‘Death by a thousand cuts’ creates fears our arts and entertainment industry is flatlining

Teachers are concerned the future of Australia’s arts and entertainment industry looks bleak as theatre courses are cut across the country. Triggered by staff redundancies and course cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two well-regarded theatre and drama degrees have been cut or “suspended indefinitely,” Guardian Australia reports. An example is the 44-year-old theatre major at the University of Newcastle that will accept no new enrolments next year. Another theatre program casualty is at Monash University in Melbourne, which is now temporarily closed. The suspension or cancellation of such programs has the peak body of arts educators deeply concerned that Australia’s future entertainers could be all but wiped out and regional students will be disproportionally affected. Actor and director Jonathan Biggins, who graduated from Newcastle’s theatre program, attributes his degree to his successful career in the industry and was disappointed young students would now miss out on similar opportunities. “It has been a death of a thousand cuts over many years – the whole push against the humanities in general by the government, and the kind of way universities are running scared from those kinds of subjects,” he said. Dr John Nicholas Saunders, chair of The National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE), said regional students were particularly affected by course cancellations at Newcastle University, which serves a wide area of regional NSW. “Students in the Newcastle area will have to look further afield for universities outside of their region – away from home,” he said. “This is a key issue for students from regional areas who may feel more comfortable attending a university closer to their home, family and friends. “As we move into a recession, this may also impact families’ abilities to support their children to live away from home in order to undertake tertiary study.” Both Saunders and Biggins warned there would be “a knock-on effect” on Newcastle’s artistic scene, resulting in a dearth of regional jobs in NSW and the destruction of Newcastle as a “hotbed” of creativity. “Any town that has got a university is much more dynamic and culturally rich. When the drama department started it saw this explosion of creativity across the whole city,” Biggins added. Monash University confirmed this month it would close its theatre program and its musicology subject, which was first taught in 1965. Jane Montgomery Griffiths, a director and playwright at the Monash drama school for 18 years, said the university’s theatre program “was the most successful theatre degree in Australia and had been ranked 20th for performing arts globally”. “It’s got more engagement from the industry than any other,” she told industry publication Aussie Theatre. “As far as we’re aware, we’re the only program that commissions work and provides that degree of intensive study.” The NAAE said the Monash University course closure would both drastically reduce opportunities for students and have a detrimental impact on a number of arts sectors. The arts body added that creative arts contributed to 6.4 per cent of Australia’s GDP. Biggins argued that drama and theatre degrees were not solely about training actors. “The irony is that all the arts graduates have a much higher employment rate than any other faculty,” he said. “Sydney University, the Sydney Theatre Company, have devised all these ways to use drama in maths, science and English. There are any number of people who have gone on to use it as a teaching degree. It would be great as an adjunct to a law degree.” Biggins referred to fellow Newcastle theatre department alumni such as artistic director David Berthold, comedian Mikey Robbins, sports presenter Tony Squires and actor Susie Porter to highlight his point that theatre degrees needn’t pigeon-hole anyone, adding “all have very disparate careers”. A Newcastle University spokeswoman said, “nothing will change for currently enrolled students for 2021” - but could not comment on future years. Meanwhile, a Monash University spokesperson said: “No student will be prevented from undertaking studies in theatre performance or in music, but the range of units on offer in these fields will be reduced. “For current students there will be no changes to units for 2020, and any changes made will not affect completion of any studies.”