David Agler's views on the state of Wexford Festival Opera.
Strengths: Our tradition, our patrimony, the contribution we have made to the arts in this country and our contribution to the operatic world internationally. The festival's local strength is what it has done for the recognition of Wexford as a place, and what it has done, especially in the early days, for the economy of Wexford. We have, however, an international fraternity of friends. I think it is time for the festival to call these people to their responsibilities.
Weaknesses: In today's time it is that it may be governed too locally. I believe it is time for the governance of the company to be more national. We are going to have, hopefully, a big new facility to run, maintain and finance. We are going to need to deepen and widen the support we have. We have financial issues that grow out of the sheer cost of running an opera company in a country which does not, frankly, subsidise the arts in the way that most European nations do. I sometimes wonder if our location is a blessing to us in these times. Because Ireland is no longer inexpensive, and it becomes quite an investment to visit Wexford now. Dublin is becoming a real, fantastic place, and we are going to have to be very clever to keep our place in this world.
Opportunities: We are going to have to market ourselves - excuse the word - in a way that is exciting and compelling. We have an opportunity to increase the participation of the Irish nation in coming to Wexford. I think that Wexford must sell the festival, and not just the festival but this whole region of Ireland, as an opportunity. The new theatre is going to give us a marvellous opportunity to expand our recognition, both in the nation and abroad. Everybody comes to look at a new theatre. I think our contribution in this way will be for the general development of the arts in this part of Ireland.
Threats: In an expensive Ireland, how are we going to still make this an attractive thing for people to do? We also have the same threat that I think every cultural organisation in the Western world has right now, which is the immense power of popular culture, and the declining interest on the part of our civic and political leaders in sponsoring culture in the broad sense of the word. We are going to have to find a way of trying to engage the leaders of the society in the importance of arts education in the schools, because without that there is no future.
