OPEN SPACE –
Wednesday 17th July 2013
SESSION NOTES
SESSION 1: 11.00am – 12.00pm
BAKEWELL:
How do we get non-theatre people
interested/involved?
Steve Johnstone
Participants: Hardish Virk, Ian, Sarah Jane, Louisa
Davies, Grant, Paul Keynes, Jo Hannah, John Laidlaw, Francesca Milican Slater,
Rebecca, Alison, Natalie, Jo Carr, Oluwatoyin, Dawinder, Tyrone, Derrick.
What do we mean by the question? Creative people exist
in any area, how do we listen to people?
Site specific work.
Where you put the work is the most important decision.
If it's in a place they use, or if it's in a place they are interested in they
will come.
What is our relationship with the people we want to
target, how put off are they by the buildings?
Local theatres seem to programme tribute bands, Agatha
Christie or Bill Kenwright - so is it the buildings.
How do staff deal with people, how accommodating are
they to single mothers with pushchairs?
The language we use is off putting for people. The
language of the flyers can be off putting.
Ticket pricing. Are they too much? But people are
willing to pay for things they know.
Are we after people as repeat attenders, or are we
after people for one off events.
If we turn things on its head, what would make us go
to an event that we don't normally attend.
Do smaller orgs need support in marketing?
Is there enough follow through on initiatives? Is
there enough connectedness between ourselves and the work?
We have to be clear who we are targeting and why?
There often aren't sufficient resources to follow through on.
New artists tend to emerge in a niche area, but then
struggle to develop beyond it.
Lots of pockets of niche audience who don't interact,
so how do we frame the offer so that it goes beyond our own little spaces,
Collaboration - combining with people so that we
connect up the smaller groups.
Other larger orgs are learning from the Tesco's club
card approach and data mining so they can better target people.
In the rural areas, by allowing people in on the
programming of work means that there is more investment in the show when
presented, so more different people come - the rural touring model/BCT urban
touring model.
Need more connection between the makers and the
programmers, so that West Midlands makers are using the networks available
(esp. rural touring etc)
The best results within buildings have to be led right
from the top and staff all the way down have to engage, buy in and be listened
to.
Are our relationships contained by the theatre world -
theatres, makers, audiences - or does the non-theatre world embrace a whole
host of other people, different sectors, town centre managers, developers etc?
Collaboration with a wider world and within is key.
We need evidence and we need to know how to use it.
For non-theatre people it needs to be framed in a way
that invites them in, when normally they think theatre is not for them. Example
of using topics that people identify with - Night Club example in Luton.
Talking Birds Coventry FC show.
The work will be slow - it takes time and a lot of
investment to get people engaged. Relationships need to be built.
Non-traditional spaces are useful.
For makers - what is your driver, is this piece of
work about what drives you - or is it about creating something that is attractive
to other people.
How can independent theatre co's maintain an audience
if they are producing a work every couple of years.
This can't be the responsibility of the companies, in
some ways the programmers have to play a role of matching shows to audiences.
Relying on individuals who are good at creating links
with communities isn't enough orgs have to change.
Making people who work in theatres understand the
challenges (the RSC sending all there staff out to a betting shop to put on a
bet to understand what it feels like to be a fish out of water)
What about paring large orgs with a smaller org, to
share audiences CBSO target their audience with an Other Way Works show.
The terms we use don't really mean anything to other
people (immersive, site-specific...) but if people are being introduced by an
organisation they trust maybe more people would be interested.
Pairing has its time come? It needs to be a pairing
that has a decent life span, not for a short hit.
How are non-theatre people affected by the way theatre
is presented in the media?
Google search "taking part" for an
interesting website on audience development projects.
How about harnessing pester power?
BEHAN:
Developing Birmingham’s festival scene
Martin Spruce
CHURCHILL:
Looking outwards – developing links
beyond West Midlands
Catherine
DELANEY:
Uniquely made in the Midlands?
