Shouts and Murmurs - December 10, 2024
Some good news in Scotland, some bad reviews for The Devil Wears Prada, an excellent interview with Patrick Marber, and more.
Hello, and welcome to Shouts And Murmurs, a weekly email for paid supporters of The Crush Bar, written by me, Fergus Morgan.
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Previously in The Crush Bar:
Last Wednesday, about 3pm, I was watching Scottish deputy first minister Shona Robison delivering the 2025-26 budget at Holyrood.
Hopes were not high. Sure, the Scottish government had promised to increase culture spending by £25m in this budget last December, as part of a bigger pledge to up it by £100m by 2028-29 – but the Scottish government’s treatment of the culture sector over the last two years has been inconsistent to say the least. It u-turned repeatedly over a £6m cut, forced Creative Scotland to temporarily close one of its key funds, and used some creative arithmetic in its overtures to the arts in last year’s budget. As Robison spoke, I drafted the first line of my report: “The Scottish government failed to…”
Then, the most remarkable thing happened, evoking several emotions in quick succession. “Earlier this week, the UK government called on me to deliver a £25 million increase in the culture budget,” Robison said, and I braced for disappointment. “But I will not increase the culture budget by £25 million,” she added, sparking a sudden flare of excitement. “No, presiding officer. Instead, I will increase the culture budget by £34 million next year,” she said, and my jaw dropped.
It says a lot about the Scottish government’s treatment of the culture sector that my next thought was: “How have they fiddled the figures to make this work?” Over the next few hours, though, as I scoured the numbers, that scepticism subsided, leaving a fragile sense of wonder. By the time I went on Radio 4’s Front Row that evening to briefly discuss the budget, that had solidified into something close to happiness. Others in the Scottish culture sector felt similarly. On social media, there was a palpable sense of confused joy. It was as if a cruel jailor who had regularly snatched food from the mouth of a starving captive had suddenly offered it a birthday cake.
Let’s not get carried away. Subsidised theatres and arts organisations across Scotland still do not know how much money they will be getting from April onwards until January, when Creative Scotland announces decisions over the 281 applications to its new multi-year funding programme. That pot now has an extra £20 million in it, but the total ask of £87.5 million still outstrips the new budget by over £35 million. There will still be a lot of disappointed people in January and Scotland will still sit in the relegation zone of the European culture spending per capita league table. And, lest we forget, the Scottish government has still behaved atrociously towards the culture sector recently. It will take a lot more than this for the lost trust to be regained.
You have to take the wins where you can, though, and a £34 million boost to culture funding is quite a win. A few weeks ago, industry leaders told me how they feared January’s announcement from Creative Scotland might be a “catastrophe” and a “bloodbath.” Now, things look more promising. Directors of Scottish theatres will have a much better Christmas knowing catastrophe has been averted for now.
Other news in a ridiculously busy week for Scottish theatre: Manipulate Festival announced a slimmed-down festival; the Traverse Theatre revealed four new appointments, including Bryony Shanahan as associate director; Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre got £8 million towards its refurbishment, and will now reopen in the summer, with the opening show set to be announced before Christmas; Motherwell Concert Hall followed Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre into the RAAC abyss.
Below Hadrian’s Wall: The Yard Theatre will be demolished to make way for a new theatre next year, after a production of The Glass Menagerie; The Montgomery Theatre is joining Sheffield Theatres; The Women’s Prize For Playwriting is back with a £20,000 top prize; Ryan Calais Cameron’s Retrograde is transferring to the West End in March; the Royal Court has launched a playwriting prize for under-18s.