Lets all hold hands and do a bloody musical!
QUICK! GET HELP! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DROWN!
Not literally obviously. Figuratively speaking.
The arts industry is a ship. Yes. A ship. Once very strong and powerful, but as years have gone by and times have changed the weather of life has torn our beloved ship to pieces. More and more crew members are falling to their metaphorical deaths every day. Some are throwing themselves into the ocean; others are slipping on the plank desperately trying to prove their worth. For up-coming and aspiring artists now, there are two options. Either, tuck your tail between your legs, jump off the ship, swim to shore and find something else that is a more reliable way of paying the bills. Or, find the pride in what we do, stand up for ourselves and fight for our right to make art. Musicians, actors, writers, directors, photographers, designers, technicians, dancers, performers, artists and anyone I have missed out, let us join forces. Take charge of this ship that has lost its way. Overthrow the powers that be and offer each other a helping hand by joining together and creating an arts network that produces quality work. Let’s all hold hands and do a bloody musical!
Like many others, I stood outside the ginormous Anglican cathedral in July earlier this year in my cap and gown. I was glowing with pride whilst being photographed by family and friends. I remember cheerfully looking towards my granddad who was trying to get the perfect picture on what I am pretty sure was a Nokia 3210. Whilst he was fussing round and awkwardly shouting “DID IT FLASH?” the man next to him, who I am almost certain wasn’t anyone’s parent, was using a camera that had a lens the length of the Mersey tunnel. You know, the sort of camera that can capture the most detailed and unique chip on a kingfisher’s beak. Because like many jailed before him he said “Photography was a ‘hobby’ of his”. On that day, I smiled a smile I’ve never smiled before. “SMILE!” The amateur afternoon photographers yelled. I obliged. But, this was no ordinary smile. Like a perfectly baked Battenberg, it contained many ingredients, including joy, excitement, pride and one other feeling, one not usually associated with a smile. At first I thought the missing ingredient was disappointment. You see, I had been tremendously disappointed all day, as I had heard the news that the Brian May of “Queen” was not the man who would congratulate me, like he did with my brother who had graduated many years before. Yes, Mr Brian May had quietly decided to resign from his post as chief hand shaker, or as it is otherwise known, “University Chancellor”. Instead of that Brian I was left with a different Brian, Sir Brian Leveson, who definitely was not the Brian who played lead guitar to Bohemian Rhapsody. Although, when shaking my hand on stage, my Brian let out the most inspiring and strange sentence I may possibly ever hear. He whispered three words that will haunt me until my final hours, “Good luck forever.” Nice one Brian.
Rant aside, I began to realise that disappointment was not the feeling that had infiltrated my smile. As I stood alongside thousands of like-minded and similarly educated individuals, I ironically began to feel very alone. Suddenly, the darkness cast over me. Not the metaphorical darkness of depression, nor the literal dark shadow of the monstrous building standing behind me. This particular darkness was the feeling of fear. Fear of not knowing what was next. I’ve spent my whole life knowing what was coming next. Start pre-school; eat the play dough and colour in, check. Start primary school, play with the play dough and colour in, check. Up until right now, when I have graduated from a drama degree, where no we never played with play dough, but we sure as hell pretended to. Now what? I don’t want to get a job in a call centre or an office, to be quite honest I’d like to play with some play dough.
I am joking honestly, Drama wasn’t all fun and games. Sometimes, it had depth. At least enough depth to make me fall madly in love with the industry. Which is why it saddens me to know how nearly impossible it is to make it. In my final year of University, I set up a theatre company, co-wrote a show, co-directed the show, co-produced the show, sold out Liverpool’s Unity theatre, fundraised to take the same show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and performed a two week run. When I returned from sunny, sunny Scotland, I went for a job interview in the arts industry. “You haven’t done a lot have you?” Said some boring faced, old, Southern woman. It is safe to say she won’t be receiving a Christmas card this year. Does she realise that in this day and age, with the cost of living and having a social life, some can find it hard to volunteer in order to fill out their CV. Someone should let her know how hard it is juggling a freelance career and part time job as neither of them pay enough to stick at just the one. Although she did teach me a very important lesson did old, boring, “Miss Whatshername”. NETWORKING IS KEY!
NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! We don’t network nearly half as much as we should. Why is that? Surely it can only benefit us as individuals to learn from others and build lasting contacts and relationships. Obviously there are already ways that we can, although I have established a simple and efficient way of doing so. Therefore through the realisation of this situation comes the birth of “The Under 27 and Above Club”. The sole purpose of this club is that we as artists can all meet like-minded individuals and “network”. Let’s create our own community within Liverpool and support one another’s work. Buy and sell tickets for gigs, plays, exhibitions and spread the word for our networking club. We should be creating new and innovative pieces of art that is influenced by us all. We are Liverpool! Let’s stand up and be heard. Stop funding cash cow’s like poor Beatles tribute bands, we’re become a laughing stock as a city. Take a risk. Support new, local talent and join “The Under 27 and Above Club”. Help me, help you, help each other. We can all benefit from more art being produced in the city. Support others and they will support you. Check out the website, follow us on twitter and get in touch. Like I said, “Let’s all hold hands and do a bloody musical!”
For more information on “The Under 27 and Above Club” email me on;
theunder27andaboveclub@gmail.com