Orit Azaz
Participants:
Antonia, Polly, Graeme, Chris, Purvin, Nicky, Rochi, Pippa, Alison, Kate, Adam,
Steve, Tom (and other people who came later)
East /
West Mids vs The Midlands
“Made
in Stratford” initiative
It has
been challenging enough to identify and articulate a ‘Birmingham scene’ let
alone a West Mids or Midlands scene…
Who is
this question important for? Artists and makers? Or audiences?
Is the
sense of identity different if you were born here?
“I’m
not from here. I count this as my home.”
Arts
Council role will become more Midlands than West Midlands
What
is unique? Shall we make a list?
History
as Workshop of the World. Now, huge economic crisis – we need to find new ways
of making and doing – maybe we in the W Mids, are uniquely placed to do this?
To claim it as ours?
Rural
contexts and lifestyles – hill top farmers (a reaction to the industrial
revolution?)
“Geography
is a state of mind”
“Blurry
edges and contracts” – really intriguing. And brings lots of opportunities
And
potential to develop conversations with non arts partners, convene around these
themes eg Ironbridge Gorge museums
What
strengths can we gain from branding ourselves as “made in the (west) midlands”?
“Midlands
Today” is pap – loads of disparate stories, no clear sense of identity for the
Midlands region
“Shakespeare’s
County” – should we try to find an equivalent tag for the region?
Manchester
International Festival – big branding success
But –
“you can’t impose identities on communities, needs to be bottom up not top
down”
What
about the reality of what we are. The Crossroads of the UK (the world?). The
Middle lands. A place of change and exchange. The place where people pass
through. These realities offer potential stimulus, both for creative work and
for branding…
How
about a massive festival under Spaghetti Junction? And maybe also at New Street
Station and B’ham airport? At transport hubs?
How
are the Midlands perceived from outside?
“They’re
not.” There’s a gap here.
“Heart
of England” brand is free and well thought of
Will
it help audiences travel to other parts of the region?
The
Heart of England way – stories relating to walking paths and routes
How to
get promoters and producers to come to w Mids to see work? (discussion about
extent to which this is changing)
Theatre
fever – was a 2 week celebration of theatre in the W Mids – in a 2 week window
“Look how much we’ve got!”
Maybe
was confusing for audiences but someone from outside the region said “Seems
like the W Mids is the place to be at”
Cultural
Olympiad – how successful was that at identifying and articulating
distinctiveness? Dance programme – yes.
Would
be great to have a strong sense of identity and pride amongst w Mids artists –
like in Scotland
“Manchester
is all fur coat. We’re the knickers.”
Actions
Create
some work around the idea of the Mid Lands (projects, programmes, a festival, a
happening, a brand)
Further
exploration about whether a tag is useful for artists and /or audiences
JELLICO:
The value of theatre
Jane Woddis
Participants –Roxanna Silbert, Dan Brown, Jon
Trevor, Craig Stephens, Sasha Alsop, Jenny Stokes, Caroline Horton, Philippa
Cross, Robert Harper, Nadia Kemp-Sayfi, Jess Pearson, Jo Salkilld and quite a
few others who joined in later…
Jane
outlined her interest in discussing value of theatre, arising especially from
attending What Next? meetings which focussed on encouraging our audiences to
express their support for the arts, and from work that the Warwick Creative
Exchange is doing – recent seminar about Cultural Value. Value can encompass
different things – personal, social, economic value. Economic value of the arts
has been pushed up the agenda by the government – and the arts community trying
to prove its worth.
Arts
orgs have also measured social return on investment. Been plenty of big, paper exercises – not
necessarily scientific – are they accepted by those you are trying to convince?
Are they willing to hear them? “These are the things I will listen to”.
One
individual case study can go a long way and have more impact than big data
studies.
Some
people find it hard to articulate their response to theatre – is it right that
we put pressure on people to do so?
Whose
value is most important? (Audience/participant, theatre maker,
politician…)
And
where does risk sit in all this? If we make something to meet some people’s
sense of ‘value’ will this reduce amount of risk taken?
Theatre
has a beneficial impact on society – it is everyone’s right to access it.
In
primitive societies, there were clear roles – hunter, healer… and
storyteller. The person who holds the
history and teaches people to understand ideas.
