The Stage

Theatre should be free for kids, argues playwright Wood

Published Tuesday 17 June 2008 at 15:30 by Lalayn Baluch

Playwright David Wood has called for increased funding for children’s arts organisations in order to allow youngsters to attend the theatre for free.

The proposal was made at the Working With Young People Through Theatre conference, sponsored by the John Lyon’s Charity and held at London’s Soho Theatre, which aimed to discuss how children can be encouraged to engage with the arts.

Speaking at the event, Wood, who is also chairman of charity Action for Children’s Arts, said: “We need a shift in attitude, and part of that attitude would be that children should be able to go [to the theatre] for free. I’ve always said that every primary school child should go at least once. They are not all going to think it is wonderful, but at least they should be given that chance to have a go.

“Children’s theatre should be getting, if not as much as, more funding than adult theatre. Our seat prices have rightly to be kept low, yet the production values we keep as high as possible, and there is a natural gap there between revenue and expenditure. How do you fill that? We try to get sponsorship, we try to get funding, but small people attract only small funding.”

Last month, central government revealed the ten areas of England which will pilot its new Find Your Talent scheme, in which school children will be given access to five hours of culture a week.

The pilots will trial different ways of offering young people ‘cultural experiences’ - both within schools and by going out to theatres, art galleries and other cultural institutions. At the time of its launch, the scheme was met with criticism from the teaching world. Dr John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the initiative was not realistic, while National Union of Teachers general secretary Steve Sinnott said that extra cash would need to be invested into schools.

• Meanwhile, at the conference, Unicorn Theatre artistic director Tony Graham urged the sector to create shows for mixed aged audiences, to help children’s development and stop shows for young people becoming “ghettoised”.

Graham said: “There was a great Soviet psychologist who talked about how children develop - children grow and learn more in an area in which they have something to grow into. So having older children in the same space as young children actually raises their consciousness, and having children in the same space as adults raises their consciousness.”