What if one of the roles in an Irish production of The Plough And The Stars were played by a black actor? Because gentrification seems to follow artists into urban areas, why don't arts organisations seek sponsorship from property developers? Can we imagine a system of arts funding based on a model of fair evaluation, mutually shared authority and respect? These are just a few of the questions raised at the Informal European Theatre Meeting, or IETM, a conference of more than 275 international and Irish theatre professionals, held in Galway between November 8th and 11th.
IETM is a unique, and purposely hard-to-define, grouping of theatre organisations and individuals that has existed since 1989 and is now nominally based in Brussels - although, as was emphasised in Galway, it exists everywhere and nowhere, and achieves anything like a tangible form only when its membership comes together for the schmooze sessions of its annual autumn members' forums and springtime annual general meetings.
The network grew spontaneously out of conversations between a number of European theatre professionals, who realised that, in a medium whose form is human communication, there was a need to celebrate and cement the fact that the business of theatre, as well, is based on face-to-face contact with like-minded people.
It has grown to include some 450 organisations - mostly from continental Europe, although there are some intrepid souls who travel from as far as South America to avail of the unprecedented networking and community-building opportunities that the group provides. (The long-distance champion of the Galway meeting was undoubtedly Michael Green, from the Canadian city of Calgary, who regaled a working group on festivals with an account of his 16 years running a festival of alternative theatre called the High Performance Rodeo.)
It is the six three-hour working groups in which IETM's most organised exchange of ideas takes place. Co-ordinated by Chrissie Poulter, the working groups are based on the topics that the organisation's members feel are most pressing; as such, they provide a fascinating overview of what's going on in European theatre and a sometimes bracing yardstick against which Irish theatre can measure its own development.
A session on reclaimed spaces talked about the many issues surrounding artists and arts organisations taking over "found" or deserted spaces to stage one-off productions or to use as bases. This practice is so established on the Continent as to have provoked a 300-page report from the French government (which participants heard about in a bit too much detail); Dutch participants offered examples of how what start out as temporary squats can turn into permanent spaces.
At first glance, this kind of discussion seems to have little to do with the Irish situation, but in fact many Irish theatre groups use spaces that were not purpose built, from Project's one-time home in a former printing works on East Essex Street, in Temple Bar, to Blue Raincoat Theatre Company's transformation of a Sligo abattoir into one of the country's most congenial performance spaces.
It was the Ireland-based director Martin Boroson who suggested that arts organisations and commercial interests pair up in locating and settling new areas for development; just think of what might have happened if artists - who led the way into the area - had had a stake in Temple Bar.
Patricia Quinn, the director of the Arts Council, chaired the Evaluation panel, revealing with refreshing candour the difficulties that the council and the arts sector are having in developing a functional model for the evaluation of artistic work, as the deadline looms for the third Arts Plan. "We are deeply uneasy about what could happen if we don't get this right," said Quinn.
Unexpected insights came from a kindly looking white-haired gentleman in the corner, who explained through a translator (IETM functions through both French and English) that he was Jean-Pierre Wurtz, the inspector general of theatre in France and, as such, the official responsible for evaluating his country's theatre. Wurtz's inspiring description of a thorough, exchange-based system of reports and multi-annual funding led to an active discussion that also included funders and artists from Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland.
It was in the Interculturalism seminar that Irish practice got perhaps its biggest wake-up call. Several Dutch theatre directors talked about their interactions with the Netherlands' many international populations through workshops and productions. Two members of an Icelandic theatre company expressed their desire to work with their country's small but growing immigrant populations. A black English actress shared her frustration with the British casting system, which still seems blocked on issues of colour.
But a suggestion that Ireland, with its intensifying race problem, might undertake its own cross-cultural casting experiments - such as, say, a "colour-blind" production of O'Casey - was met with incomprehension by Irish practitioners. The notion of theatre as a place where positive models of cultural integration might be built seems, sadly, far away in this country.
Ideas fly thick and fast at IETM, but there's concrete business going on as well. Open deal-making is discouraged, in theory, but over the years many producing relationships and bookings have resulted from the network. Of six recent projects approved for funding by the EU's Culture 2000 programme, no fewer than four began life through IETM contacts.
The costs of the Galway meeting - approximately £100,000 (almost €127,000) - were almost completely covered by the Arts Council, with Ireland West Tourism, GaelSaoire and ┌darβs na Gaeltachta contributing towards a trip for some 40 participants to the Aran island of Inis O∅rr earlier in the week.
It's unusual for a state funding agency to row in so enthusiastically behind an IETM meeting; organisers usually have to cobble together support from local authorities and arts groups, and they sometimes receive no support whatsoever from the host country. The Arts Council is framing its support as part of the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and sees it as a way to encourage Irish theatre to think of itself - and to work - more internationally.
It was also an opportunity to showcase Ireland and Irish artists, and in that the Galway conference, organised by Jean Hoey, seems to have gone down like a good pint of stout.The choice to hold the conference outside of Dublin proved to be inspired: Galway's smallness made networking all the easier, and the lack of distractions of a major urban centre meant the programme of performances of Irish work, including work by the Gare St Lazare Players and Catapult Dance Company, were strikingly well attended.
Laurent Dreano, IETM's president, seemed thrilled. "When you are in Ireland, you understand what informality really means. It's well organised, but you don't feel it." It is clear that, for members, the only way to make IETM work is to attend meetings on an ongoing basis.
But is that feasible for the Irish theatre sector? Participation is expensive: membership works on a sliding scale, with companies with a turnover of less than £70,000 (just under €90,000) charged £233 (€295) a year for membership, and organisations in the £70,000-180,000 (€90-230,000) bracket charged £390 (€495). Add the cost of attending even one of the two members' meetings each year and you're talking about a hefty price tag for most Irish theatre companies, which can afford to stage only one or two shows a year.
Before the Galway meeting, there were only five Irish members of IETM: Dublin Theatre Festival, Theatre Shop, Macnas, the Institute for Choreography and Dance and the Arts Council (an associate member).
IETM relaxes its stringent members-only rules for organisations from the host country, which is how no less than 55 Irish participants ended up in Galway. Their response seemed quite positive, and several internationally minded Irish companies, such as Pan Pan, the Temenos Project and Galway Arts Festival, say they are considering joining the network.
Ali Curran, the outgoing director of Dublin Fringe Festival, has doubts, however. "To actually get value out of a network of this complexity requires a commitment of time and resources, and I'm not sure yet if it can be a priority for the Fringe. It's going to take another try to make sure," says Curran, who says she's planning to attend the next IETM meeting, in Trieste next April.
The Galway meeting pushed Ireland's IETM participation forward in style. It will be interesting to see how sustainable this journey into the heart of European theatre proves in the long term.
