Leading Director Warns: Conservative Theatre Stifles UK Industry
National Theatre's Indhu Rubasingham calls for bold new writing and creative risk-taking to revive the struggling UK theatre industry.
Indhu Rubasingham, the artistic director of the National Theatre, has issued a stark warning that overly conservative theatre-making will ultimately kill the UK's theatre industry, even if it helps venues balance their books in the short term.
Delivering the second-ever Jennie Lee lecture to an audience of 200 representatives from across the UK arts sector, Rubasingham called for a renewed national commitment to backing creative risk and new writing. She cautioned that a focus on producing only commercially viable, risk-averse productions may help venues survive in the moment, but will stifle innovation and doom the industry in the long run.
Rubasingham's message comes at a critical juncture for the UK's theatre landscape, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and faces an uncertain future. Many venues have been forced to tighten their belts, leading to concerns that artistic ambition and daring may fall by the wayside in favor of programming designed primarily to fill seats.
Source: The Guardian
