‘Village Hall Work Can Never Be “Theatre”’: Amateur Theatre and the Arts Council of Great Britain, 1945–56

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Notes

1. Title quotation comes from John Moody, Policy of the Drama Department 1949–1950, Supplementary Statement to Council, Paper 269, 20 July 1949, EL4/50, p. 2; ‘Let Us Face the Future: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of a Nation’, Labour Party Manifesto, 1945. See <http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab45.htm> [accessed 1 September 2016].

2. ‘The Arts Council of Great Britain Second Annual Report 1946/7’, p. 8. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-great-britain-2nd-annual-report-1946-7> [accessed 1 September 2016].

3. John Maynard Keynes, qtd in Janet Minihan, The Nationalization of Culture: The Development of State Subsidies in the Arts in Great Britain (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1977), p. 232.

4. John Maynard Keynes, ‘The Arts Council: Its Policy and Hope by Lord Keynes’, 12 July 1945, in The Arts Council First Annual Report 1945, p. 23.

5. Andrew Davies, Other Theatres: The Development of Alternative and Experimental Theatre in Britain (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, 1987), p. 81.

6. Ibid., pp. 74–75; Claire Cochrane, Twentieth Century British Theatre: Industry, Art and Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 111.

7. Ibid., p. 120.

8. Allardyce Nicoll, English Drama 1900–1930: The Beginnings of the Modern Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), pp. 85–93.

9. Norman Marshall, The Other Theatre (London: J. Lehmann, 1947), pp. 100–01.

10. Nicoll, English Drama 1900–1930, p. 57.

11. Cochrane, Twentieth Century British Theatre, p. 109.

12. Ibid., p. 146.

13. With regards to referencing, ACGB and EL refer to the prefix for files located in the Arts Council of Great Britain archive in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Blythe House, London.

14. Robert Hewison, Culture and Consensus: England Art and Politics since 1940 (London: Methuen, 1995), p. 80; Olivia Turnbull, Bringing Down the House: The Crisis in Britain’s Regional Theatres (Bristol: Intellect Books, 2008), p. 11.

15. John Elsom, Post-War British Theatre (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976), p. 127; John Bull, ‘The Establishment of Mainstream Theatre, 1946–1979’, in The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Vol. 3: Since 1895, ed. by Baz Kershaw (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 326–48 (p. 332).

16. Cochrane, Twentieth Century British Theatre, p. 151; Dan Rebellato, 1956 and All That: The Making of Modern British Drama (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 58–59.

17. Michael MacOwan, Memorandum on Dramatic Policy by the Director, 30 July 1945, ACGB/35/304, p. 3.

18. Ibid., p. 1.

19. Michael MacOwan, Confidential Paper on Arts Council Drama Policy, appendix to paper no. 221, October 1946, ACGB/35/304, p. 1.

20. Ibid.

21. Mary Glasgow, Audiences for the Arts, Council Paper no. 240, 29 October 1947, EL4/47, p. 1.

22. Rebellato, 1956 and All That, p. 41; Turnbull, Bringing Down the House, p. 25.

23. Rebellato, 1956 and All That, p. 53.

24. Robert Hewison, Under Siege: Literary Life in London, 1939–45 (London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1977), p. 159.

25. CEMA Drama Panel Minutes, 4 August 1943, ACGB/35/304, p. 1.

26. CEMA Drama Panel Minutes, 6 December 1944, p. 2.

27. ‘According to the Finance New Duties Act of 1916: Section 1(5) (d), theatrical productions could be exempt from Entertainments’ Tax, if they were of an educational or partly educational character and given by non-profit making bodies’. See Jorn Weingartner, The Arts as a Weapon of War, Britain and the Shaping of National Morale in the Second World War (New York: Tauris Academic Studies, 2006), p. 115.

28. B. Ifor Evans and Mary Glasgow, The Arts in England (London: Falcon Press, 1949), p. 124.

29. John Pick claims the ‘arm’s length principle’ originated with the working methods of the War Office Cinematography Committee ‘which gave grants to British film producers, and accepted that control of content lay with the producers themselves and with the British Board of Film Censors, a body run by industry, and which had been formed in 1913’. See The State and the Arts, ed. by John Pick (East Sussex: John Offord, 1980), p. 19.

