Advocacy & Campaigning

UK Theatre believes that theatre and the performing arts matter; to the public, to society, to education, to the economy. We make this case to local and national Government to make sure that the sector’s voice is heard, and to make sure that theatre and the performing arts continues to play a vital role.

We respond to the external environment, advocate and campaign on issues affecting the theatre industry in the UK. We keep members involved and provide responses to recent consultations and briefings on key issues.

These include, but are not limited to: diversity, funding and income generation, theatre and performing arts workforce, cultural education, access and changes to working practices. More detailed information on our goals can be found in our Business Plan and in UK Theatre and Society Of London Theatre 2017 General Election Manifesto Asks.

In April 2018, alongside SOLT and Education and Employers, we launched our Inspiring the Future of Theatre Campaign.

UK Theatre support campaigns including Family Arts Campaign, Culture Counts, and What Next? We deliver the Hearts For The Arts, on behalf of the National Campaign for the Arts. UK Theatre is proud to be a strategic Partner of Parents in Performing Arts (PIPA).

Members looking for our full list of consultation responses, advocacy work and monthly advocacy briefings, can find them on our Advocacy Page in the members' area.

If you have any queries about any of our current campaigns or briefings, do get in touch on 020 7557 6700 or email Hannah our Advocacy Manager.

Become a UK Theatre member

Since the referendum we have been working on ensuring that theatre and the performing arts’ voice is heard as we prepare to leave the EU. We have done this through policy discussions with government and other stakeholders; through responding to requests for information from DCMS; asking members for information; or attending roundtables and meetings. In late 2017 we also proactively began our own Impact of Exiting the EU surveys series of research.

The surveys asks organisations to provide us with indicators and signs (including potential opportunities and challenges) of the impact of leaving the EU. This evidence will allow us to see if there are patterns or commonalities where we could all take action to ensure our sector is able to continue to flourish here and abroad. We will collect the data every six months for around five years. We hope this will help us to monitor impact between now, March 2019, and beyond.

The data gathered so far has provided some essential benchmarks and some indications of current and potential impact. The information in the first and second surveys has been provided by a small cross-section of performing arts organisations which have agreed to participate in the survey series. The third survey was open to all UK Theatre & SOLT Members.

We have shared the first two surveys with stakeholders including: Arts Council England, frontbench DCMS & Shadow teams, DCMS, The Migration Advisory Committee, the DCMS Cultural Negotiating Hub team. Our third survey closed Friday 7 December. We are currently analysing the data and will be able to share it soon.