ARTICOLO The Gap in the Fence: Austerity Cuts, Retrenchment and European Theatre’s Wake-Up

As the world well knows, austerity cuts in Europe mean that small-to-medium theatre companies are facing an uncertain future, to the extent that the golden age of funding is coming to an end. But has the theatre this funding has produced been golden in itself? And are we Europeans turning a drama into a crisis when we use the term “austerity”? Some spending cuts have been implemented in a few countries, and some of these have been undoubtedly harsh, partcularly (and partcularly well-documented) in Greece and Spain. If the data of spending cuts was adjusted for infaton, which would make for a more accurate picture, we would probably see a slight decrease and certainly a fa6er line for all countries, but it is clear that funding for the arts is being cut down, cut back and in some case cut oH. All good things must come to an end, and in terms of funding, and certainly in the UK, the last decade has been one of the best tmes to work in a small scale touring theatre company since the easy cash-for-arts days of the 1970s. In fact, the Arts Council of England funding has been relatvely stable for a number of years, with smaller companies enjoying an increase in base nancial support. Funding has largely been maintained and many theatre companies have proliferated in the last decade. It is worth pausing for a moment to refect on the fact that these small-to-medium sized companies are the backbone of the performing arts i