You cannot have a society without the storyteller.
– But, we can see theatre as the jester (i.e.
a critical voice) rather than simply the story-teller.
Just
as value means different things to different people so does theatre. Theatre =
a huge range of experiences.
Though
debates about the value of arts have been with us for a long time, we’re in a
new time in terms of talking about the value of the arts now.
What
is the breadth of what we are talking about?
When
we talk about the value of theatre, are we actually talking about the value of
theatre that is subsidised? Unsubsidised
sector does not have to justify itself.
No one
questions investing in (elite) sport.
Theatre is different as often it is quite critical and contrary.
Either
you believe people should be given the right to access theatre to question the
society we live in, or you don’t.
It was
suggested that ‘value in use’ (term used in economics) might be a useful way of
looking at value.
Economic
value of arts has been shown time and again. Government receives more in VAT
from theatre than it pays out in subsidy to theatre.
Government
focus on economic argument because they don’t want to focus on the spiritual
role of theatre.
Theatre
as a democratic right; and the difficulty of bridging the gap between that and
the idea of theatre as an economic multiplier.
People
who go into theatre do so because they have been touched by theatre themselves
– it’s had impact on them.
It’s
not sexy among politicians to value the arts because that’s a political
ideology and won’t necessarily win votes.
Idea –
an actor on every committee that has clout or power. And bring political people into your
organisations – having another voice that values what you do.
Lot of
fear about going to theatre from those who are not familiar with it
Different
theatre experiences have different values - more not always better.
Value
in transitional spaces – taking theatre out of theatre spaces – street theatre – connect with people. We shouldn’t feel we always have to ‘convert’
these into conventional theatre audiences.
Who is
allowed to articulate the impact/ value?
Does having an academic eye or independent evaluator give a better
voice? Or can we say it (value of what
we did) ourselves?
All
dimensions of articulating evaluation are valid – academic, practitioner and
audience/participant. Certainly we as arts workers are expert and our expertise
should be contributed to the debate and valued.
Site
specific work – YP have a sense of theatre as a place they go to and can be
disappointed they have not experienced ‘real theatre’. We need to consider this – value what they
value – even if we can see other value in what has been (or might be) offered
to them. Because you value it doesn’t
mean YP value it. This also applies to our adult audiences.
Evaluation
should help those involved to understand the impact/benefit to them of the
experience they have had – not just be about meeting funders’ needs.
Not
every piece of theatre changes people’s lives.
Let’s not try to make theatre this great saviour for everything.
Evaluation
needs to identify benefit but we also need to show we’ve learned from negative
feedback or it won’t be taken seriously.
Also,
it’s a question of taste – some things may just not be to some people’s taste.
Jane
Woddis outlined the University of Warwick’s Commission on Cultural Value. Jane is involved gathering responses from
forums such as this – engaging arts orgs in the debate. A series of information-gathering events is
being organised. Report to come out 2014 just before party conferences prior to
next general election.
Action: Jane will share more information on
this and on the work Warwick Creative Exchange is doing – Warwick Creative
Exchange’s Twitter and Website will be live in early September.
KANE:
Sustainable development of new talent
Carl
KEATLEY:
Supporting actors
Aimee Berwick
LAVERY:
Development of new writing
Liz John
SESSION 2: 12.00pm – 1.00pm
BAKEWELL:
International Links
Sarah-Jane Watkinson
Participants
Sarah-Jane
Watkinson, Graeme Rose, Megan Nelsie, Dawinder Bansal, Hardish Virk, Christina
from Croatia, Andy Watson, Mike Tweddle plus others
A
couple of weeks ago, this space was host to the BE Festival of European theatre
www.befestival.org . The festival has
really contributed to theatre making in the WM in many ways, putting the city
on the map, engendering a feeling of optimism and confidence, feeding and
refreshing local theatre makers, providing audiences with opportunities to see
work that they wouldn’t otherwise see as well as the opportunities for the
participating companies. Can we harness this and what can we take from the
range of other international links that are growing in Birmingham and across
the West Midlands?
