March 2023
31 March - Pupils should have four hours of arts education weekly as a minimum – report
A re-evaluation of the way arts subjects are assessed in schools is among the recommendations in a report, which also recommends every child has access to a minimum of four hours of arts education per week.
31 March - Paule Constable: Expensive theatre tickets have created wave of discontent
Olivier award-winning lighting designer Paule Constable has called for more transparency around how the money generated by top-price theatre tickets is spent.
30 March - Visas for junior creative workers proposed in post-Brexit report
A visa scheme specifically for junior creative workers is among the recommendations to help creative businesses attract international talent.
29 March - UNBOXED: unpacked
A new evalution into UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK has been published. Vikki Heywood believes it shows the programme was a good use of public money.
29 March - Darren Henley: 'I will always be greedy, and make the case, for more investment in culture'
Giving the opening keynote address at The Stage’s Future of Theatre conference on March 29, Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley spoke about the changes the funding body is making in its latest portfolio and why he believes they are necessary for the sector’s future.
29 March - Anatomy of a project grant application
Applying for project funding from Arts Council England is time-consuming, fraught and very often unsuccessful, as Tony Haynes knows only too well.
29 March - Back soon: why are some London theatres staging fewer shows?
Following the lockdowns, there has been a noticeable reduction in productions. Is this just to reduce costs, or is there more to it than meets the eye? Leading London theatres tell Andrzej Lukowski that finances are only part of the programming picture
28 March - ‘I’ve been spat at’: half of UK theatre staff consider quitting over audience behaviour
Bectu launches safer theatres charter as survey reveals 45% of workers may quit due to shocking levels of antisocial behaviour by drunken theatregoers
28 March - 'Unfair' box-office splits and rising costs make tours unviable, producers warn
Unfavourable box-office splits and “extortionate” venue rents are threatening the viability of touring shows, independent producers have warned.
27 March - Most chorus members would quit if ENO leaves London, survey suggests
Most chorus members at the English National Opera (ENO) would be forced to leave their jobs if the company relocates outside London, because of ties that include children at school, caring responsibilities, and partners with jobs in the capital.
24 March - Arts-world activism saved the BBC Singers. Let’s take the same fight to government cuts
The surge of support for choral group is proof that we have the power to take a stand against savage Arts Council cutbacks
24 March - BBC Singers: decision to scrap choir reversed after public outcry
The BBC has U-turned on its decision to scrap the BBC Singers chamber choir after pressure from musicians, the public and politicians.
23 March - Wallsend's Emmerdale star Charlie Hardwick speaks about working class struggle to access the arts
Actor Charlie Hardwick has advised “kids to keep at it” as recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed the proportion of working class actors, musicians and writers has shrunk by half since the 1970s
23 March - Oldham Coliseum appoints new board to preserve theatre’s legacy and region’s culture
Trustees will decide on the future of the organisation which lost all its Arts Council funding and hosts final performances this month
23 March - BECTU pushes for official pay rates for offstage workers amid skills shortages
BECTU has called for official pay rates to be set for offstage workers across the UK, warning backstage skills shortages will continue to worsen without significant salary increases.
22 March - Britain’s art institutions face death by a thousand cuts. Why are they just putting up with it?
Life-changing organisations are left bloodied and bowed – and all to save sums that are dwarfed by bailouts to other sectors
21 March - Theatre Helpline closure – alternative support services available
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre are closing the Theatre Helpline at the end of March 2023.
20 March - Tour digs should be arranged and paid for by producers on big shows – Equity
Producers of large-scale UK tours would be expected to source and provide accommodation to performers and stage management under new Equity proposals.
20 March - Actors' Benevolent Fund to offer cost-of-living grants under 'new vision'
A scheme awarding cost-of-living grants has been launched by the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, which has unveiled a new vision that also includes plans to offer therapy and workshops.
16 March - Oldham Coliseum to permanently close and begin redundancies
Oldham Coliseum has confirmed it will permanently close at the end of March, despite efforts from supporters and industry leaders to save the 135-year-old site.
Earlier this year, the theatre announced it would go dark at the end of March, after receiving a 100% cut to its national portfolio funding from Arts Council England. At the time it indicated it did not know when it would reopen, admitting permanent closure was an option.
15 March - Budget 2023: what it means for theatre and the creative industries in full
An extension of tax relief rates and £8.6 million of funding for Edinburgh festivals are among the measures that will benefit the theatre sector in the government’s Spring Budget 2023.
15 March - Theatre world breathes sigh of relief after Chancellor statement
After months of concern and campaigning, the UK theatre industry found out today whether the UK Government’s proposed decision to cut theatre tax relief would go ahead.
