Kate Hannah Perry - Director of Au Brana Cultural Centre and member of OBRA theatre company.

Dear Judie

I am appalled, absolutely appalled at the Arts Council of Wales decision to withdraw funding from the CPR. My recognition of the profound effect that CPR's work has had on my own can be seen through varying routes;

- As a theatre student at Rose Bruford between 2000-2003 I found the Performance Research journal a valuable source for my studies in European Theatre Arts. I found the journal informative for my research as it was one of the only publications to consider not only new directions in performance and training but placed them in relation to European theatre history. As a theatre maker I continue to refer to the journals to reassess my company's work within Contemporary practice and as a way to stay informed.

- As a practitioner in Europe I cannot ignore how many of the now established (in terms of recognition, financially independent and respected) companies that I have learnt from through workshops owe a debt to the CPR for supporting their work in the early stages. I refer to Song of the Goat, Gardzienice among a long list who were able to reach a larger audience through leading workshops and performing with the support of the CPR. New and exciting work can only continue to evolve if there are respected institutions that are prepared to help companies during their early fragile stages. If one sees that a project has been supported by CPR, the International theatre community can safely be assured that the group involved are working towards something unique or have redefined their craft.

- As a director of a cultural centre in Southern France I looked to the CPR as a model for how to create an institution that supports new work and can be a resource for developing artists. When I had the opportunity to meet with Judie Christie last November I was heartened by the centre's continuing openness to new ideas. After 30 years, the CPR's doors are still open to young theatre makers and I found myself treated as an equal rather than a beginner. The response to our project was not that we were in competition but rather, how can we be in contact to help each other further? How can we pool our collective knowledge to continue to seek out new work and bring it to a larger audience? I left Aberystwyth with more ideas and more contacts and content that in the modern climate of competition and everyone pushing to grab at what little is available, that there are still institutions that recognise that art can only survive through collaboration.
Our centre in France and theatre company are in their formative stages, I hope that in 30 years we will have achieved even just a fraction of what the CPR has in terms of support for the arts. New and experimental work, alongside the safe-guarding of traditional practice requires that there are established institutions to take risks and help to cultivate new directions in theatre. In Western Europe I know of only one place that has collected an archive of publications and video that is selective in it's quality but not closed in terms of content, as it really represents a broad spectrum of Theatre practice. This archive is added to daily and the number of companies that can benefit from the CPR's support grows daily. The theatre community need daily access to the CPR and this cannot happen if they are limited by project to project funding. The remarkable nature of the CPR is that it is a constant resource, something that is ongoing and not governed by people having to compete to be the best at selling their product.

Kate Hannah Perry

Director of Au Brana Cultural Centre and member of OBRA theatre company.


With our best best wishes
Kate
Au Brana Cultural Centre, France
www.aubrana.com