The plot thickens as our national theatre faces some serious drama

Theatre is a place where power is distributed very unevenly, writes Gerard Howlin. 

IT supposedly shows all, but mostly the people who count are seldom seen. It shares with the arts generally a bravado about speaking truth to power, but largely it’s a go-along, get-along place. There is a lot more kissing of hands backstage than biting the hand feeding those on stage. The stepping-up of more than 300 theatre people to complain stridently about the changed model of production at the Abbey, our national theatre, is a real moment of drama.