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Being a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Phd in The The British Theatre Economics and Management in the 1990s as an Effect of Thatcherite Capitalism being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of PhD in the University of Hull by Byeong-Tae, Chun (MA) March 2001 Summary This thesis will examine theatrical changeswhich were taken place in Britain in the 1990s as an influence of Thatcherite capitalism. There are two bases in developing that subject. The first is that arts subsidy, namely, money, has been more responsible for the changesthan directors and playwrights have. The second is that the changes were basically undesirable,because they resulted in the dominance of capitalist values in theatre, under which theatre companiesinevitably compete with each other, and are, thereby, increasingly inclined towards safe, popular, commercial products. By contrast, alternative oppositional activities that can play a role in checking and balancing the dominant capitalist cultural values becoming marginalised. It can be, thus, said that this thesis will critically explore the undesirable legacy of Thatcherism on the theatre economics and management of the 1990s. To this end, it will examine several sub-subjects.Chapter I deals with the British politics and economicsof the 1980s and 1990sas backgroundfor the changes which also took place in theatre during the 1980s and 1990s.Chapter 11will explore the two different attitudesof the Arts Council which has been in chargeof distributing money [arts subsidy] to theatre companies since its formation in 1946; one prior to Thatcher's government and the other during Thatcher's government of the 1980s. Chapter III will examine the general theatrical economics and managementof the 1990s.Chapter IV will deal with money from the national lottery in order to seehow much it has contributed to theatre companiesin terms of theatre economy. Chapter V is a case study to illustrate how the West Yorkshire Playhouse as one of the leading regional theatre companieshas been managerially affected by post-Thatcheritetheatre economy. Chapter VI is another6se study to illustrate how Red Ladder as one of the leading political theatre companiesin the 1970shas been deradicalisedby Thatcherite capitalism in the 1980sand post-Thatcheritetheatre economy of the 1990s. This thesis, with its critical tone on the changes,will illustrate, implicitly or explicitly, ways by which the undesirablestate of the British theatre in the 1990smay be rescued.At the sametime, I hope this thesis to serve as a ground for debatesfor the betterment of the British theatrein the future. Contents Introduction 1-12 Chapter 1: New Right, New Order, and New Labour p. 13-65 e Introduction * The Emergenceof the New Right and Free-Market Economy 9 Thatcher's Attack on the Post-war Socialist Values * Thatcherismand EnterpriseCulture 9 The Consequence of Enterprise Culture 9 Popular Capitalism 9 Thatcherismin Major's Government * Thatcherism's Impact on the Labour Party, and New Labour 9 Conclusion Chapter 11: Two Different Arts Councils p. 66-105 Introduction o The Arts Council in the Progressive Age 9 The Arts Council under Enterprise Culture of Thatcherism Chapter III: Thatcherism's impact on the Theatre in the 1990s I p.106-167 e Introduction * Theatrical Conservatismand Populism e The Stateof New Writing in the 1990s 9 Arts and Theatre under New Labour Chapter IV: Lottery, A Crusader? p. 168-189 Chapter V: The Playhouse in Leeds p. 190-229 e Introduction * The LeedsPlayhouse and The West Yorkshire Playhouse Chapter VI: The Red Ladder Theatre Company p. 230-258 * Introduction 9 Red Ladder from Agitprop Theatre to Young People's Theatre Conclusion: An Argument for the Future p. 259-265 Selected Bibliography p. 266-276 Acknowledgments This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Gwi-Hi, Kim. Without her continuous devotion and encouragement,I might not have completedthis thesis. I also give my acknowledgement to my two sons, Won-Jik and Won-Qwui, who were always wonderful boys to me during my research.I also dedicate this thesis to my parents, Doo-Kweon, Chun and Joong-Hwa, Park, who always helped me in fatherly/motherly way. cannot forget support from my supervisor, D. Keith Peacock, who wonderfully guided my work from its inception. Without his guidance, my work would not have been the same.I offer my deepestthanks to him. I would like to thank to theatre people who are, and were, working in the Playhouse in Leeds for their interviews with me; Maggie Saxon, Managing Director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse; Maureen Rooksby, the Playhouse's Associate Director of Arts Development Unit; John Harrison, Artistic Director of the Playhouse from 1972 to 1990.1 owe a great deal to Kathy Webster, who helped me consult the archive of the