It's curtains for performing arts if we don't smarten up
A report for the British Academy warns that performing arts are under threat from future global shocks unless we learn the lessons of the covid pandemic
THE show must go on, as the old theatrical adage goes, but unless we learn the brutal lessons of covid, then the curtains are likely coming down for good.
Live performing arts, such as musical events and theatre productions, face a very real threat to their continued existence, courtesy of a range of potential global shocks, claims a new international study.
That is unless steps are taken to provide “significant and sustained investment” in planning to bolster their resilience.
Investment is a key word; the arts are a major component of the economy; certainly in the UK. They also provide a major contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Without the performing arts – indeed the creative and cultural industries more widely – Britain's economic performance would be that much weaker.
According to a House of Lords briefing paper published in January 2024, the music, performance, and visual arts sub-sector contributed £11.2 billion to the UK's Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2022; employing 283,000 people. That's a respectable chunk of the combined creative industries' contribution of £126 billion to GVA that year; 12% higher in real terms than in 2019.
Yet, all too often, cultural and creative endeavours are seen as a 'fluff'; nice to have, but hardly the stuff of hard-nosed business, and just maybe those artsy types should just go and get a real job anyway; coding, say (GenAI permitting).
But the numbers do make their point; perhaps not quite so hard and fast as they should, if the study into the sector's resilience is anything to go by. More needs doing to place performing arts on a sustainable economic path, it argues.
According to the study, climate-related emergencies, political unrest, economic pressures, and public health crises all threaten the viability of drama, dance, opera and other live events, as well as the benefits they provide to society and community well-being.
Prepare for the future
The research was commissioned by the British Academy, and led by a team from the universities of Bristol and Exeter, supported by academics from institutions across the G7 nations. The report, Pandemic Preparedness in the Live Performing Arts: Lessons to Learn from Covid-19, was published towards the end March 2024.
It looks at the varied responses of the G7 to the pandemic; concluding that major lessons must indeed be learned to safeguard the future of the performing arts.
“In the course of this research, one of the themes that emerged was that theatres are already having to face the ‘next pandemic’,” said co-lead author Dr Karen Gray, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol's School for Policy Studies.
“Whether it’s Broadway being forced to deal with the impact of forest fires in Canada, air conditioners stretched to their limits during heatwaves, or London theatres having to pump out floodwater, we are witnessing significant challenges to the resilience of the live performing arts sector caused by the climate crisis.
“So, we hope that this report, rooted in the lessons of the pandemic, but applicable to a range of future issues, can offer all parties a constructive roadmap to protecting the socio-economic value of the performing arts.”
Culture vultures need more than slim pickings if art is to sustain us | outHouse: 27 June 2022
It’s a poor show on the pandemic front | Medium: 15 June 2021
The report's five major recommendations are:
UK and regional government should support arts councils and development agencies to establish a clear resilience strategy for live performance
A UK-wide strategy should be developed to ensure that creative organisations, individuals, and audiences have access to digital infrastructure, skills and rights frameworks
Work should be undertaken to better understand the value of culture to society alongside its economic contribution
Research and analysis is needed of the live performing arts sector’s workforce, ecosystem and audience to identify vulnerabilities
Addressing skills gaps and recruiting a more diverse workforce are required to improve the sector’s crisis response
Taking action
The report looks specifically at policy interventions by governments and funders during the pandemic, as well as the individual responses by organisations, workers and audiences.
Among the key findings was that the financial support provided by governments and charities that prioritised individual arts buildings and ‘flagship’ organisations did not ‘trickle down’ to help the sector’s substantial freelance creative workforce and grassroots programmes.
Indeed, the authors say, there remains a lack of understanding at governmental level of how the sector operates.
Also outlined is how major skills gaps opened in the industry because technical staff migrated to film and television, which offered greater employment security. Furthermore, many workers reported that their mental health was negatively impacted by some of the public policy and discourse, which they felt had undermined the value of cultural activity during the pandemic.
In looking at responses across the G7, the report highlights some of the success stories that might be incorporated by the UK in future.
In France, for example, the intermittents du spectacle scheme left workers more financially resilient, and Germany's Neustart Kultur programme mixed social assistance and project funding.
In Germany and Canada, steps were taken to enshrine the status of culture in legislation. Meanwhile, in the UK’s devolved regions, the targeted support offered by the councils of Manchester and Sheffield was founded upon detailed local understanding and consultation, as well as existing investment in infrastructure.
“It is well understood that the pandemic presented an existential threat to live performing arts at all levels,” said Pascale Aebischer MBE, professor of Shakespeare and early modern performance studies at the University of Exeter; also a co-lead author of the report.
“Barred from indoor, in-person performance, companies became dependent on financial support from the state, and many freelance workers left the sector or experienced significant hardship.
“What this report offers is an overview of how G7 countries responded, identifying what worked best and why, and makes recommendations for how the sector might evolve from a reactive mode to one that anticipates future shocks and is better prepared for them.
“At a time when arts and culture programmes face extreme funding cuts across the UK, their value to community cohesion and societal well-being, as evidenced during the pandemic, needs to be better understood.”
As we said at the beginning, the show must go on; we just need to ensure we figure out how...
MC