On Tuesday, the Spectator’s Clemency Burton-Hill wrote an impassioned post on how the Arts Council of England’s recent funding settlement could spell death for numerous theatrical companies across the country. Many media outlets have run similar pieces – pleading the case for this theatre or that – but few have been as persuasive as Richard Morrison’s excellent article in this weekend’s Times ‘What’s On’ section.
Morrison reveals that the funding settlement will almost certainly put an end to the Birmingham Opera Company. Under the direction of Graham Vick, this company has become a major critical darling but, more importantly, it defies the argument that opera – or even art more generally – is an elitist, detached and irrelevant pursuit. As Morrison puts it:
“Titillating critics isn’t its prime point. Far more important is Vick’s policy of involving local amateurs – hundreds of them – alongside professionals.
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