Some arts organisations will enjoy a major funding increase next year, writes Rosita Boland
Overall, there was excellent news for most of the 410 arts organisations which this week received individual notice of funding from the Arts Council. All funding results were posted yesterday on the council's website. The Arts Council funded 297 organisations this year; the total allocation was €61 million.
There were some very significant increases for many of the successful arts organisations. Chief among them are the Dublin Theatre Festival, which went from €590,000 to €750,000. Druid Theatre, which are staging the entire cycle of Synge plays next year, went from €560,000 to €717,500. Dance in general, which in other years has been overlooked, did very well.
The Fabulous Beast dance company, which presented a critically acclaimed Giselle in 2003, tripled their funding, going from €92,000 to €270,000.
Film also benefited. The Cork Film Festival, whose city is the European City of Culture next year, went from €190,000 to €250,000. Dublin's Darklight Film Festival went from €12,000 to €45,000.
The smaller regional arts festivals also did very well. Donegal's Errigal received €50,000 more; Carlow's Éigse got €25,000 more; and Cork's Midsummer did best of all, going from €35,000 to €85,000.
Not all arts festivals did so well. Kilkenny's Cat Laughs Comedy festival saw their funding drop from €95,000 in 2003 to €70,000. The Cat Laughs also lost their sponsor this year. "It was a complete shock to us. Very disappointing," Lynne Cahill, the festival's producer, said this week. "As we had lost our sponsor this year, we would have been expecting the Arts Council to row in behind us."
The State's biggest festival, the Galway Arts Festival, received no increase in funding, standing still at the 2003 figure of €380,000. "We're a bit shocked and taken aback and are very much looking forward to meeting the Arts Council early in the year to discuss it further," reported Rose Parkinson, the festival's outgoing director. There was no increase for the Dublin Fringe Festival either, but Kilkenny Arts Festival went from €340,000 to €365,000.
Among the music applicants, the Wexford Opera Festival went from €800,000 to €950,000. Opera Theatre Company went up €80,000. Traditional music in general did well this year, and the flagship Willie Clancy summer school doubled their funding from €27,000 to €50,000. One music organisation which lost out, however, was the Galway Early Music festival, whose funding was cut from €15,000 to €10,000.
In literature, the Irish Writers' Centre saw a significant cut, going from €170,000 to €150,000. The Munster Literature Centre increased by €15,000. Among the publishing companies, O'Brien Press for children had by far the biggest increase, going from €38,000 to €62,000. Poetry did well, with Gallery Press getting an additional €10,000, and Poetry Ireland's funding went up 20 per cent. "The Arts Council had 16 per cent extra funding this year and we went up 20 per cent, so you can't argue with that," said director Joseph Woods.
Most production companies also did well, with some seeing their funding double or increase significantly from last year. Bedrock, which produced Caryl Churchill's Far Away and Alex Johnston's Entertainment this year, received €182,000, an €80,000 increase. "We're very happy," said director Jimmy Fay. Bedrock are planning two shows for next year. One of them, The Shooting Gallery, is a commission jointly written by Des Bishop and Arthur Riordan.
Upstate Theatre Project, which are based in Drogheda and do a lot of cross-Border work, as well as having a year-round community theatre project, got €140,00, an increase of €42,000 on last year.
Their main production this year was an adaptation of Kavanagh's Green Fool, which toured rural venues; Declan Gorman of Upstate reports that they plan to bring it to the cities in 2005.
Other production companies to do well include Gúna Nua, whose funding doubled to €80,000; Calypso, which got €40,000 more; and Rough Magic, whose hit show, Improbable Frequency, transfers to the Abbey next year, and which received €45,000 more. There were 18 successful first-time applicants. b*spoke, which recently staged David Mamet's Boston Marriage, received €35,000.
Another first-time applicant, Semper Fi, got €100,000. Their 2003 Dublin Fringe Festival production won the Fringe First - and attracted much attention by being set in a public toilet. It's anyone's guess where they will locate their next one.