- British Council also provides a
range opportunities to take work abroad but what about work coming to UK?
- Events like BE are an opportunity
to encourage development via other routes than just through London -
inspiration from other traditions
- International partnerships
- Storytelling is an international
language
- Opportunities to see new ways of
working eg South African theatre with much more emphasis on political
content
- Challenge for smaller companies is
brokering relationships/partnerships – use BE as a catalyst/forum
- There is already an informal
network/collective gathering at Edinburgh this year that includes WM
companies plus others that have made connections through BE #WMinEd13
- For Catalan companies, creating
international links through using festivals as means of connecting with
growing network of programmers eg Bilbao, Kosovo
- International visits – always
bring back more than took out - is there support for reflection?
- Sometimes have to turn
international work down because can’t afford to do it
- Festivals such as BE, Tarragona
etc have different operational model – one of exchange not fees. Eg,
companies costs are met, put up in local people’s homes, fed etc but no
fee for performing. Is this enough? It’s OK for emerging companies or for
testing new work but cannot always do it for practical/financial reasons
- Another example is Erasmus
placements http://www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus-student-work-placements.htm
- There is some support through
British Council for touring following Edinburgh showcase (every two years)
and some ACE support for individual artists but little for companies.
- Companies like Big Brum are funded
through academic work abroad
- Not just touring shows abroad but
sharing best practice, specialist expertise and methodology eg C&T theatre
in education working in New York – UK is ahead of many other countries in
terms of community engagement for example.
- Is language a barrier, no as there
are ways round this even in text base work. Sometimes cultural symbolism
or differences an issue – good to make ourselves aware.
- Why international? Is it just a
good excuse to have a jolly? Is there still the impression in some
quarters that British theatre is the best and so we somehow deserve to
show our work?
- Changing work to take it abroad
can provide unexpected benefits
- UK touring network is
disintegrating – don’t look after companies as well as venues do in
mainland Europe. Important for companies coming into the UK to have
locally based producer to navigate UK system
- Where to go to find out about
international opportunities – festival plus British Council
- European money is available for
international touring with emphasis on economic impact but is big, big
money and paperwork is horrendous
BEHAN:
How to get more West Midlands work into
rural West Midlands?
John Laidlaw
CHURCHILL:
Does the Midlands need or want a
powerful lobbying organisation?
Tracey Briggs
DELANEY:
Making theatre more accessible to
minorities and lower income individuals / families?
Luke Elliott
·
Tailor programmes/development schemes
to groups and individuals and find marketing strategies that appeal to
minorities - success can be seen in previous events held at the Royal Court
Theatre
·
Organisations/Theatres need to lose
their fear of losing funding and stay consistent in producing work for and
including minorities and low-income families and refrain from ‘safe-work’
·
Places may try offering a single, free
performance – perhaps a matinee which would be ideal for audience members with
young children
·
May also try a pay-what-you-can performance
which has shown to be very successful in London
·
Marketing needs to be improved in
making people aware of low ticket prices and events
·
There’s stigma with a lot of areas of
Birmingham which creates travel issues at night and coincides with public
transport fares – locations need to be carefully considered, maybe finding
venues directly in the city centre
·
Children and adults have been seen to
have negative self-perceptions of their neighbourhood – perhaps create pieces
to play on that and instil positive ideas
·
A lot of issues for minorities lie in
casting choices, white-washed casts aren’t relatable to the majority of
Birmingham’s wide demographic, people want to be represented
·
Period/classic plays with a diverse
cast have been very successful - there isn’t an excuse for
exclusion
·
It’s not just down to casting co-ordinators
and directors, inclusion needs to start from the ground up – using playwrights
from many different areas of Birmingham
·
It’s not just about finding talent in
Birmingham, it needs to be developed here too instead of having them need to go
elsewhere to places like London and Bristol
·
Encourage talent to be political about
themselves and their work and not be steam-rolled into work that doesn’t sit
well with them
·
Encourage audiences to give feed-back –
necessary improvement is made more visible when audience after audience are
pointing out the same mistakes
·
Encourage talent to create the work
themselves when it is unavailable
JELLICO:
Black Country – who’s in?
