‘ . . . it is an important challenge to many assumptions about how and why things are
done in the arts and it should be widely read and considered.’ Caroline Clark www.gwales.com
‘ . . . it is an important challenge to many assumptions about how and why things are
done in the arts and it should be widely read and considered.’ Caroline Clark www.gwales.com
‘ . . . a brave book and one that should be welcomed . . . ’ (Planet)
Communication Breakdowns is a ground-breaking book that will be essential for anyone interested in the future of theatre in both Wales and the United Kingdom as a whole, from performers and administrators to academics, critics and theatre-goers.
It tells the story of theatre in Wales against a background of rapid change, deep tensions, and numerous policy reports, coinciding with the development of the Welsh Assembly and the demise of ‘Cool Cymru’. Ruth Shade gives voice to the performance practices of the south Wales Valleys and investigates the relationship between politics and performance, the conundrum of ‘community’ theatre, and the nature of indigenous theatre in the context of state subsidy. Communication Breakdowns follows the changing cultural and political position of Wales during the last decade through a social history of performance traditions in one small Welsh, English-speaking, working-class town in the Valleys.
‘Ruth Shade’s Communication Breakdowns is a significant contribution to writing about theatre in Wales and, indeed, an exemplary piece of class-based deconstruction, in that it interrogates the powerful centre (state funding for the arts in Wales) from a position in the margins (the people of Aberdare). By interrogating the inbuilt tensions, contradictions and subjective values that underpin assumptions about prevailing cultural policy, it shows how hierarchies of value are created, maintained and, sometimes, opposed. As with any good polemic, the reader will find much to enliven, agree with and argue about. In so doing, it offers a very incisive and passionate study, even if it does not draw everyone to the same conclusions.’ Simon Harris, Artistic Director, SgriptCymru
Ruth Shade argues that although theatre should make connections between performers and audiences, much contemporary theatre offers a pre-prepared product for the audience to consume. Instead, Welsh theatre should become more inward-looking, more parochial and more populist. Such a ‘radical parochialism’ is profoundly opposed to consumerist approaches to theatre performance, and challenges the dominant ways of thinking about theatre in contemporary Britain.
“Anyone remotely interested in theatre in Wales should read this book.
Shade argues that in the past ten years, Welsh theatre has become the prerogative of the few, and that due to confused leadership and funding policies the audiences have been ignored. It is particularly the working class audience of the densely populated South Wales Valleys that concern her. She believes in a Welsh theatre where class issues stand hand in hand with Art, and that this issue is as relevant for amateur theatre as the professional artist.
She’s a champion of popularism, and sees no reason why theatre in Wales cannot achieve the popularity of Welsh rock music. There’s controversy here when she states that theatre in Wales should worry less about its Welshness, and instead find a relevance to its audience.
Shade strongly argues that if theatre is to survive in Wales, it had to be returned to the working class communities in a partnership with professional community arts, amateur theatre, their participants and audiences. Strong stuff. Some might say “why go back?”, others “why did we dismantle what was working?”. In the end she returns to the audience – as we all must if we are to create theatre that people want to see.
Fundamentally Shade believes that there is a communication breakdown between the funders, the policy makers, the producers of theatre and the audience. It is not, she states, too late for the politicians, the civil servants, the academics and the theatre practitioners to look to and be empowered by the needs of the audience in Wales. Then, and only then, will there be a shared ownership of Welsh theatre. Shade has a point – and a very strong one at that.” Phil Clark, Artistic Director/Chief Executive, Sherman Theatre.
Ruth Shade is Course Leader in Drama at the University of Wolverhampton. She has written widely on contemporary theatre and Welsh identity, including recent pieces in Planet on Welsh drama policy, theatre in Aberdare and the history of Welsh rock music.
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