Notes on a scandal

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WORDS Kayla Walsh & Katherine Murphy

ILLUSTRATION Alice Wilson

January was a controversial month for the arts in Ireland. It began with scandal over the policies of the board managing the Limerick City of Culture project, which saw the resignation of its artistic director, two non-staff programmers, and, eventually, its CEO. We then witnessed the appearance of Dublin’s most famous drag queen, Rory O’Neill (alias Panti Bliss) on the Saturday Night Show, during which he referenced individuals in a discussion about homophobia in Irish media. This sparked a backlash of complaints and threats of legal action, leading to RTÉ removing the interview from its website and handing over €85,000 in damages to the offended parties. Finally, to add to the chaos within the arts sector, 79-year-old playwright, filmmaker and peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy was sentenced to three months in prison for protesting against US military use of Shannon airport. These events attracted a huge amount of media coverage, drawing more and more people into the debate.

People and institutions within the arts have always had a complicated relationship with the press. On one hand, they rely on journalists for their livelihood — to get the word out about their work, to write reviews of their shows and encourage readers to see them, or to give them feedback so they can improve. On the other hand, the press can destroy them, exposing their flaws and corruptions and deterring potential audiences and patrons from supporting them. The power and influence held by the media has resulted in an uncomfortable situation, wherein artists court and flatter the press, giving them special treatment, while at the same time viewing them with distrust or resentment.

The tension between journalists and artists can clearly be seen in the recent feud between The Irish Times and the Abbey Theatre. Last month, the newspaper published an article revealing that, according to a panel of assessors, the Abbey is failing to meet its goal of producing “world-class theatre”. The judging panel consisted of Mike Griffiths (former administrative director of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh), Ray Foster (a professor at Oxford University), and Nicolas Kent (an English theatre director). They were appointed by the Abbey, in conjunction with the Arts Council, which provided the national theatre with €7.1 million in funding last year — almost half of the total annual grant awarded to performing arts organisations in Ireland. The evaluations were commissioned in order to “attempt to resolve continuing tensions between The Abbey and the Arts Council”, but the results were undeniably disappointing. The panel, who assessed twelve productions in all, ranked only four as “very good” or “excellent”, while elements of some productions were determined to be of an unacceptably low professional standard.

The director of the Abbey, Fiach MacConghail, penned an angry response to the “cruel” and “unprecedented” publication of these reports, which were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. He claimed that The Irish Times failed to provide a clear context for the evaluations, that their contents were “private” and that the process was not yet completed. Understandably, he defended his theatre, explaining the difficulties of working with diminished resources and stating that “artists should be able to create theatre and art in supportive and respectful conditions”. In his opinion, the venue is meeting its goal of engaging with and reflecting Irish life, and the newspaper had no right to jeopardise its commercial success or refuse to take into account the artistic sensitivities of the theatre practitioners involved in its productions.

“Who regulates the standards of ‘world class’ and what does that term actually mean: that a production can play as easily in Delhi or Wroclaw, Sao Paulo or Hamburg? Or is it something more uncomfortable, insecure and postcolonial: the Irish National Theatre seeking ‘world class’ legitimation from the UK?”

Other artists, journalists and writers are divided over the debate. Some have berated the Irish Times for its apparent opportunism and attempts to undermine the Abbey during the three-day Theatre of Memory of Symposium it hosted last month. Others are firmly on the side of the publication, believing that information of this nature should always be made available to its readers.

The Irish Times theatre critic Peter Crawley spoke to tn2 regarding the controversy. He declared that, given that the Abbey was responsible for calling in the panel, the problem is one of the theatre’s “own creation”. Like any publicly funded institution, it must be available for public scrutiny. The Arts Council, too, should be submitted to such an examination. The public wants to know where its money is going and whether it is being used wisely. In addition, Crawley explained how the term “world class” is problematic and unclear: “It’s about who’s asking whom. Who regulates the standards of ‘world class’ and what does that term actually mean: that a production can play as easily in Delhi or Wroclaw, Sao Paulo or Hamburg? Or does it mean that a production can play, more specifically, in London or New York? Or is it something more uncomfortable, insecure and postcolonial: the Irish National Theatre seeking ‘world class’ legitimation from the UK?”

Regardless of whether or not one agrees with the publication of the reports, it is obvious that they have placed strain on the relationship between the theatre and the press. In the eyes of MacConghail, The Irish Times have launched nothing less than a malicious attack on the theatre. Taking into account the events mentioned above, this only adds to the idea that the arts are currently under siege in Ireland. In today’s society, the arts are often underappreciated, shunted aside or forgotten about in favour of “more important” issues. Newspapers and theatres are (usually) full of creative, hard-working people who want to make a difference. If you ask me, they should be working together.

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