Fern Smith - Co-Artistic Director, Volcano Theatre Company, Swansea

Dear Judie,

I just wanted to add our voice to the many letters of support which I am sure you are receiving in response to the ACW decision to withdraw revenue funding from CPR, both as an individual who has participated in many of your workshops over a number of years and as a representative of Volcano Theatre. The work of CPR has made Wales a more dynamic and innovative place to be involved in the performing arts. Personally, I have gained much from the training I have received from the many theatre and voice specialists I have had the pleasure to work with, such as Kristin Linklater and Miranda Tufnall. The training and workshops that CPR offer is the best in the UK. Many times I have had conversations with workshop participants who bemoaned the fact that no such organisation in England offered training of the quality and variety found at CPR. The contacts made and inspiration drawn from my involvement in these workshops has had a substantial impact on my skills and development as a performer and director with Volcano Theatre. Volcano is a company which shares the international outlook of CPR. We have collaborated with many international partners and share a belief that Wales can only maintain a dynamic and flourishing theatre ecology if it looks outward as well as inward for its inspiration. CPR is one of the most important organisations within Wales which can connect Welsh theatre to a European and international perspective. From the perspective of a Wales-based theatre maker, I believe that our country's cultural landscape would suffer without CPR. It is valued and respected outside Wales. All too often I feel that we do not champion our own successes and heroes sufficiently at home. CPR is regarded by colleagues involved in the arts overseas as a first-rate and inimitable organisation. We should be protecting and encouraging our success stories and not dismantling them.

Yours,

Fern Smith
Co-Artistic Director

Fern SmithArtistic Director
Volcano Theatre Company, Swansea
www.volcanotheatre.co.uk