It would be very unfair to compare the Welsh with the London output so I won't. What I will do, is in this time of double dip recession put forward a manifesto of sorts for a 'Free Theatre' so that the spectacle is Free. Free for Benefit Scroungers like me! One performance is held over for Concessions only, the elderly, students and of course Benefit Scroungers. What a lovely mix of audience that would be! Or perhaps, the leviathans that are the producing houses make a habit of putting performances on for free, to ostensibly encourage Theatre attendance. We've been told this week that Rugby is better Drama than Theatre. That is a sad indictment on Theatre whether you are a Rugby fan or not! So from deepest darkest Wales where the Arts are subsidised but not as heavily as England, I propose that a 'Free Theatre Movement' begins where students and aspiring actors and creatives and bohemians and free spirits et al, throw off the chains of capitalism and pretend that there isn't a fourth wall stopping them. I suggest that with the coming of Spring and Summer that ad-hoc performances spring up around the towns and cities of Wales. Let them be agit-propaganda, let them attack the politicians and the institutions, not worrying that it will affect their career prospects in the future.
Surely it is better to have a riot of color and theatre, than a riot!
Let the People Play!
Should it take off, you heard it here first.
There is lots of Free Theatre! 3-6 Producing Companies in Chicago are exploring Free Models.
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Here is an interview about it in Chicago:
http://www.theatreinchicago.com/talk/interior.php?podshowID=353
Good News Brad! Chicago sounds like my kind of town.
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