IN light of recent events, we felt the need, as a body of playwrights, to outline the potentially devastating result of the decision to restrict The Arches' licensing ("Arches future hangs in the balance", The Herald, May 16).
As a club with an international reputation,The Arches not only imports the skills of DJs and MCs from around the world, but beyond that, holds a vital place in Scottish culture. It is in constant use by a wide range of performing artists from across the creative spectrum. It has created some of the most important performance in Britain in the last 20 years and is seen by many as the heart and soul of the alternative performance scene in the country.
The Arches is funded in a unique way. It is part-subsidised by Creative Scotland and part-funded by the income from its night club, which goes directly to benefiting the people of Scotland with new performance work. The loss of this vital income from the club would mean an end to such Arches productions; productions which have received unprecedented critical acclaim, multiple awards, and, through touring, have generated substantial income at other venues across the country. More importantly, such productions have increased our country's reputation internationally, and inspired future generations of theatre makers not only at home, but around the world.
The Arches is a truly unique, world-renowned arts space which has played an integral part in the development of countless artists from Scotland. The wide-ranging performance styles given a home and a place to thrive at The Arches range from puppetry to promenade, from live art to dance, from opera to playwriting, always daring to take risks, always pushing the boundaries of contemporary culture. So many of Scotland's leading theatre artists have led from these principles to enable the creation of work that matches anything seen on the world stage.
Beyond the highly exportable work and internationally acclaimed artists that it produces, The Arches is also socially important in terms of its commitment to giving voice to a wide range of Scottish identities from the fringes of mainstream normative culture. Some of these voices would have nowhere else to go to explore their identity and feel legitimate. The venue is a major player in the presentation of Glasgay! and is currently hosting its Dark Behaviour and Sexology seasons. It is committed to giving a voice to those of us pushed into the margins. Were it to close, these voices would see a serious threat to their growing sense of legitimacy and equality.
This letter does not speak solely on behalf of the SSP, but we also believe that it speaks on behalf of the people of Scotland, an audience demanding the most innovative, important and relevant work that our contemporary culture has to offer. The Arches continually meets this demand with unrivalled courage and originality.
We urge Glasgow's licensing board to reconsider its decision, with particular respect to the ramifications for the future of our arts sector, the wider impact of this decision on our culture and on our economy.
Davey Anderson, Mike Cullen, Deb Jones, Lewis Hetherington, Kieran Hurley, James Ley, Liz Lochhead, Nicola McCartney (Chair), Gary McNair, AJ Taudevin, Martin Travers, Johnny McKnight,
The Scottish Society of Playwrights,
c/o 1979 Maryhill Road, Glasgow.
WHEN, as a group of unemployed actors and theatre makers, we gained access to the Arches in 1991 it was a deserted, derelict and very damp building which its owners, British Rail, were struggling to find a tenant for. We had no financial support and expected to be evicted once a more commercial proposition for the space could be identified. However, after a few months we fell upon the idea of hosting late-night club events at the weekends as a means of paying the bills and suddenly a viable business plan was established ... unparalleled anywhere in European arts at the time.
Whereas all other Glasgow club owners and promoters were lining their pockets with the rich pickings from these nights at the height of club culture, The Arches, probably the most successful and certainly the most innovative of the lot, was ploughing every penny earned from club revenue into supporting an experimental arts programme and providing a much needed resource for struggling young theatre makers in the city and developing a flagship cultural centre for the people of Glasgow and beyond.
Over the years, The Arches has attracted funding from Glasgow City Council and from the national arts funding agency but the major part of its income is still generated from the club revenue. The decision last week by Glasgow Licensing Board to withdraw the venue's late-night licence effectively strangulates that source of income and the consequences will be dire. Not only are long-serving and dedicated Arches staff likely to find themselves out of a job but also thousands of arts practitioners in this city will be denied access to such an inspiring venue which has earned respect across the globe. One can only hope that common sense will prevail.
Andy Arnold,
Artistic Director, Tron Theatre
(Artistic Director of The Arches, 1991 - 2008),
63 Trongate, Glasgow.
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