Dramatic conversations
SHETLAND Arts’ new general manager Graeme Howell said he hopes to formulate a strategy for promoting drama in the isles over the next few months following two meetings this week.
On Tuesday Howell met with more than 20 members of various local drama groups, followed by a public meeting with a similar number of people on Thursday.
He said the meetings had been “really useful” and he planned to hold similar “conversations” over the next two years with other interest groups to help set priorities for the organisation’s future.
This week’s meetings were held in Lerwick’s Garrison Theatre, which is popular with the local amateur dramatic scene, but is an expensive building to maintain.
The discussions covered a wide range of topics, including ensuring there was a platform for local talent, maintaining a level of professional theatre skills on the islands and bringing up high quality touring productions.
At Thursday’s meeting the idea of bringing up more quality theatre productions to the islands was brought up, along with theatre residencies and performances outside traditional venues.
“It has been really interesting to find out what different priorities people have,” Howell said after Thursday’s meeting.
“This has been a very important start to how we want to run Shetland Arts and is the first of a number of conversations I want us to have.
“Obviously now we have a lot of thinking to do before any decisions are made about how we might support the development of drama over the next few years.
“We also have to take into account the views of people like Creative Scotland, Shetland Charitable Trust and Shetland Islands Council, whose are all important.”
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