30. Minutes of Drama Panel, 29 May 1946, ACGB/35/304, p. 2.

31. The Arts Council of Great Britain Standard Drama Agreement, 9 October 1947, EL4/47, p. 1.

32. The ACGB identified support for ‘new ideas and experimentation’ as a priority in its first annual report and a member of the Drama Panel expressed fears that the Council’s policy of support for independent companies could ‘cripple experiment’. M. Browne, Arts Council Drama Panel Minutes, 29 April 1946, ACGB/35/304.

33. Memorandum to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Needs of the Arts Council, 1953/4, Council Paper no. 350, EL4/56.

34. Ibid.

35. The ACGB also began discussions with the Inland Revenue to exempt their associated companies from Income and Excess Profits taxes. In 1950, Tennents’s eligibility for income tax exemption was thrown out by the Court of Appeal who ruled that eligible companies ‘must be formed for charitable purposes only’. See correspondence in EL2/33.

36. Baz Kershaw, ‘British Theatre, 1940–2002: An Introduction’, in The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Vol. 3: Since 1895, ed. by Baz Kershaw (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 291–325 (p. 296).

37. The Arts Council of Great Britain Fifth Annual Report, 1949/50, p. 8. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-great-britain-5th-annual-report-1949-50> [accessed 13 November 2016].

38. The Arts Council of Great Britain Seventh Annual Report, 1951/52, p. 11. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/seventh-annual-report-arts-council-great-britain-1951-1952> [accessed 13 November 2016].

39. The Arts Council of Great Britain Second Annual Report, 1946/47, pp. 8–10

40. The Arts Council Great Britain Third Annual Report, 1947/8, p. 8. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-great-britain-3rd-annual-report-1947-8> [accessed 13 November 2016].

41. Report on Arts Centres, Council Paper no. 280, 10 November 1949, EL4/52.

42. Audiences for the Arts (1947); Entertainments Duty (1947); Report on Industrial Music Clubs (1948); Report by the Regional Directors on Arts Centres, Arts Clubs and Allied Problems (1948); Report by Regional Director on Theatre-less Town Tours in the North West (1949/50); Report on Directly Managed Companies (1950). See EL4/47, EL4/49, EL4/52, EL4/53.

43. Glasgow, Audiences for the Arts, p. 2.

44. Ibid., p. 4.

45. Ibid., p. 3.

46. Report on Industrial Music Clubs 1946–1948, Council Paper no. 252, EL4/49, p. 4.

47. Glasgow, Audiences for the Arts, pp. 3–4.

48. John Moody, Minutes of the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company Management Committee, 15 February 1952, ACGB/34/19.

49. Charles Landstone, Report on Directly Managed Drama Companies I: Tours to Theatre-less Towns, 14 March 1949, EL4/50, pp. 1–2. There were 484 performances attended by 169,142 people. There were also tours to the West Riding, the Nottingham Coalfields, West Wales, the Midlands, North Wales, and the market towns of East Anglia.

50. Ibid.

51. The Arts Council of Great Britain Fourth Annual Report, 1948–9, p. 26. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-great-britain-4th-annual-report-1948-9> [accessed 13 November 2016].

52. Minutes of the ACGB Executive Committee, 18 June 1947, EL4/44.

53. Ibid.

54. Glasgow, Audiences for the Arts, p. 2.

55. Ernest Pooley, ACGB Chairman, The Fourth Arts Council of Great Britain Annual Report, 1948/9, p. 25.

56. The Sixth Arts Council of Great Britain Annual Report, 1950/51, p. 23. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-great-britain-6th-annual-report-1950-51> [accessed 13 November 2016].

57. Minutes of the ACGB Council, 24 November 1948, EL4/51.

58. Report by the Regional Directors on Arts Centres, Arts Clubs and Allied Problems, Council Paper no. 256, November 1948, EL4/49.

