BBC 15 April 2025: "In 2024, the 40 best-funded companies that make their own productions — ranging from the National Theatre to the Colchester Mercury — opened 229 original productions, compared with 332 in 2014, a drop of 31%." Funding cuts and rising costs were to blame. Olivier winner, Lesley Manville warned new talent had "less opportunity" to develop... ya think? Birmingham Rep chief exec said, "Some individual productions that are made with the commercial sector are mu

It's finally become so obvious even the BBC has a headline on its website: Theatre touring is 'in crisis'. Between 2019 and 2024, touring in general dropped 24%, and drama in particular, 72% in venues >150 seats (small scale venue report to follow later this year). See ACE's inquiry and response below. Arts Council England report. Incentivising Touring Scheme

Voice work usually starts with humming—getting the mask of the face to vibrate so the resonators wake up, helping voice placement feel open and forward. But did you ever wonder why humming makes you feel better? Turns out a whole bunch of stuff is happening under the hood. Humming stimulates the protective gas nitrous oxide (nNO) that "helps your airways defend against germs [...] and even assists oxygen transfer to the lungs." Humming seems to make you feel more alert afterw