Theatre and Creative Industries

Abstract

Creative industries refer to those industries that originate in individual creativity, talent and abilities/skills and “have potential to create wealth and jobs through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”, according to the United Kingdom’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In the literature, these industries are found under different names, such as cultural and creative industries, cultural industries, especially in Europe, economic creativity, and even orange economy, in Latin America and the Caribbees. Regardless of how they are defined or called, creative industries have proven to have a strong impact on a country’s economy, both at a national and regional level or even locally. If initially DCMS identified and classified creative industries into 13 creative industries, starting with 2015 DCMS has reorganized this classification, restraining them to 9 creative sectors, namely: (1) Publishing and Marketing, (2) Architecture, (3) Crafts, (4) Design: Product, Graphic and Fashion Design, (5) Film, TV, Video, Radio and Photography, (6) IT, Software and Computer services, (7) Publishing, (8) Museums, Galleries and Libraries, (9) Music, Performing and Visual Arts. Performing arts comprise four main activities: modern and classical dance, live music, theatre, and circus arts, distinguishing between the public and the private sector. With a large number of jobs in Europe (approximately 1,234,338 in 2011), the Performing Arts sector, which also includes Theatre, is the largest employer in the continent’s creative industries, offering more than a job in six. The fact that this creative sector plays an important role in attracting people is already known: for example, 9.2% of tourists visiting the UK went to theatre, music, opera or ballet, and local performances in various places such as parks, bars/pubs, restaurants, and even campsites, represent an essential element of Europe’s tourist appeal. Taking into consideration all the above data and starting from the information provided by the literature, the aim of this paper is to offer an overview of the theatre sector in the context of the creative industries