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| Mark Ravenhill: Cuts 'could be good for arts' | Mark Ravenhill: Cuts 'could be good for arts' |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| One of Britain's leading playwrights has said funding cuts could be "a good thing" for the arts because artists would be less "safe and well behaved". | One of Britain's leading playwrights has said funding cuts could be "a good thing" for the arts because artists would be less "safe and well behaved". |
| Mark Ravenhill said the performing arts "went astray" in the 1990s when artists pandered to those offering subsidies. | |
| Artists "weren't telling the truth" about the real world often enough when funding was more plentiful, he said. | Artists "weren't telling the truth" about the real world often enough when funding was more plentiful, he said. |
| Ravenhill, who is the Royal Shakespeare Company's writer in residence, spoke at the opening of the Edinburgh Fringe. | Ravenhill, who is the Royal Shakespeare Company's writer in residence, spoke at the opening of the Edinburgh Fringe. |
| In the Fringe's inaugural opening address on Friday, he predicted that theatres and other artforms would experience "increasingly tough times for at least a decade or more". | |
| "But let's look on this as a good thing," he continued. "Didn't the arts become safe and well behaved during the New Labour years? I think they did. | "But let's look on this as a good thing," he continued. "Didn't the arts become safe and well behaved during the New Labour years? I think they did. |
| "I think they weren't telling the truth - the dirty, dangerous, hilarious, upsetting, disruptive, noisy, beautiful truth - as often as they should have done. | "I think they weren't telling the truth - the dirty, dangerous, hilarious, upsetting, disruptive, noisy, beautiful truth - as often as they should have done. |
| "Why? Because most artists are decent, liberal, if only everyone were nicer to each other and let's heal it with a hug sort of folk and so voted New Labour." | |
| When Labour came to power in 1997, there was "for a few years a modest but real terms increase in government funding for the arts", he said. | When Labour came to power in 1997, there was "for a few years a modest but real terms increase in government funding for the arts", he said. |
| "And we artists were so grateful for that relatively modest bit of attention and money that we changed substantially what and who we were as artists." | "And we artists were so grateful for that relatively modest bit of attention and money that we changed substantially what and who we were as artists." |
| Ravenhill is one of the most acclaimed and provocative voices in modern British drama. His plays include Mother Clap's Molly House and The Cut. | Ravenhill is one of the most acclaimed and provocative voices in modern British drama. His plays include Mother Clap's Molly House and The Cut. |
| He said the arts world became distracted by a focus on urban renewal, corporate sponsorship and social inclusion, rather than reflecting the real world. | He said the arts world became distracted by a focus on urban renewal, corporate sponsorship and social inclusion, rather than reflecting the real world. |
| "Artists are needed more now than ever before," he told members of the theatre community at the Fringe. | "Artists are needed more now than ever before," he told members of the theatre community at the Fringe. |
| "You're the ones who have the freedom, if you choose to use it, to think of new possibilities, crazy ideas, bold, idealistic, irrational, counterintuitive, disruptive, naughty, angry words and deeds. | "You're the ones who have the freedom, if you choose to use it, to think of new possibilities, crazy ideas, bold, idealistic, irrational, counterintuitive, disruptive, naughty, angry words and deeds. |
| "Because these are the only things that can adequately respond to such a huge meltdown in capitalism and the only way that we might find a way forward in to a different future." | "Because these are the only things that can adequately respond to such a huge meltdown in capitalism and the only way that we might find a way forward in to a different future." |
| He also warned that there was a "real possibility" that the arts could lose all of its public funding over the next decade. | He also warned that there was a "real possibility" that the arts could lose all of its public funding over the next decade. |
| "Would that mean all of the performing arts becoming safer and duller?" he asked. | "Would that mean all of the performing arts becoming safer and duller?" he asked. |
| "Maybe the artist free of any relationship with any public funding body is freest of all? If I didn't have to fill in forms, tick boxes, prove how good, nice, worthy me and my project are to a well meaning gatekeeper, maybe I'd make something better - more truthful, more radical? | "Maybe the artist free of any relationship with any public funding body is freest of all? If I didn't have to fill in forms, tick boxes, prove how good, nice, worthy me and my project are to a well meaning gatekeeper, maybe I'd make something better - more truthful, more radical? |
| "Anything and everything is worth thinking about and questioning." | "Anything and everything is worth thinking about and questioning." |
| At this year's Edinburgh Fringe, Ravenhill has co-written a cabaret show titled Tell Me The Truth About Love, which reworks and adds to songs written by WH Auden and Benjamin Britten. | At this year's Edinburgh Fringe, Ravenhill has co-written a cabaret show titled Tell Me The Truth About Love, which reworks and adds to songs written by WH Auden and Benjamin Britten. |