For the last four years the we have been trying to map the field of small scale, community and creative theatre including theatre for young audiences. However as this field is so diverse and employs such a wide range of performers and facilitators, the committee campaigned and has acquired funding for a researcher to work for Equity and liaise with the Small Scale Theatre Committee for a minimum of a year to map the entire field of work including performance art and forms outside conventional theatre spaces.
The Small Scale Theatre Committee currently oversees:
Equity has been the Union of the Entertainment Industry for 75 years. The growth of the field of Small Scale Theatre, now at least 40 years old, is unprecedented and carries with it implications for the existing definitions within the industry and for the role of Equity as it's Union.
What was once regarded as “entertainment” is now playing a role in industry and business, in social regeneration and other government programmes. It has found a place for itself not only in arts centres but in the health sector, in the environment, in schools and education, in prisons, in trade unions, with older people, in development programmes run by National Government Offices (NGO's) worldwide and in a multiplicity of other settings.
It has placed itself in castles, ex-council houses, tobacco factories, forests, living rooms and on canals. It uses forms ranging from circus and conventional theatre to site-specific work and has easily adapted to incorporate the use of high technology. It is primarily characterised by an explosive diversity.
These developments are providing an enormous growth in career openings for our members both as employees and as originators of new work. Further, it can be seen that the term “Small Scale Theatre” is no longer adequate for a field containing work of many scales and using forms drawn from practices not previously included under the heading of “theatre”.
Over the last 10 years the committee has embarked successfully on a series of limited research projects to define the new areas of work. These were initiated by the work of the Small Scale Theatre Task Force in 2000, which interviewed a range of key practitioners in the fields and was followed up by the Small Scale Theatre Conference in 2002. The appointment of Bev Bailly, followed in post by Don Domonkos and currently by Matt Clarke, has expanded Equity's capacity to deal with the sector.
These developments have turned out to be preparatory to a wider investigation. It has become clear that a dedicated piece of research and mapping is now needed, a global view for the beginning of the 21 st century. It is crucial for Equity as a union to develop new ways of relating to this expansion in terms of contracts, recruitment, health and safety and a raft of allied issues.
The creation of a new post to carry out this role will provide the extra resources to boost the authority, presence and profile of Equity in workplaces and areas where at present it cannot penetrate.
It is envisaged that the post will be cost-effective in raising funds to finance itself from increased recruitment. Funding will be sought from appropriate funding sources on staff advice.
The following is a working re-definition of the field of Small Scale Theatre
The Companies, groups and individuals involved in Small Scale Theatre mostly generate work that falls into one of three categories:
They are largely independent of repertory and nationally funded theatres, are frequently non venue based and tour or transport their work to audiences in a wide range of theatre and non-theatre venues and sites. They are linked by a belief in some or all of the following: the transforming, entertaining, inspiring and educational power of theatre and the performing arts.