The arts community: Where some animals are more equal than others

There is something of George Orwell’s Animal Farm about the arts — “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

One much overused expression is the “arts community”. There is, I suppose, such a thing. But human solidarity is not its conspicuous feature. They stand on stage

together and bow while we, the audience, likely in the grip of a compulsory standing ovation,