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Writers' Guild Centre, 14 Britannia St, London WC1X 9JN

 

            In 1997, Tony Blair became Prime Minister in a wave of renewed cultural confidence. The new government abolished entrance charges to museums and galleries, encouraged widening access to the arts, and made a generous new settlement to regional theatre. The newly-devolved Scottish Executive made real the long-held dream of a National Theatre of Scotland.

            Ten years on, Blair resigned from office, having inspired a wave of hostile theatrical portraits, leaving behind an arts community fearful of the funding effects of a tight spending round and the impact of the Olympics.

            How was it for us? examined the legacy of the Blair years. It explored the impact of the regional funding hike on regional theatre and if that and the National's £10 season had increased access; and it asked whether instrumentalism and box-ticking had gone too far and whether the Arts Council was reneging on its commitment to producing theatres and new writing.

            As well as discussing policy, the conference considered the art: How did theatre treat the Blair government (particularly its foreign policy?) Why did verbatim theatre emerge as the dominant political theatre form after 9/11? Had there been a move away from text-based theatre towards performance? Was the move towards intermediality a design choice or a more fundamental shift? Why was in-yer-face theatre so staggeringly influential overseas? Whatever happened to the new British musical? 

            And how did theatre in general - and Shakespeare production in particular - contribute to the great debate about Britishness and national identity?

            The day began with a keynote contribution from Tessa Jowell MP, the longest-serving Labour Culture Secretary, whose 2004 challenge to instrumentalism in the arts advocated a seachange in policy. She was followed by theatre makers Nick Hytner and Nick Starr from the National Theatre, Michael Boyd from the RSC, actor and Equity activist Malcolm Sinclair, actor\playwrights Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robin Soans, writers Alistair Beaton and Tanika Gupta, and Kneehigh director Emma Rice;  and theatre consultant Peter Boyden and commentator Mark Lawson.           

            Other contributors included conference organisers David Edgar (playwright), Steve Waters (playwright and director of Playwriting Studies, Birmingham University), Dan Rebellato (playwright and Professor Royal Holloway) and Professor Janelle Reinelt (University of Warwick) .