Playhouse. also give thanks to Wendy Harris, Artistic Director of Red Ladder, and to Stefanie Gascoine, Touring Manager of Red Ladder, for sparing their valuable time for interviews with me. Introduction This study will examine theatre managementand economics in the wake of Thatcher's government.The main reason for my choosingthis subject comes from my belief that Thatcherite capitalism had a deleterious effect on the theatre management, economics and production of the 1990s by pushing the theatre back into the commercial market. Dominated by the market ethic, the serious theatre, which although superficially flourishing, by its nature, may be unattractive to the general public, has inevitably been brought to an unhealthy state in which theatre companies compete with each other, and increasingly are inclined towards safe, popular, commercial products. As a result, alternative oppositional activities that can play a role in checking and balancing the dominant culture are becoming increasingly marginalised. Many books and articles have been published concerningthe unhealthy theatrical climate since Thatcher's goven-iment,such as John McGrath's The Bone Won't Break (1990), Baz Kershaw's The Politics of Performance (1992), Nadine Holdsworth's Good Night Out: Activating the Audience with 7:84 (England) (1997), D. Keith Peacock's Thatcher's Theatre (1999), and Sir Peter Hall's The Necessary Theatre (1999). This study will take a similarly critical tone to those above, but will explore the unhealthy climate from a different perspective. The books of John McGrath and D. Keith Peacockdeal with theatre under Thatcher's government in the 1980s. Baz Kershaw's book deals with the perforniance efficacy of alternative and community theatre covering the post-war period up to the end of the 1980s. The main focus of this study is on theatre in the 1990s.Nadine Holdsworth's article deals with theatre in the 1990s,but only briefly deals with the state of political theatre. Sir Peter Hall's book deals with the critical state of theatre in the late 1990s,but is a personal account from his own experience in the institutional theatre, and focuses on the problem of arts subsidy. What makes this study different from those above is that it will explore, perhaps, for the first time, the critical state of the British theatre in the 1990s in a broad perspective encompassingsuch issues as political Thatcherism and its impact on Labour Party, cultural and economic Thatcherism and its impact on the Arts Council, ideological Thatcherism and its impact on political theatre, and Thatcherism's impact on theatre economicsand managementin the 1990s. Logically, the starting point of this study is the investigation of what changes Thatcher's government accomplished in the 1980s. This is due to the fact that the 1980s marked a most significant stage for social, political, economic and cultural change in British post-war history. Generally speaking, post-war political, economic and cultural politics prior to Thatcher's goverm-nentwas based on consensus -a tacit agreementbetween the two political parties; Conservativeand Labour. After the war, people in Britain optimistically chose the Labour Party in the hope that it would restructure war-damaged Britain in a socially progressive manner. In response to their expectations, the Labour government introduced policies associatedwith socialism such as a certain amount of public ownership through nationalisation. Prior to Thatcher's government, Conservative governinents accorded with the so-called Keynesian social democratic policies adopted by the post-war labour government, believing that such policies were socially necessary. However, under Thatcher's government of the 1980s, consensus disappeared. Margaret Thatcher regarded consensusas "the bleak and dismal past". She believed that from consensus came, what she called, "the English disease" - "creeping 2 socialism". Under Thatcher's governmentthe post-war past was to be rejected, and it forced progressive values, movements and organisations associated with the progressive age of consensus - miners' strikes, metropolitan councils, state ownership, and dependentculture - into submissionor retrenchment.It replaced them Thatcherite with capitalism, namely - monetarism, market economy, belt-tightening expenditurepolicY, individual ownership, and enterpriseculture. Chapter I will examine Thatcherismas a new order, in terms of the emergence of the New Right, its attack on socialist values, its ultimate aim of an enterprise culture, and will evaluate social/economicconsequences of Thatcherism. It will also explore Thatcherism's influence on John Major's government, and the influence of Thatcherite popular capitalism on Labour's "desociali sing" process from Neil Kinnock (1983-1992) to Tony Blair (1994 -). In doing so, this chapter will
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