadway, where shows like Jerusalem and One Man, Two Guvnors have already triumphed, while in London just short of 14m tickets were sold last year despite recession and the Olympics. New plays and creative interpretation of the classic repertoire are together generating some of the most interesting and provocative commentary on the state of the nation. Most reliably brilliant of all is Sir Nicholas Hytner's National Theatre, whose latest venture, the Shed, opened this week. So, although it was not unexpected, it was dismaying to hear today that both he and his executive director, Nick Starr, are stepping down in the next two years.
Hytner's reign as artistic director has been studded with innovative productions, from the box-office hit War Horse to London Road, which translated the serial murders of Ipswich prostitutes into an unlikely musical, and Rory Kinnear's triumphant Hamlet. At the moment, four separate NT productions are coining in the cash in the West End while This House and the Alan Bennett series play to packed houses at the National itself. Much of what Hytner has overseen on stage has been bolstered by equally innovative business arrangements. More than a million £10 tickets (now £12) have been sold since the deal between Travelex and the National was struck in 2003. Affordable seats and new plays are pulling in a more diverse audience, and sellout productions broadcast live to audiences in cinemas around the country. Despite a 15% cut in Arts Council funding, he will leave the NT, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, in booming good health.Hytner's reign as artistic director has been studded with innovative productions, from the box-office hit War Horse to London Road, which translated the serial murders of Ipswich prostitutes into an unlikely musical, and Rory Kinnear's triumphant Hamlet. At the moment, four separate NT productions are coining in the cash in the West End while This House and the Alan Bennett series play to packed houses at the National itself. Much of what Hytner has overseen on stage has been bolstered by equally innovative business arrangements. More than a million £10 tickets (now £12) have been sold since the deal between Travelex and the National was struck in 2003. Affordable seats and new plays are pulling in a more diverse audience, and sellout productions broadcast live to audiences in cinemas around the country. Despite a 15% cut in Arts Council funding, he will leave the NT, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, in booming good health.
But while England's national theatres – like those of Scotland and Wales – are the shining peaks of Britain's artistic endeavour, the regional theatres on which their success is built (not to mention the £500m their ticket sales generate in VAT) are fighting desperately to hold on to their cash-strapped audiences and defend their budgets from local councils hungry for cuts. The entrepreneurial model developed by national cultural institutions, where state funding can be used as pump priming, is not widely available in cities with soaring joblessness and struggling businesses.But while England's national theatres – like those of Scotland and Wales – are the shining peaks of Britain's artistic endeavour, the regional theatres on which their success is built (not to mention the £500m their ticket sales generate in VAT) are fighting desperately to hold on to their cash-strapped audiences and defend their budgets from local councils hungry for cuts. The entrepreneurial model developed by national cultural institutions, where state funding can be used as pump priming, is not widely available in cities with soaring joblessness and struggling businesses.
With another 3% to come off the Arts Council England budget in the coming year, and a further round of cuts looming, Sir Nicholas – an outspoken critic of the Conservatives' philanthropic model of arts funding – is leading the defence of theatre as a vital creative industry. In the last great squeeze on public spending in the 1980s, a quarter of regional theatres closed. It would be a cruel irony if, just as the national theatres blossomed so exceptionally, their roots were being starved again.With another 3% to come off the Arts Council England budget in the coming year, and a further round of cuts looming, Sir Nicholas – an outspoken critic of the Conservatives' philanthropic model of arts funding – is leading the defence of theatre as a vital creative industry. In the last great squeeze on public spending in the 1980s, a quarter of regional theatres closed. It would be a cruel irony if, just as the national theatres blossomed so exceptionally, their roots were being starved again.
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