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As the curtain goes up on Mary Poppins, director Richard Eyre tells Bryce Hallett why governments need to make sure the arts are accessible to all.
"The arts are a part of our life, our language, our way of seeing; they are a measure of our civilisation. The arts tell us truths about ourselves and our feelings and our society that reach parts of us that politics and journalism don't."
The British theatre, film and opera director Richard Eyre, an advocate of public funding for the arts, expressed these sentiments more than a decade ago in a wide-ranging report about cultural ambition, arts education, programming, access and reach.
Eyre, the director of the musical Mary Poppins, co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, remains a passionate crusader and influential force in the theatre world.
Over the years he has taken London's prestigious Royal Opera House to task for squandering opportunities, overspending, mismanagement and elitism while raising serious questions about the entitlement of some arts organisations to receive taxpayers' money.
© Fairfax Media