Hi guys,

 

This afternoon at 2pm on Wednesday 20th May 2009 I attended the Thames Variety Branch meeting of Equity at Equity's base in Guild House Upper St Martins Lane, near Covent Garden.  The Thames Variety Branch represents performers working in and around London.

 

I went to the meeting in an attempt to find out about support and funding for performance poetry.  A member of Arts Council England was also scheduled to appear.  The following write-up comprises what I gleaned from the meeting.  It was very educational.

 

PREAMBLE

 

There were a few initial notices about among other things a recent crackdown in Camden on burlesque dancing, a debate over laws regarding appearances in commercials and also the way pubs and clubs (popular venues for musicians, comedians and poets) have acclimatized to the smoking ban.

 

There was also some mention of the ARC - Annual Representative Council - where all the head committee members from Equity's different branches come together and propose different motions to improve the lot of their members. 

 

There was also some talk about CRB checks, where individuals are subject to a background check by the Criminal Records Bureau.  I had this done for a job this Christmas (which eventually I didn't take due other priorities) playing Santa Claus.  A lot of performers get this done when they are working very closely with children, for obvious reasons but some performers were having problems with the shifting rules and a member of the committee, a juggler and street performer, admitted to having a lost a job as a result.

 

ARTS COUNCIL

 

I am sure a number of you will be familiar with this particular arts body, but the glaring hole created by their absence in the meeting prompted considerable discussion from the members present.

 

The main gripe held by some members, and it seemed a legitimate one, was that it was very difficult to get Arts Council funding.  Asides from myself, there were a couple of other relatively new members including two standup comics, one of whom wanted to tour a show.  The only problem was he needed to arrange the tour in order get funding from the Arts Council, but without the funding from the Arts Council he couldn't arrange the tour.

 

The branch committee members admitted this was not uncommon.  This was down to a variety of reasons.  Their forms change every year, they have not got clearly defined concepts or standards of excellence and through this they make it very hard for people to get funding.

 

The main solution to all this was try and do as much as possible yourself, and set oneself up in a business-like way.  This would help them to take you seriously.  Several individuals known to the Branch had done something like this and succeeded in getting funding.

   

Nevertheless, the Thames Variety Branch felt done over by the Arts Council and the difficult bureaucratic measures they imposed on performers trying to get funding.  A motion was proposed and seconded to write a strongly-worded letter to the Council to explain their actions and non-appearance at the meeting. 

 

PERFORMANCE POETRY - FUNDING AND SUPPORT

 

It was after all this the Chair cleared the way for me to make my queries.  

 

The first question I asked the board was: is spoken word/performance poetry recognised as an art form by Equity?  It turns out in fact it is - it comes under their storytelling remit.  A number of performers get subsidies from local councils to read poetry in local libraries for either one-off events or tours and projects.

 

The main source of support or funding for performances, asides from the Arts Council and Equity, is through the National Lottery.  Equity itself, I was told, can offer support for performers but the catch is they need to become members of Equity.  The catch is that one would need to fill the criteria for membership and this can be problematic with so few paid gigs around.  The basic criteria for Equity Membership is one or both of the following: a record of training at an accredited school and/or a proven record (usually in the form of a contract) of two paid jobs.   As far as I know there are no schools for performance poetry so a record of two paid gigs would be the best option, from my knowledge, for performers.  It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, similar to the Arts Council conundrum described above.  You need Equity Membership to be recognised as professional, yet without actual paid professional gigs you can't get recognised by Equity. The fees are not costly.  I pay an £8 monthly subscription to the Union, which I think is pretty reasonable.

 

The branch seemed helpful and pointed out the festival circuit and the Scottish scene as being strong places for poetry.  I have never done a festival gig but having visited Scotland earlier this year I would certainly agree the scene there is thriving, especially in the central belt.  They all said that poetry was very hot now, with the BBC doing a lot of radio shows and more coverage of it than ever before.

 

I was asked my experiences and background and as I talked to them, they took notes about shows and venues I was aware of.  I told of them of the various organisations I'd done performance poetry for and most of the nights I'd been to.  Whilst my opinion of the scene is in the main a positive one, I brought up one or two aspects that I thought could be improved.  I was asked if I knew about printed records of gigs for performance poets.  I am unaware of anything like that, although the Internet is a good source for finding gigs and I cited the website WriteOutLoud on which I have a page as being a consistent online source for performance poetry gigs.

 

Another thing I know people on the scene, asides from lack of remuneration and funding, is admission fees.  This a very tricky issue in a town with so many open-mic nights but I know there are performers who will not go to a particular gig because even though they are performing and are in essence part of the entertainment they still have to pay to get in.  The promoters and organisers must of course pay rent and venue fees etc, which especially in the West End do not come cheap.  I know then this won't be easy, but I think this is worthy of further investigation to minimise costs for performers even in the harsh economic climate we are currently living in.

 

That's pretty much what I got through with the Thames Variety Branch of Equity.  Whether they take action and investigate everything we discussed remains to be seen.  If I feel the need, I will return to the Branch again to raise anything new I have found on this issue that is worthy of the Branch's attention.  I hope my write-up here has been useful to those who have read it and that it helps open the door for further discussion and action in terms of funding and representation for performance poets here in London.

 

Yours,

 

Alain