There are four broad areas of the English economy which remain world-leading, now that we neither make nor mine anything much of note. Two with which we are not especially interested within the context of the Cradle of English are armaments and financial services. A third – the commercialisation of scientific and medical research – is potentially huge for the future economy, and is certainly relevant to the story of Fleet Street given the history of the Royal Society in Crane Court. Inspired by a lecture by architect Christopher Wren, this learned society took off under such luminaries as Isaac Newton and played a significant role over time in establishing English as the lingua franca, as it were, of the global communities of science and medicine.

The fourth area is the Big One, however: generally defined as the “creative industries” — everything from all the performing arts, fashion & design, the fine arts, advertising, computer gaming & app design, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, architecture and city planning. Within this cultural and commercial territory, and given its history in our corner of London, it is with the first of these activities that the Cradle of English takes a special interest. Specifically, we are talking about the future of the British theatre.

These months of lockdown have brought home with a series of resounding thuds the risks inherent in letting theatre languish and wither away. At the same time, we find ourselves contending with a government that is unimaginative even by the standards of governments generally. Not only is it slow to understand the economic significance of a thriving theatre sector to the UK economy, but they are bereft of sensibility to the implications for the United Kingdom’s projection of soft power. Here we are with arguably the world’s leading theatre industry, communicating its creativity, technological acuity, and expertise in the very language that, more than any other, has become the conversational currency of the world.

There are at least two key benefits in preserving our theatre and safe-guarding its future beyond the purely economic rewards. Both of them lie at the heart of the business vision for our Cradle of English: education, and community engagement. The vast potential of the theatre in each of these areas has been evident in the imagination shown by the UK’s drama, dance, and music industries in taking their passion online during lockdown. At the same time, we have had a ghostly foretaste of what we stand to lose over the years ahead in terms of educating future generations and building vibrant and self-sustaining communities.

What the Cradle of English can accomplish in supporting the future of English theatre would do more than provide a boost to the UK economy and a vital component of the country’s soft power toolkit in building relationships with the global community. It would also contribute to the world’s understanding of the optimal role of language in the evolution of culture. It would create a template with which communities everywhere, in whatever language, can apply the wonders of the performing arts to the development of a citizenry that understands and values the interconnectedness of people and planet.