Y Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chwaraeon

Adolygiad Polisi: Cyfraniad y Celfyddydau a Chwaraeon at Adfywio Cymunedol

Drama association for Wales

I am writing to you on behalf of the Drama Association of Wales (DAW), the umbrella body for amateur theatre in Wales. DAW has contributed to the response to the Culture Committee Review of the Contribution of Art and Sport to Community Regeneration submitted by Voluntary Arts Wales and we wholeheartedly endorse the contents and sentiments contained therein.
 
The Drama Association of Wales has a membership of 200 amateur theatre companies based throughout the country with an average membership of 168 (CCAT Survey of Amateur Theatre in the UK 1989) indicating that nearly 34,000 are involved in amateur theatre in Wales. This does not take into account those who are involved in amateur theatre through school productions, Young Farmers Clubs, the Women's Institute, Ffermwyr Ifanc, Merched Y Wawr etc. The role that amateur theatre plays in communities cannot be underestimated. All the towns and villages of Wales have at least one amateur theatre company if not more. In smaller communities, amateur theatre in both of the main languages of Wales, is top of the list of activities taking place within village and community halls and is part of the glue that holds these communities together.
 
In terms of community regeneration, the new one act festival born in 2003 in Holyhead has resulted in amateur theatre companies making links with other groups in Anglesey and sharing resources. The companies involved in the Holyhead festival have also made overseas links with groups in the Republic of Ireland and are developing a joint project for which they are seeking ERDF support through Interreg III. Holyhead is a particular area of social and economic deprivation as recognised by its Objective 1 status.
 
The voluntary sector, by definition, is made up of people from the all sections of the community and reaches those communities most marginalised and disenfranchised by engaging people in activities which fire the imagination, bringing new social connections and fostering new skills.
 
In Montgomeryshire, the annual one act drama festival was one of the very few events that took place despite the Foot and Mouth epidemic, providing a social focus and element of continuity within the community during a period of extreme difficulty. The following year, as a demonstration of solidarity with the community most affected by the epidemic, amateur theatre in Wales voted to hold their annual national festival in Newtown. This emotional gesture by the amateur theatre community for their friends in Montgomeryshire created a new confidence within the local amateur theatre community. The sheer weight of numbers of people attending and taking part in the festival made a significant contribution to the area through accommodation etc.
 
The Drama Association of Wales is hopeful that the review will consolidate the role of voluntary and community arts in Wales as key partners in achieving social cohesion and community regeneration. These arguments have already been made by research organisations like 'Commedia' and revisited in the Arts Council of Wales document "Taking Part". 
 
The voluntary and community arts sector is in a perilous situation owing to the decline in funding available from National Lottery sources - a situation which is likely to worsen should England win the privilege to host the Summer Olympics. We are hopeful that the Welsh Assembly Government will in recognising the contribution of the voluntary and community arts to issues like health, social cohesion and community regeneration, require the Arts Council of Wales to address the desperate shortage of funding the sector is experiencing.
 
Yours sincerely Cyfarwyddwr - Cymdeithas Ddrama Cymru
Aled Rhys-Jones
Director - Drama Association of Wales