15 - 21 March 2001
Issue No.525
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 15 - 21 March 2001 Issue No.525 |
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Plain Talk
The theatre has of late been receiving great attention here in Egypt. The press has been deploring the state of the theatre and calling upon the minister of culture to give it as much attention as the visual arts and monuments. Never before has Egypt witnessed such a number of galleries, public and private, and exhibitions. The care given to monuments is, of course, a reflection of their value in the tourist industry.
Lately the theatre in England has been the subject of discussions and press articles as a result of criticism by Deborah Warner, a leading theatre director who is at the moment directing a West End hit of Euripides' Medea, of the role critics play in keeping the young out of theatre. Warner believes that "elderly, reactionary critics" are putting young people off theatre. "I guess," she says, "a lot of theatre is old fashioned, and several prominent critics are rather old and in some cases, reactionary. Young people need to be guided towards work that will inspire them. The older critics are responsible for not bringing to the attention of young people what would appeal to them."
In spite of the box office success of Warner's Medea, she has slashed prices of the show to encourage young people to consider the theatre when "contemplating a night out." Warner has convinced the show's producers and the owner of the theatre to offer 50 of the best stall seats at only 10 sterling pounds (the normal price is 35 sterling) to 18 to 25 year olds. "I was insistent," she is quoted as saying, "that it was the best seats that should have reduced prices. When I was 18-25 one's relationship to theatre was always from the gods and I think the visceral immediacy of what's happening [can only be felt by those who] are near the front."
The project succeeded. Warner says that young people found Medea "as exciting as cinema." She hopes to reduce the price of best seats for young people in all her future productions.
The attempt to attract the young to the theatre has been the policy of the British government of late. Before the last election the Labour Party promised regular, national "pay what you can" nights to encourage new, young audiences. Ticket prices, however, are not seen as the only obstacle to young people going to the theatre: "The theatre should go to the people" is the call of the moment in England.
The Royal Shakespeare Company, for instance, has taken the initiative of putting plays on in school halls and youth centres in local communities as a way of getting young people in. "I do believe," Adrian Noble, the artistic director of the company says, "that what we do need to address, collectively, is how theatre is perceived by young people who have never seen a live performance, or set foot inside an auditorium. It is not merely a question of getting the right pricing, marketing and education packages, although this is important. It's also a question of programming."
Sure enough the Royal Shakespeare Company, having taken a hard look at its repertoire and its audience, made the decision to perform work that would appeal to people under 25 and who account now for a quarter of the company's total audience. The National Theatre has also mounted special schemes to attract the young.
Here in Egypt we face the same problem of how to get the young interested in theatre, ballet and opera. It is not only a question of prices. The Opera House is giving special prices to students, and still the problem persists. What is needed, teaching the young how to appreciate art, is the task of schools and universities -- of education.
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