Of course, there is a positive side. Gloucester has a rich
sports heritage and an enviable network of sports facilities and venues. What
it lacks, and has done for a long time, is an arts venue. A space where the
community can congregate and celebrate the rich cultural diversity of the city
and its history. When I lived in Gloucester in through the 1970s and 1980s, I
saw how the arts developed in the city first hand. The closure of the major
sports hall and stage at the local leisure centre marked the end of major
concerts - anything from Lenny Henry to Siouxsie and the Banshees used to play
here. The council converted the old guildhall in the centre of town into a
burgeoning arts hub, while local am-dram group the GODS stepped up their game,
renovating a bingo hall into the mid-scale Olympus Theatre at 450 seats. The
more modest King’s Theatre of about 150 seats, was also renovated and operated
by a collective of small-scale amateur companies.
Over the next twenty years things changed dramatically. The
Olympus has long since closed - sadly a business cannot run on love. The money
raised by loyal volunteers over the years was squandered on vanity projects and
bad management. The King’s is still running, operated by a cabal of
middle-class, middle-aged amateurs determined to keep it a closed shop. The
Guildhall, once a major hope for the city's arts scene has been stripped of any
charm and energy it may have once had.
The handsome stone edifice is now more reminiscent of a mausoleum, with
nothing on the outside indicating the potential of the interior.
There have been noble attempts to rally the local arts
community but the people who hold the purse strings to any funding are, perhaps
understandably, keeping them tightly closed. Strike-A-Light's NPO status came at
just the right time. I watched from afar, to see how things progressed and
plotted to attend the opening of the festival. They appeared to be engaging
with the community and encouraging experimentation with form in theatre, dance
and music. Great stuff!
Before the launch I thought I’d pop down and see some
friends in an amateur pantomime in Gloucester at Christmas in the Guildhall. What
was very obvious was the Guildhall’s inability to market live entertainment at
its venue. I said as much at the time on social media and the Strike-A-Light
team assured me that things would be very different for its week-long festival
in March.
So off I went to Gloucester in March. Well it seems as if I
was the only person who knew that the festival was happening. The Guildhall as
I passed it, was the same dead space as it had been at Christmas. Nothing
outside to engage passers-by or to even indicate that ACE was helping fund a
week-long event. No bunting; no flyering; no street theatre; nada. In fact, there was one poster, outside the
Tourist Information Centre and inside there, 4 sets of flyers to indicate the
professional gigs that were taking place. There was nothing outside the
Blackfriars complex either, where tonight’s gala was about to happen.
Strike-A-Light are committed to engaging with the Gloucester
community, programming 2 festivals a year; delivering a year round Artist Support Programme that
provides nationally significant partners for emerging artists and developing a
year round Arts Participation Programme for children and young people led by
professionals.
There was absolutely nothing to indicate that Gloucester was
having any sort of festival. What you have here is a huge marketing failure and
I can't help wondering where the support from Gloucester Council, Gloucester
Marketing, Gloucester Guildhall or indeed the new Gloucester Culture team was. It certainly didn't
appear to be in the promotion of this event and yet, judging by the guest list,
representatives from each were all present at the gala launch.
