All Together Now? Conference Ended

A few post-conference thoughts

Many thanks to everyone who came to speak or to listen. 120 delegates from across the world gathered at the Warwick Arts Centre to address a range of questions around the debates about British theatre and multiculturalism - from the promise and perils of theatre as social engineering, the way theatre can explore the histories of identity, the complexity of colour-blind casting, the challenges of 'regional' theatre and finding new audiences, the rights and responsibilities involved in offending your audiences, and the troubled st...

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All Together Now? British Theatre after Multiculturalism

A British theatre conference - Warwick Arts Centre - 13-14 June 2009

Under Labour, the arts were charged with challenging social exclusion, celebrating diversity and reasserting Britishness. But is there a contradiction between diversity and national identity? Should theatre foster cohesion or challenge it? If multiculturalism is dead, should theatre be promoting it? Is the theatre's role to encourage tolerance or provoke outrage? This two-day conference at Warwick Arts Centre, debates theatre's relationship with the community, with identity politics, with the emergent nationalisms of Scotland a...

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How Was it For Us? British Theatre Under Tony Blair

A British Theatre Conference - Writer's Guild Centre London - 9th Dec 2007

In 1997, Tony Blair became Prime Minister in a wave of renewed cultural confidence. The new government abolished entrance charges to museums and galleries, encouraged widening access to the arts, and made a generous new settlement to regional theatre. The newlyd-devolved Scottish Executive made real the long-held dream of a National Theatre of Scotland. So what did happen? Did extra funding transform British theatre? Did access trump excellence (or the other way round)? Are verbatim and performance theatre new waves or last g...

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Conference Programme

Posted on June 4, 2009

Saturday 11.00-13.00 Intro keynote and panel: A national narrative? Michael Boyd on Shakespeare’s Different Histories; Playwright Howard Brenton, director and actor Barrie Rutter. 13.00-14.15: Lunch 14.15-15.45: Access schmaccess? Barbara Matthews (Arts Council of England), commentator Mark Lawson and Ed Vaizey MP (Conservative Arts spokesman)  15.45-16.15: Tea  16.15-17.45: Mistaken identity? Playwrights Alia Bano,  Kwame Kwei-Armah ...

Related Theatrical Debates:

Posted on June 4, 2009

There were many theatrical events recently that link directly to the issues of our conference. Below, you will find discussions of three of the most noteworthy, covering between them many of the most pressing aspects of the concept of ‘All Together Now’. This coverage is far from comprehensive and you will no doubt have your own preferred bibliography.

All Together Now: The Caravan

Posted on April 11, 2009

The acclaimed verbatim theatre show, The Caravan, by Look Left, Look Right will be running at the Warwick Arts Centre during the conference, All Together Now: British Theatre after Multiculturalism. In Summer 2007 severe flooding across the UK brought misery to thousands ...


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