National Theater WalesNational Theater Wales is over.
The company says it has since “ceased to exist”. Loss of all Arts Council Wales (ACW) funding in 2023.
Naomi Chaffey, head of collaboration at the troubled company, described it as “devastating” but came after a year of difficult self-reflection.
The company will now change to TEAM (Theatre, Engagement, Music, Arts), focusing on the grassroots work it has always done within the community and education.
“I think we stopped listening,” Ms. Chaffey said.
“It’s been a tough few months to try and get our heads around it, but it’s really forced us to look at what we do well and what’s important to people.”
“I think what we’ve realized now is that it’s time to let the production go somewhere else with other people, and realize that we’re really good.”
In September 2023 the company discovered it had lost £1.6m of core funding from ACW in its investment review.
Ms Chaffey said the company had got “a lot of things wrong” but the real problem was that it had “stopped listening properly” to the arts sector and the public.
“What was really successful about the early days of the organization was that through models like Team, it was really listening to communities, listening to artists, listening to audiences and adapting accordingly,” he said. was working.”
“And I think that when we stopped listening to the people we really needed to listen to, and engaged in the way we could, we started doing things that maybe had as much impact. It wasn’t as exciting as it used to be.”
“I think it all boils down to this: are we listening and are we actually responding to what Wales wants and needs.
“A scheme like TEAM democratises the arts, brings it to people who don’t think the arts are for them and brings out new talent which is really exciting.”
Abena-Mintaah Mensah, a singer-songwriter and youth coordinator at TEAM, said: “Encouraging young people to be artistic and creative is very important.”
She was speaking at a TEAM event in Cardiff celebrating the end of a project with students from ACT, a school for pupils excluded from mainstream education.
Tobias Wetherburn, a professional actor who will be taking a team project to Cardiff schools in January, was disappointed at the end of National Theater Wales, but grateful that his grassroots work will continue.
“I grew up with National Theater Wales so it’s sad, but I’m glad the team will continue.”
The National Theater Wales was established in 2009 and has since received funding from Arts Council Wales.
Early successes include a ground-breaking passion game in Port Talbot with Michael Sheen in 2011, which ran over three days and attracted 25,000 fans.
In a letter to ACW last October, the company warned it would close without its funding, and said at the time: “It is not easily or cheaply replaced if lost. will go.”
David Rice, ACW’s chief executive, said that since the “difficult decision” about funding had been made, he had worked with the theater “to help them refocus on a model that Envision and restructure that does not rely on core funding on a multi-year basis”. .
Mr Rice said transition funding was given to theaters, for example, to look at new ways of working.
“We look forward to continuing our regular dialogue with National Theater Wales as they enter this new phase of their development,” he said.
“We’ve also produced a review of English-language theater in Wales, which will be published in the spring.”