Blog:Dame Judi Dench’s fears of arts funding ’siphoned off’ for Olympics
Dame Judi Dench has called for arts funding to Shoes Mbt be fixed and ring-fenced as film and theatre subsidies are “siphoned off” to pay for the 2012 Olympics.
Dame Judi, who plays Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, Surrey, early next year, said: “I want to play the role, obviously, but I’m also doing my bit to keep [the theatre] open. I am concerned that they’ve taken a lot of the subsidy to the arts away for the Olympics. It’s been siphoned off.”
She added that the financial crisis was leading to project cuts and job losses in the arts. “There’s no question that the recession has had an effect on the arts, especially on British films,” she said. “Things are not being greenlit as much and it is more difficult for people to get work.
“When you go abroad people always talk with such love about Mbt British theatre, but the irony is that it’s not appreciated by the Government as it should be. The state of the arts has always been, and will always be, precarious. But there is something so alarming about the huge cuts made to companies, particularly when you read of the astronomical amounts some people are earning, like bankers.”
Dame Judi, 75, who stars in the BBC’s Cranford Christmas special, said that arts funding should be protected. “I mourn that there are so many repertory companies that aren’t around any more,” she added.
“I don’t want the arts to take the form of a reality programme. I heard somebody say the other day that it is good if people can bring drink and food into a theatre and get up and go if they don’t like the play.
“Well, yes, go out if you don’t like it, but where do you draw the line?Mbt shoe They tell people not to take pictures of us on stage but when you look up you see 100 red [camera and mobile phone] lights twinkling at you.”
Celebrity culture had led to a “quick fix” mentality, she said. “Young actors think a big part will change their lives, without any back-up. Young actors go into a run and don’t do all the performances. That would have been unheard of at one time.”
Dame Judi said that she did not want to be thought of as a “national treasure”.discount Mbt shoes The term was “too dusty, too in a cupboard, too behind glass, too staid. I don’t want to be thought of as recognisable — I always want to do the most different thing I can think of next.”
The United Kingdom Film Council, which funds films and film-makers and helps to pay for foreign films to be shown in Mbt.com British cinemas, is facing a cut of 15 per cent, or £19.95 million, in its lottery funding over the next five years because of the the Olympics.
Tags: Dame Judi, siphoned of
