All Hands to the Pump!

All hands to the Pump!

Two weeks ago Creative New Zealand announced a devastating cull. Unable to support an unprecedented record 27 of the 50 eligible arts organisations for the 2022 Annual Grant Creative New Zealand has defunded many of the heavy hitters of the independent sector.

CNZ have identified that they simply don’t have the money.

“We spent down our reserves through our initial emergency response to COVID-19, and with the ending of one-off COVID-19 funding from the Government, as well as the lack of material increases to our baseline funding, we will have limited financial flexibility”

(Stephen Wainwright – Chief Executive CNZ – July 21)

Despite being recommended for funding by the independent assessors, having achieved an enviable creative track record, increased its reach and reduced its reliance on CNZ support in recent years, Nightsong has been subject to this cutback.

The Annual Grants funding is only available to established artists, arts practitioners and organisations with strong track record of funding from Creative New Zealand in order to present a regular or continuous programme of activity over 12 months.  Annual Grants are capped at $150,000 for a whole year of support from CNZ. This is the amount we have received historically and the amount we did not receive. It creates the basis to present a programme of activity for 2023.

Like much of the industry, our plans are now in disarray. There are opportunities to reapply for smaller parts of our annual programme, but not to stabilise in time.

Nightsong’s Boosted campaign is an emergency callout to try and stabilise and salvage as much of our 2023 programme as is possible. The programme has been developed over many months. It is in partnership with many arts organisations across Aotearoa, who we now either need to let down or disrupt their plans. Additionally, Nightsong was set to employ a large number of industry professionals and reach new, under-catered-to audiences.

Throughout the pandemic, Nightsong was highly resilient and continued to deliver compelling work. In March 2022 Nightsong presented A Stab in the Dark as a globally live-streamed theatre event as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Two months ago, Nightsong presented a free-of-charge season of The Worm to families at The Herald Theatre. We have also had a return season of Te Pō, as well as an audio version of the work created in partnership with PANNZ and Radio New Zealand.

As a company we feel confident we can tackle this new hurdle also. We are determined to deliver thought-provoking and culturally beneficial work for Aotearoa, but now we need your help to do so.

In 2023 we plan to….

• Take The Worm on tour. This project will provide vital opportunities and remove access barriers for Auckland tamariki and their whānau to experience innovative, impactful, and distinctly New Zealand theatre in their local area. This would include more than 6,000 Auckland primary and intermediate aged students.
• Premiere an Auckland and Wellington season of I Want to Be Happy with the inimitable Jennifer Ludlam.
• Expand our youth and community work
• Develop a new work by Carl Bland.
• Build on international connections made during the Covid-19 pandemic
  
  

If we achieve our Boosted goal, Nightsong will have the capacity to stand up its 2023 programme and enact contingencies to ensure the company can survive and still deliver the high-quality theatre we are renowned for.