Kate Kavanagh
No notes available
KANE:
Sharing spaces and resources better
Philippa Cross
Participants:
Sayan Kent, Nicky Cox, Jo Carr, Jess Pearson, Jules Woodman, Polly Tisdall,
Vanessa Oakes, Ethan Hudson & Martin Spruce.
Discussion
Summary:
There was a broad discussion about the kinds of things that
companies and artists may have that would be of use to others – e.g. equipment,
rehearsal space, performance venues, office space/ hot seating potential.
Skills-sharing was also discussed – either through the
provision of informal shadowing or mentoring opportunities or formal training
programmes or surgeries.
It was acknowledged that money is tight for all companies
and finding realistic and feasible ways of supporting each other and
collaborating is a good way forward. It was also acknowledged that NPOs/ larger
organisations may be in more of a position to help smaller organisations.
We discussed that some things can be given/ shared for free
but that maintenance costs for equipment for example still need to be covered,
and venues still have income targets for hiring out space etc. which need to be
met.
We talked about message boards – something like gumtree/
freecycle where people could post what they have or what they need. We also
thought a database might be better. We acknowledged venues might have sliding
scales of prices as get closer to dates when available: we don’t want good
space to be empty! We also talked about maximising other unused spaces –
offices & shops etc.
We talked about non-monetary currency schemes such as LETS
and Time Bank as a way of trading ‘what we have’ for ‘what we need’.
We also talked about the time it takes to facilitate things
being hired/ lent etc and being careful not to be drawn from core purpose. Some
organisations with space to share don’t want to become a venue; nor do they
necessarily have the building management skills etc that go with it.
In
addition to online databases etc. its about artists and companies talking to
each other about needs and things they can offer – NB: Theatre Cuppa and
Theatre Exchange @ Old Joint Stock.
Specific Things Mentioned:
- Rehearsal & Venue Space @
Apple Tree in Ludlow, Meeting/ rehearsal space below Ruby Ru in Moseley (www.ramblingheart.co.uk),
- Using office spaces – ‘Somewhere
to’
- Skills sharing etc: Arts
Development UK (www.ad.co.uk)
Action Points:
- Set up a web database of resources that are available
for hire, or are free, that artists and companies can search and also add
to. Could this be hosted on Midpoint website? Possibly with shared
timetable.
(one participant
mentioned it was something The Rep had said they would host for regional
artists / companies – worth checking)
- Seek funding for a pilot/ feasibility of a non-monetary
currency to support resource sharing in the region
KEATLEY:
Artist development now… Where are the
gaps? What are we not doing?
Paul Warwick
The
theatre making landscape in the West Midlands has changed significantly in the
last 6-8 years and wide range of artists development initiatives have been
launched to help support the development of a vibrant and sustainable theatre
ecology in the region. I convened this session because I was interested to know
whether there was a sense amongst the group that there were gaps in provision
and missed opportunities.
We
began the session by listing the development opportunities that currently
exist:
New
Theatre Initiative:
The
NTI (New Theatre Initiative) Scheme is a new series of workshops for actors,
writers and directors run by Frank Bramwell of inamoment, in association with
the Old Joint Stock Theatre, aimed at stimulating the creation of new theatre
in Birmingham. Each five-session run of workshops, a mix of study and
collaboration, will culminate in a showcase night of full performances of the
newly created works at the OJST, and from the best of these Workshop
performances it is hoped full-scale production runs will emerge.
http://www.oldjointstocktheatre.co.uk/rte.asp?id=355
Pilot
Nights:
The
West Midlands scratch night – now in it’s 11th year.
http://www.pilotnights.co.uk/intro/
REP
Foundry:
REP
Foundry is an annual programme for emerging directors, writers, theatre makers
and companies from across the West Midlands. This yearlong development
programme supports artists through workshops, making and sharing work and
professional mentoring.
http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/participate/creative-development/rep-foundry/
The
First Bite and Bite Size Festivals:
Currently
run by China Plate in partnership with mac birmingham and Warwick Arts Centre, First
Bite presents eclectic performances, extracts and ideas from some of the most
exciting theatre-makers in the West Midlands.
