I think there's long been a push towards inclusiveness in theatre - and like most things, that was pushing on apace of its own accord. Progress was slow but steady, and the endless stream of posh boys were being usurped by working class writers, LGBTQ+ writers across the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

Then, with the advent of social media and enforced liberalism, it became the done thing to call theatres out for a lack of inclusivity in their casting, in their programming etc. Initially this was welcome, it helped push down some of the informal barriers to entry.... but then, in my opinion at least, those barriers to entry became dependent on identity rather than talent. If you fit the narrative the theatre was trying to cultivate, you were in - if you didn't, you were out.

So, what was a move towards inclusiveness, fast became a political movement which has co-opted theatre into its arsenal. Audiences that were open to new plays and new writers are bored now - but the faithful show up. If you take a look at theatre companies on instagram, they all seem to be carbon copies of the same thing. If you visit theatre websites, they read like a propaganda piece.

And, no... they don't really work, but they're being propped up by 'Arts Council Funding' - which has plenty of checkboxes to fill and pats itself on the back for being inclusive too. That way, a successful application to the Arts Council can pay everyone for taking part, can pay everyone for being in it, the audience itself is irrelevant. Theatres that rely on bar-money are going to struggle. Lots of people I know haven't bothered with going to the theatre since it reopened after Covid. Something's got to give.