Theatre vetting plan criticised

Sir Ian McKellen has spoken out against a new Government vetting scheme warning had it been in place when he was a child he might not have become an actor.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Feb 2010, 08:31 BST
Updated 8th Feb 2010, 08:31 BST

He told tonight's BBC Panorama programme if he had not been able to perform as a child alongside adults in small voluntary theatres, "the 15-year-old Ian McKellen would be absolutely miserable and wouldn't have grown up to be this person today".

The new Vetting and Barring Scheme will mean nine million adults will have to be registered with a new agency, the Independent Safeguarding Authority, before they are allowed to work "frequently or intensively" with children or vulnerable adults.

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The combined pressure from the scheme and separate regulations governing the use of children in performances has led some small theatres to reconsider including children in their performances.

Sir Ian is patron of the Little Theatre Guild – a club of more than 100 independently controlled amateur theatres, which he says are struggling to meet lots of new Government regulation all at once. Government proposal to extend chaperoning to include rehearsals and not simply dress rehearsals and performances, will mean small theatres will struggle.