Two of
the pieces seen at First Bite are selected for commission and following
development these pieces are then performed at Bite Size.
http://www.chinaplatetheatre.com/First-Bite/
Bite
Size is a daylong festival of new work by the freshest, most exciting,
home-grown talent from around the West-Midlands, that last took place on 10
March 2012 at Warwick Arts Centre.
http://www.chinaplatetheatre.com/Bite-Size-Festival/
BE
Festival:
BE
FESTIVAL is Birmingham’s international theatre festival, bringing together the
most daring and unforgettable new performances from across Europe. Audiences
are offered the opportunity to see four 30 minute-long shows each night and to
eat dinner with the performers in the interval. It’s a unique format that
enables you to experience and engage with the wide diversity of European
theatre. Furthermore, each show is designed to delight and inspire people no
matter what language they speak.
http://befestival.org/
Theatre
Exchange:
What
you need to know
- It’s
open to all… producers, writers, performers, actors, directors,
technicians, designers, theatre companies, arts administrators, stage
management…..you get the drift!
- You
can just turn up.
- You
can showcase a piece of work and get feedback, please contact us first
with details.
- You
can bring along info about pieces you want to promote…or develop.
- There
will be a showcase of new writing each month.
- The
bar will be open.
- We
would love to meet you!
mid*point:
mid*point
is the network for theatre makers in the West Midlands.
It was
established in 2005.
The
main aims of the network are:
To
promote the development and growth of the sector
To
encourage links between companies, venues and practitioners; and create
opportunities for the exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge
To
address issues affecting the sector
http://midpoint.org.uk/
Jump
Start:
A
showcase event for theatre makers in Worcestershire.
Couldn’t
find anything on line but the county council website is here:
http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/
Creative
Enterprises:
Creative
Enterprise is a new support initiative, part funded by the ERDF, aimed at
creative graduates, new enterprises and established businesses based within the
West Midlands with a corresponding West Midlands postcode. We are offering a
range of free services and opportunities, including networking events,
workshops, mentoring, consultancy, business advice and guidance and workspace.
http://creativeenterprisecoventry.wordpress.com/
(n.b.
this list is probably far from exhaustive and others are welcome to add to it)
It is
worth mentioning that this session had some overlap with two other sessions:
Artist
development for emerging artists
and
What
are the opportunities for emerged artists
It
would be well worth cross-referencing those session notes alongside this one.
A
number of issues or questions were raised:
Making
sure the opportunities that exist are communicated effectively to target
artists – especially BAME artists who are underrepresented in the sector.
There’s
lots of support for emerging artists – what about emerged artists?
Many
of the opportunities available are involve scratching work, which is not so
useful for artists whose work is more technically ambitious.
Could
there be some support for artists to see work – people noted the importance of
national as well as regional work being on the bill at events like Pilot.
There
isn’t sufficient access to cheap rehearsal/performance spaces.
Younger
artists feel a need for up-skilling and confidence in business and producing
skills that would help them be more autonomous.
In an
environment in which NPO status seems an unrealistic target for companies,
where should we be aiming to be in after 5-7 years? What’s the new model? I
wonder whether this has to be about more of a focus on audience development…?
What’s
happening with mid*point these days? See session later in the day on
mid*point….
It is
still hard for artists from the West Midlands to tour their work outside of the
region. Less attention has been paid to developing distribution networks for
work than on developing the work itself. Platforms at which work can be
showcased to the national industry figures are still needed.
Artists
have a responsibility to work out what they are asking for rather than hoping
that off the peg development programmes will serve their needs.
Development
opportunities need to build in a self-sustaining message and give artists the
tools/attitude to DIY – rather than waiting for the next development
opportunity to come along.
Large
organisations can help smaller ones in many ways that aren’t necessarily about
money – is there a way to offer any spare capacity they have to artists? This
raised the question for me as to whether the larger NPO’s REALLY have loads of
spare capacity?
Smaller
organisations can also help each other too – peer to peer support is really
valuable.
