The Stage

Equity’s Payne hits out at regional theatre ‘bureaucracy’

Published Wednesday 7 April 2010 at 13:07 by Alistair Smith

Equity general secretary Christine Payne has claimed that bureaucracy in subsidised regional theatres is ‘absorbing’ money, resulting in fewer shows and less work for actors.

Writing in the latest edition of the union’s in-house magazine, Payne has warned that “despite increased funding, the current model [of subsidised repertory theatre] has failed to deliver more performances and is actually employing fewer actors”.

She added: “Members support the principle of subsidised theatre, but they want a system that works for the artists and the public, not one that seems designed only to support an increasingly complex bureaucracy that absorbs money but delivers fewer productions and less work. Members want an arts structure that respects artists and respects the work they produce.”

Payne’s comments follow a report by the union at the end of last year, which claimed that the scale of in-house production in regional theatre had suffered a “fairly serious collapse” since 2004, despite rising levels of government support.