59. Ibid.

60. Mary Glasgow, The Arts Council of Great Britain Relations with Local Authorities, 3 July 1945, EL5/28.

61. The Report of the General Purposes Committee of the Association of Municipal Corporations, 4 December 1947, EL5/28.

62. W. A. Robson, Civic Entertainment and its Cost: An Analysis Showing the Operation of the Entertainment Section (132) of the Local Government Act, 1948 (London: London Council of Social Service, 1954), p. 9.

63. Robert Hutchison, The Politics of the Arts Council (London: Sinclair Browne, 1982), p. 199.

64. Mary Glasgow, untitled and undated draft of article to be published in the Municipal Review, next to letter dated July 1948, EL5/28.

65. PRO T227/57, pp. 99–100, qtd. in Rebellato, 1956 and All That, p. 59.

66. ‘Mr Blenkinsop having run a little theatre at some time or other, will be rather sympathetic towards the interpretation [of Section 132] that the Arts Council […] may wish for in this matter. As you know some local authorities who are rather inclined to interpret Section 132 by setting up what almost amounts to Government controlled Theatres and this must be avoided at all costs.’ D. Mather, ACGB Regional Director North East, letter to Freda McLean, 20 May 1949, EL5/28.

67. Joe Hodgkinson, Regional Director North West Counties, letter to Eric White, ACGB, 8 February 1949, EL5/70.

68. Metropolitan Boroughs Standing Joint Committee General Purposes Sub-Committee, undated (but filed with a regional report dated February 1949), EL5/70.

69. John Moody, Policy of the Drama Department 1949–50, Supplementary Statement to Council Paper no. 269.

70. Ibid.

71. Ibid.

72. Raymond Williams, ‘The Arts Council: Politics and Policies’, The 1981 W. E. Williams Memorial Lecture Given at the National Theatre, 3 November 1981 (London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1981), pp. 9–16 (pp. 11–12).

73. John Moody, The Arts Council of Great Britain Programme for Drama, Council Paper no. 282 (276 revised), 1 January 1950, EL4/52.

74. Ibid.

75. The ACGB had previously rejected instigating such control over companies. Entertainments Tax: Memorandum from the Arts Council of Great Britain to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, p. 5.

76. Rebellato, 1956 and All That, p. 56. Rebellato argues here that Landstone’s objection was not to ‘Tennents per se’ – the following document would appear to contradict Rebellato’s argument. Charles Landstone, Tennent Productions Ltd., undated, ACGB/34/201.

77. Possible Anomalies and Abuses in the Workings of Any Non-Profit Distributing Companies (undated), ACGB/34/201.

78. John Moody, Notes on the Association of London Theatre Companies with The Arts Council, 6 November 1950, ACGB/34/201, p. 4.

79. John Moody, Memorandum from the Drama Director Re: The Council’s Drama Policy and Tennent Productions Ltd., 12 December 1949, ACGB/34/201.

80. John Moody, Confidential Paper on Associated London Companies, 6 December 1950, ACGB/34/201.

81. Landstone, Tennent Productions Ltd.

82. John Moody, Arts Council Policy in London, Including Suggestions for Prevention of Any Possible Anomalies and Abuses, 22 November 1949, ACGB/34/201.

83. Moody, Policy of the Drama Department 1949–50, Supplementary Statement to Council Paper no. 269.

84. Joe Hodgkinson, ACGB Drama Director, letter to Martin E. Brown, the British Drama League, 14 June 1956, ACGB/34/204.

85. William Emrys Williams, letter to Peter Carpenter, the British Drama League, 17 October 1957, ACGB/34/204.

86. Rebellato, 1956 and All That, p. 66.

87. The Arts Council of Great Britain Eighth Annual Report, 1952/3, p. 28. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/eighth-annual-report-arts-council-great-britain-1952-1953> [accessed 13 November 2016].

88. Housing the Arts: The Arts Council of Great Britain Tenth Annual Report 1954/55, p. 9. Available at: <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/tenth-annual-report-arts-council-great-britain-1954-1955> [accessed 13 November 2016].

89. Entertainments’ Tax continued to distort the market, furthering the economic strains on theatre, until the tax was finally abolished in 1957. The ACGB was criticised by the British Drama League for not campaigning against the tax.