The Stage

Lack of funding will result in acting talent shortage in Scottish theatre and TV, warn experts

Published Tuesday 28 October 2008 at 16:50 by Alistair Smith

Leading figures in Scottish theatre and television have warned the sector is facing a shortage of highly trained actors, unless the devolved government increases funding so that two conservatoire-level drama schools can be maintained.

This summer, Queen Margaret University - which along with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama was one of only two institutions in the country to hold accreditation from the National Council for Drama Training - decided to close down its vocational acting courses, citing a lack of funds from the Scottish Government as a major factor.

With only RSAMD offering ‘gold standard’ accredited courses, there are fears that the availability of high quality drama training in Scotland will fall behind that offered in England and Wales, leading to an exodus of the most talented young performers.

John Stalker, chairman of Creative and Cultural Skills Scotland and chief executive of the Festival and King’s Theatres in Edinburgh, was one of a group of industry figures - including National Theatre of Scotland artistic director Vicky Featherstone, Jeremy Raison, artistic director of the Citizens Theatre and Eric Coulter, head of drama at STV - to sign a letter to the major Scottish newspapers, expressing their “deep concern” at the situation.

He told The Stage: “The industry is saying that it has grave concerns if it loses one of only two accredited drama courses in Scotland. There is a rejuvenation of drama in Scotland at the moment, so there is more demand than there ever has been for conservatoire training. We feel two conservatoires is what a country of Scotland’s size needs in order to be able to give a proper voice for drama training to the industry.

“What we are saying to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council is can you please ensure that there are two drama conservatoires in Scotland - if it’s not to be QMU, then can you ask someone else to take on that role. We feel that to sustain, protect and grow the training of actors in Scotland it would be a very small price for the government to pay.”

He added that both RSAMD and QMU had faced problems because drama conservatoire students in Scotland are funded to a much lower level than they are in England or Wales.

The SFC is undertaking a review of drama funding in Scotland. A spokesman for the organisation said the results were expected ‘shortly’, but could not confirm whether this would be before the end of the year.

He added: “We’re currently reviewing funding of drama provision across Scotland. This has involved meetings with stakeholders including QMU and RSAMD. This review is exploring whether the scale, location and facilities and type of drama-related provision in Scotland in appropriate. SFC is also keen to explore whether beneficial connections could be made between drama provision and other related courses. Talks are still ongoing as part of the review.”