Julian Clary among stars claiming theatre is too London-centric
Julian Clary is among the stars who have declared the theatre industry to be too focused on London.
Speaking at this year’s The Stage Debut Awards – an evening that The Stage editor Alistair Smith said had crowned “the most regionally and internationally diverse” group of winners in the awards’ history – nominees and guests alike called for greater recognition of theatre work beyond the UK capital.
Clary, who hosted the ceremony, told The Stage: “Everyone assumes that London is where everything happens. That’s no longer the case, really.
“We need to spread the word that it is diverse. There’s interesting things going on up north and in Wales.”
Gareth Snook added that there was a “huge danger” that the industry was becoming more London-centric due to “a lack of repertory theatres up and down the country”.
Adam Jefferys, who was nominated for Best Designer for Communion at Bush Theatre, also told The Stage that he felt the sector was focusing more and more on West End hits and star names at the expense of regional work.
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“Unfortunately that’s the way the industry is moving,” the lighting designer said. “People need to sell tickets and make money at the end of the day. Hopefully [creatives outside London] get the recognition they deserve.”
Milly Sweeney, who won the Best Writer gong jointly with Ava Pickett, called for funding to be more evenly distributed across the country.
“I think there’s an expectation for Scottish artists – and I’m sure it’s the same for Irish artists – to move to London when they want to pursue something creative, whether that’s theatre, visual arts, music, anything.
“But funding should be spread across so there are equal opportunities everywhere. That would be a really good thing,” she said.
Fellow winner Leesa Tulley, who scooped the Best Performer in a Musical gong for her turn in Why Am I So Single?, added: “Some of the most amazing work happens at smaller theatres, happens regionally across the UK, happens at the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s so important to give a platform to these smaller pieces of theatre that don’t necessarily have a massive marketing budget!”
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