Prof. Nick Kaye - University of Exeter

Dear Judie and Richard

I am writing of course to express my deep alarm at the prospect of this threat to CPR’s continuity of funding and the implicit danger to CPR’s relationship with Aberystwyth University. As I’m sure many of my colleagues have already affirmed, CPR’s contribution to and reputation in the field of performance practice and research is, as far as I am aware, unrivalled. As a laboratory space for the generation, exchange and development of interdisciplinary practices of the highest calibre, as well as a space for reflection and dialogue in theatre, performance and cultural and arts theory, CPR provides an invaluable contribution to the field internationally while very significantly advancing the profile of performance research and practice in the UK.

CPR’s collaboration with Aberystwyth is, to my knowledge, unique in the UK in its bridging of the development of contemporary performance practice and the resources of one the UK’s leading research-led departments of drama, television and film.

In these various contexts, and given CPR’s vital contribution across a range of cultural fields, I find the threat to the organisation’s continuity of funding incomprehensible. I hope, therefore, that this mistaken decision will be reconsidered as a matter of urgency by the Council.

Best wishes,

Nick Kaye
Professor, Chair in Performance Studies
Director of Research, School of Arts, Languages and Literature
Department of Drama
University of Exeter