Newsreel Collective Benefit: COLLEGIATE THEATRE, 15 Gordon St. W.C.1. Inear Eusten Station). THURSDAY 30 January. 8pm.. Tickets: 75p 160p for students and claimants) at the door, or in advance from: The Other Cinema, 12/13 Little Newport St. W.C.2. (734 8508) suggest that it would be very useful it you, as part of an internationalist movement, could commission an article or * AN IMPORTANT agitational aid to the revolution in Russia in 1917 was the way that many artists, from all media, came over to the side of the revolution and put their talents at the disposal of the masses and their party. Mayakorsky, the poet and director, are two of the more well-known examples particularly students in art-colleges, produced agitational posters which expressed the hopes and fears of the strikers, and attacked the state. particularly the police, often with great satirical power.
CINEMA In the last few weeks developments have taken place on the fringe of the cinema and the theatre which point to similar possibilitics utionary film-makers, calling themselves the "Newsreel Collective', have come together to make monthly newsreels on the class struggle in Britain and other longer films on national and international events. The group has already made the highly-praised tilnt on apartheid, dramatist, and Meyerhold, the thentre Again in May 1965 many artists, In the cinema, a group of revolIt will he uhowinn this ning tain the end af the month (details below), to pay for the making of Dimbaza and to finance future films.
In the theatre, over 20 tiringe" companies held a conference in carly January to set up The Assoc iation of Community Theatre, They discussed the role of such groups. how they can aid the community, and how they can contribute to the struggles of the working cluss.
An exampic of the way that this can be done was given by the 'Northwest Spanner group during the muses strike. By taking its play about the strike to factories and trade union branches, it actually helped to establish links between the nurses action proups and other sections of the movement. This play was even instrumental in help ing the formation of support committees for the nurses in some areas We have also seen some of the exceilent work done by the Red Ladder Theatre Group, for exampie, particularly with its play on wom The constitution of TACT creates a certain framework within the spirit of which these groups can operate. They committed themiscives to full internal democracy, moves towards complete unionisation of this sectOne important aim which they set themselves was the struggle for the enlargement of Arts Council grants. In this they must see their struggle as inseparable from the wider struggle against the cuts in the social services, in hospitals, education otc., which the ruling class is trying to foist on the working class to make it pay for the The theatre cannot be seen as a rarefied aren of "Art", above politics and the class-struggle, as the bourg euis theorists and critics would have it. It must be seen as a part of the socia] services if it is to be adequately defended and if it is to be made relevant to the needs and interests of working people.
When the cuts come in the theatre, they will inevitably hit first those groups which serve the working-clans, rather than those which serve the pampered, pretentious taste of the capitalist intelligentsia. For example, the National Theatre even now gets a grant of E500,000 per year -twice as much as the whole of the fringe theatre put together, although it comprises over 120 companies!
I even this pittance is to be defended, a strategy of theatre in strugule has to be foreed which ine.
THE THREE-DAY WEEK NOW SWEEPING THROUGH THE BRITISH
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CINEMA BENEFIT