Sir Peter Hall lambasts Lord Treasurer’s thrifty quarter truncation of fiscal favours to the manufacturers of fictions of comedy and tragedy

Sir Peter Hall, who must be over 100 by now, has criticised the government’s intended 25% cut in its arts subsidies. Receiving an award last night at the Lah de Dah Evening Stannit Theatre Awards at the Savoy ballroom, Sir Peter, who is famous, described the cuts as ‘insane’. After drooling over his Golden Seagull, Sir Hall called upon writers and actors and to make ‘loud noises’ so as to put a stop to the cuts. He said, ‘For decades now, the entire population regardless of class, education, background, colour, religion, has paid for the arts through taxes just so that a tiny, tiny privileged minority could go to the theatre – and now we have a fight to keep it that way.’
A twenty-five per cent cut in theatre funding budgets would have some dramatic effects in theatre. The nation’s obsession with Shakespeare would be tested. ‘We would have to cut back the Baird’s works. Twelfth Night would be reduced to Ninth Night while other plays would have to merge to A Midsummer Night’s Much Ado or MacHamlet,’ bellowed Sir Peter to the stunned audience. Sir Peter then stomped his feet, burst into tears, cried ‘It’s just not fair!’ before exiting stage left.