Dr Sharon Mazer, Head, Department of Theatre & Film Studies, University of Canterbury & Peter Falkenberg, Director, Te Puna Toi, New Zealand

Dear Richard and Judie

We are writing to express our astonishment and dismay at the decision by the Arts Council of Wales to eliminate CPR’s revenue grant. This will cripple the ability of CPR to sustain its diverse programmes on an ongoing basis. Given the extraordinary contribution that the Centre for Performance Research has made to the understanding and practice of theatre, performance, art and culture – in Wales and internationally – such a decision seems to run counter to the fundamental principles of the Arts Council.

It is impossible to overstate our reliance on CPR, as partners to our own Te Puna Toi (Performance Research Project NZ) and as leaders in the field. For so many years, we have looked to CPR – from our small island outpost to yours – to provide resources, expertise and inspiration and also as a mirror to our own efforts to develop performance research in a way that is at once locally specific and internationally significant. Where would we be without your annual and special events, your performances, publications and provocations, and your archives? How can it be that the Arts Council of Wales no longer recognises the value of CPR, CPR’s committed contributions to Welsh culture and arts and the ways in which CPR has made Wales a destination for all of us, performers, artists and scholars throughout the world?

Through you, we wish to add our voices here to those urging the Arts Council to reconsider its decision. The money involved cannot be so great, not when the value of what is produced as a result of CPR’s day-to-day operations is considered fully.

Best, and kia kaha



Dr Sharon Mazer Peter Falkenberg
Head, Department of Theatre & Film Studies Director, Te Puna Toi
University of Canterbury Artistic Director, Free Theatre
Christchurch Christchurch
New Zealand New Zealand