James has talked about the cutting edge of theatre in Bristol (and its equivalent in NZ) , innovative theatre at Battersea Arts Centre, theatre with a social conscience, accessible theatre, and his bad theatre experiences.

James also caught up with New Zealanders in the UK including the Shaky Isles Festival of Aotearoa and New Zealanders at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

During his time at the Arts Council England he has visited theatres including Battersea Arts Centre, The Royal Court Theatre, Unicorn and National, Linbury Studio Theatre.

"My position as Assistant Officer is mostly about processing project grants applications. It's a system called 'Grants for the Arts' here, which is similar to project funding from Creative New Zealand. Most of the funding money comes from profits of the National Lottery. To do this knowledgeably, I need to be familiar with the work of those applying where possible. This gives me a wonderful excuse to see as much London theatre as possible, mostly by professional companies working in the city's smaller venues. Already my calendar is filling up with a wonderfully diverse selection of theatre being presented all over the city.

I've also been assigned four regularly funded organisations, theatre companies whom I am to monitor and maintain communications with, which means having a more in-depth relationship with their activities. Like Creative New Zealand, Arts Council England has a policy of keeping a light touch to their involvement with funded organisations; never meddling in their management or aims. There are other aspects to the job as well, and I'm still getting my head around it, but the main thing is that I feel privileged to be getting this level of insight into the realities of London's theatre industry."

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