‘CS is more interested in its own agenda’

Comment Joyce Mcmillan

While everyone acknowledges the difficulty of the decisions Creative Scotland (CS) faces, it is frankly disturbing to see 100 per cent cuts in the regular funding of two children’s theatre companies, Catherine Wheels and Visible Fictions, whose work has achieved global recognition, and is acknowledged by CS itself to be of the highest international quality.

Children’s theatre has been a jewel in the crown of the Scottish arts scene over the last 15 years; and once again, this decision suggests that CS is more interested in pursu- ing its own bureaucratic and strategic agenda than in supporting and encouraging real artistic excellence, and the creative achievement of worldclass artists in Scotland.

The same applies to the withdrawal of funding from companies working with artists with disabilities. This is also a field where Scotland has become a world leader, in recent years; and once again, that achievement is being undermined by our own arts funding agency, in ways that send all the wrong signals about the future of the arts in this country.