The list of those given their first taste of professional theatre at the National Student Drama Festival is too long to print, but here are some highlights. Harold Pinter had his first play performed there. Simon Russell Beale was a star alumnus, as were Timothy West, Stephen Fry, Meera Syal, Rik Mayall, Alan Yentob, Richard Eyre, The League of Gentlemen and The Kite Runner actor Khalid Abdalla. All are doubtless as bewildered as we are at the sudden decision by the Arts Council, announced last month, to withdraw its grant from the NSDF after 14 years of support. Our annual grant of £52,000 represents a quarter of our turnover, so this is a real threat to the organisation. Worse, because of the timing of the decision and the way the council pays our grant, we will be £26,000 short for our next festival, in two months’ time, and have only until January 18 to appeal.

The festival was founded by the Sunday Times drama critic Harold Hobson in 1956, and it has been supported by The Sunday Times ever since. Every year, the best and the brightest in student theatre – universities, colleges, schools, youth groups – come together to meet each other, put on their work and receive the benefit of professional training. Since 1990, we have been based in Scarborough, where about 1,000 people, students and theatre professionals, come for a week at Easter.

We are a national, indeed international, event, but the decision to cut our grant has been delegated by the Arts Council to its regional office in Yorkshire. In its letter to us, it makes no criticism of what we do. Instead, it says it wants to “refocus” its investment on the highest-quality, building-based producing theatres, the most dynamic and innovative touring companies, and a range of venues that support “the changing nature of theatre practice”. In fact, many of the theatres and companies on its new wish list are being run by graduates of the NSDF.

Yorkshire Regional Arts Council also makes the feeble suggestion that “primary training for theatre... is delivered through the further and higher education sectors, and so has the capacity to be better and more appropriately financed through those routes”. This is precisely what the NSDF is not about. We are a professional organisation offering young people an encounter with the realities of the theatre business. Not only is the Yorkshire office’s perception of our national profile seriously skewed, it doesn’tseem to appreciate our value on its own doorstep. The festival plays a key role in the cultural life of Scarborough – we are partners with the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and are supported by Scarborough Borough Council.

The Arts Council’s policy is to help organisations “to deliver increased participation in high-quality arts”. This is what we do. We create the theatre professionals of the future – and their audience.

We are committed to a lot of people, so we have decided that this year’s festival (March 15-21) will go ahead, though we will have to trim the programme. In the meantime, we are preparing our appeal. We have already had a fantastic response from leading theatre figures. If you feel moved by our case, please sign our petition at www.nsdfpetition.org.uk and write to the Arts Council:

Janet Barnes Chair, Yorkshire Regional Arts Council 21 Bond Street Dewsbury WF13 1AX Sir Christopher Frayling Chair, Arts Council England 14 Great Peter Street London SW1P 3NQ

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