DIARY OF AN ACTOR by John Pirkis and Cécile Delepière.
Ep#17 ELITISM.
In January of this year the Shadow Arts Minister, Chris Bryant, wrote an open letter to The Guardian newspaper (UK), in which he expressed his frustration that the acting profession is top heavy with 'Posh Kids', and that 'working class' kids are not getting the same opportunities to pursue a career in acting. He specifically singled out, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne and James Blunt, as being amongst a 'legion' of privileged talent currently dominating our screens, stages and airwaves.
James Blunt and Benedict Cumberbatch rose to what they perceived as personal attacks, and denounced Chris Bryant as being 'Classist'. This generated a raft of subsequent articles in the paper with actors both 'posh' and 'working class' weighing in, and the heads of the leading British drama schools, refuting the claim that 'working class' kids are not getting a look in.
When you strip it away to the bare bones, what it basically comes down to is lack of care, foresight and funding from the government at the grass roots, in ensuring that State schools have a sound arts and drama curriculum to support those less fortunate kids in nurturing their interest and assisting their desire to realise their dreams of being active participants in the acting profession.
So what is the solution? As this week's Vlog reveals, nothing is quite what it seems, but nevertheless immediate action is required to redress the increasing hemorrhaging of talent due to the growing deficit in funding of the Arts across the board, from State school, to drama school, to performance.
John Pirkis
DIARY OF AN ACTOR.
Directed By Cécile Delepière
DOLLKILLERFILMS@June2015
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