A ‘national pathway’ for the development of English language theatre in Wales has been released by the Arts Council of Wales in a bid to strengthen theatrical culture throughout the country. The report has been compiled by one of the UK’s leading arts consultants, Peter Boyden, working with an Arts Council steering group that included leading theatre practitioners from Wales. The report is being published for a final consultation with the sector, local authorities and government. It calls for a substantial increase in theatre production at different scales. ACW Chairman, Geraint Talfan Davies, speaking in advance of the meeting of the Council said, 'There is no quick or easy fix for theatre in Wales. We have put forward a strategic vision that will shape how we spend our existing money, but which will also require increased resources. When we agree a direction we need to pursue the strategy vigorously but consistently for a decade.' 'This national pathway for theatre has been fully endorsed by the steering group. It is not a scheme to create one entity but rather an attempt to build a body of theatre activity throughout Wales that is marked by variety, quality and innovation and that is unmistakably Welsh as well as open to and feeding international theatre practice', he added. The report concludes that English language theatre in Wales has been 'under-resourced, under-valued and under-developed', and has suffered from 'a lack of consistent policy and investment'. It also observes that the range and volume of English language production has been dropping, causing a creative 'drain' outside the country. 'There is a new audience to be won for theatre in Wales,' said Mr Davies. 'There are old and new theatres to be filled. No society under-going the scale of change that we see in Wales should be without an active theatre as a source of exploration and challenge. No nation with our own talent resources should be content to see those resources drift elsewhere or simply atrophy for lack of opportunity.' The consultation period will run for 6 weeks until Friday, 22nd October. To download the report, CLICK HERE