Lack of arts schemes for working class will make UK theatre whiter and posher, director says

By Lanre Bakare, The Guardian

The lack of investment in arts schemes aimed at working-class children will create a cultural landscape that is whiter and posher, according to one of the UK’s leading black British theatre directors.

Tinuke Craig, who has worked on productions including the Donmar Warehouse’s Trouble in Butetown, said the current crop of black British theatre talent was developed in the 1990s when free schemes aimed at improving access to the arts for working-class communities were common.

Craig, who was brought up in Brixton, refers to the 90s as the “peak scheme era”. Since then, Arts Council England funding has been cut by more than 30% and several academic studies have shown that the arts are becoming the preserve of the wealthy – and Craig fears productions are producing a narrower worldview.

“I worry about that,” she said. “It won’t be immediately noticeable, but it suddenly will be 15 years down the line and we’ll go: ‘Oh, all the directors coming out of drama schools this year are from this very, very specific demographic, in terms of money and in terms of class and race.”

Craig is seen as one of the most exciting young British theatre directors in Britain and is part of a wave of diverse talent in the West End and on other UK stages, which includes Paapa Essiedu in Death of England: Delroy, The Hot Wing King at the National Theatre and Shifters in the West End.

Read more to learn about her latest work and theater in the UK.

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