Should there be a Welsh Edinburgh Venue like Northern Stage?

Should there be a Welsh Edinburgh Venue like Northern Stage?

Tim Price, 15 September 2012

Debate sparked by Northern Stage and Old Vic New Voices curated venues.

Participants expressed financial pressures of taking shows to Edinburgh, and the support offered by a RFO organisation would make taking shows much more viable.

Discussion took place about what a Welsh venue could look like. Would it be digital?

Why is there a perception that Venue 13, the current showcase venue for RWCMD is not a successful showcase for Welsh shows?

There was a feeling that perhaps we should not be looking to Edinburgh to take our work to an International level, but that there should be an equivalent Welsh festival. Discussion took place on what kind of form that might take.

Discussion took place about if there was a version of Forest Fringe that could be staged purely for Welsh work. What lessons can we learn from Forest Fringe?

Discussion about branding Welsh work in Edinburgh, which would allow work to go into different venues yet still feel part of a programme.

Much discussion about Escalator East and why there is no Welsh version. Why is East

Anglia more successfully represented in Edinburgh than Wales?

Suggestion made that there should be a similar scheme as Escalator East along with a festival in Wales where the Escalator Shows can return to as centrepiece shows.

Tags:

edinburgh, Wales, arts, Council, Vic, Edinburgh, Old, Escalator, East, Arts