13 March - LEAKED LETTER: ‘A TOXIC CULTURE OF FEAR AND PARANOIA’ AT THE BBC, FROM THE D-G DOWN
The letter mentions aggressive acts and inaccurate statements by senior BBC officials, all of whom are named within.
It appears that only one member of the BBC executive ever heard the BBC Singers perform before a decision was taken to abolish the ensemble.
13 March - Society of London Theatre seeks to support future industry leaders with 'Associate membership' pilot programme
Society of London Theatre have announced their plans to launch a new category of membership. The ‘Associate Membership’ will be designed to identify producers and future theatre industry leaders in London who would not be eligible for other categories of SOLT membership.
13 March - The arts won’t ‘drive growth’ across the UK without funding
Reduced access to the arts as a result of investment cuts means reduced opportunities to train and work in the creative industries, says Central principal Josette Bushell-Mingo – young people will suffer as a result
13 March - ‘I fear we are losing a whole generation of talent’: ENO head hits back at the ‘leave London’ ultimatum
As she stages a new production of The Dead City, Korngold’s wild opera banned by the Nazis, English National Opera’s artistic director Annilese Miskimmon talks about the company’s strong present and uncertain future
13 March - Can theatre's marketing teams afford not to promote independent artists?
It’s not the greatest time to be touring a show, particularly if you are an independent artist or company looking for dates in studio spaces. Venues are reluctant to commit and when they do programme a piece, fees are often low.
12 March - Artists in UK public sector making far below minimum wage, survey finds
Artists working in the public sector are struggling to stay afloat amid a culture of low fees, unpaid labour and systemic exploitation, research shows.
10 March - National Theatre to 'reduce activity' for four years amid financial challenges
The NT has warned that high rates of inflation and increased energy costs are having a “significant impact” on its cost base, as it releases its annual accounts for the year ending March 2022
8 March - What is really behind the technical training crisis? Pay
Theatre’s struggles to train enough technical workers may be getting worse, but they are not new.
In 2007, a Creative and Cultural Skills report warned that by 2017 there would be a “damaging shortage” of trained technicians unless the theatre and music sector could recruit 30,000 new staff over the next decade.
8 March - Drama schools warn of crisis in technical training
Leading drama schools including Mountview, LAMDA and Rose Bruford have warned they are struggling to attract students to their technical courses, blaming a collapse in arts education and theatre careers advice in schools.
7 March - BBC cuts to classical singers and orchestras labelled 'utterly devastating'
The Musicians’ Union (MU) has described proposed cuts to the BBC’s classical music performing groups, announced on Tuesday, as “utterly devastating”.
The cuts will see the end of the BBC Singers, its in-house chamber choir, resulting in the loss of 20 posts.
7 March - NYT and Netflix launch backstage career scheme for 14-25 year olds
The National Youth Theatre has partnered with Netflix to launch a new programme called Ignite Your Creativity to highlight backstage and technical careers in theatre, TV and film.
7 March - Henry Moore Foundation launches £100,000 artist fund
The Henry Moore Foundation has launched a £100,000 fund to support 50 artists across the UK in response to the cost-of-living crisis.
The grants will aim to alleviate some of the financial pressures facing artists amid funding cuts and rising costs.
7 March - Phoebe Waller-Bridge launches EdFringe grant scheme
Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge has launched a pilot scheme that will see the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society distribute £100,000 to artists performing at this year’s event.
6 March - ‘It’s very hard to make any kind of reasonable living’: the risky business of theatre
As their Edinburgh fringe hit Sap heads on a UK tour, playwright Rafaella Marcus and producer Ellie Keel discuss the future of new writing, the rise of ‘safe’ programming and the need for better funding
3 March - US visa fee hike 'punitive and damaging', warn UK arts bodies
Proposed visa fee increases will have a “serious impact” on the ability of performers and musicians to work in the United States, UK unions have warned.
3 March - Labour backs 'cultural corridor' across North
Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell sets out Labour’s vision for the creative industries, pledging to devolve powers to local areas to drive growth and support a ‘cultural corridor’ across the North.
3 March - Labour unveils plan to overhaul arts education and devolve culture spending
The Labour Party has unveiled a series of ambitions aimed at securing the “leading edge” of the UK’s culture industries, including overhauling arts education and ensuring the arts are not just for people relying on the “bank of mum and dad”.
1 March - Culture secretary Lucy Frazer gives first public speech
New culture secretary Lucy Frazer has outlined her vision for the role, including plans to focus on “people and places”, in one of her first public speeches.
She was speaking at the opening gala of the Creative Coalition Festival at Southbank Centre in London on February 28.