More
questions than answers – but useful questions…
LAVERY:
Youth theatre opportunities
Natalie Hart
SAYERS:
The Independent Theatre Council is here
to save us all
James Yarker
Participants:
Jo Sakillid, Sasha Alsop, Pippa Frith, Alison Gagen, Lisa Morris and others.
ITC
has a staff of 4, has 400 membership companies of which 200 are based in
London.
Discussion
centred around all the ITC has to offer: Training, Legal and Financial Advice,
Lobbying, CRB check applications as well as networking opportunities.
There
was interest in the notion of regional reps helping make the council more
accessible to regional companies (James has just taken on this role).
There
was discussion about the ‘threshold’ beyond which membership becomes viable on
a financial level. The notion of an Associate Level for individuals or very new
companies was explored.
There
was a note that the price point of membership at £175+ VAT could be a touch
lower as the VAT pushes it over £200.
There
was discussion about how independent producers working for a number of small
companies may be able to gain value form ITC.
James
noted that Stan’s Café have stopped displaying the ITC logo and should start.
There
was talk about the relationship between TMA and ITC and if they are complimentary
or overlapping services.
WERTENBAKER:
Theatre opportunities in a
Mediterranean climate
Paul Kaynes
Attenders:
Steve from Back Country Touring; Derek from Talking Birds; Jo from Untied
Artists; Nadia, Actor; Michael from Arts Council England; Miguel from BE
Festival; Vanessa, Playwright
Paul
opened by explaining that he’d wanted to talk about the making of outdoor work
in the WM, and whether there were opportunities for WM based artists to make
more outdoor work, and possibly on a larger scale.
Points
made during the debate were:
- Outdoor work often attracts
broader audiences than work for theatres, reaching beyond the usual
suspects and creating acceptance of work and styles of work which wouldn’t
be considered by audiences in another context
- Site specific outdoor work can
change perceptions of what a city or town centre is about; perspectives of
what the target audience might be
- How do you pay for it? Audiences
expect it to be free, but it may be time to change this
- Talking Birds’ experience is that
outdoor work can change a business’ or organisation’s experience of its
business e.g. moving people around a railway station, making life
operationally better, adding value that encourages additional spend and
this should be seen as a chargeable resource
- Greenwich and Docklands Festival
suggests that audience donate an amount by text after events – and there
was an opportunity to suggest that this related to the perceived value of
the event
- Quality is key in generating
income in this way
- We need to think of the people who
watch outdoor theatre as a legitimate audience segment in its own right –
not only as an audience that can be attracted into theatres to see the
(perceived) ‘real’ thing
- Did you know it’s the 40th
anniversary of Shostakovich’s birth in 2015? Ideas for celebrating this
were discussed….Shostakovich in the street?
- Outdoor work can make connections
to the very hardest to engage audiences – fulfils the ‘Great art for
everyone’ vision
- Flexibility is important as we
can’t rely on the great weather every year – evaluating the risk is key
- Some companies have considered
avoiding all outdoor work in the UK in the light of the last 3 summers’
weather; the groups felt this was defeatist!
- Relatively few WM companies are
touring outdoor work as part of, for instance, the Without Walls
consortium and network of venues
- Is this about scale? Is there an
opportunity for artists and companies to create work on a larger scale and
engage more commissioning partners?
- Outdoor work needs to be seen as
part of the art of the public realm alongside public art, and which makes
it more ‘visible’ in a location which can attract audiences
- The Canals and River Trust have an
interest in commissioning work but this requires greater marketing
investment
- Artists can get bored of the
specific content and style demands of outdoor work, and when they’ve taken
it as far as they can, often decide to move indoors
- Where work is made affects it
profoundly – the authenticity of work is important as opposed to a ‘buying
in’ mentality
- There is a need and opportunity
for larger scale outdoor work but this is difficult to fund
- The importance of a training
capacity cannot be underestimated – c.f. Bristol
SESSION 3: 2.30pm – 3.30pm
BAKEWELL:
#WMinED13
Graeme Rose
Present: Alison Gagen, Louisa Davies, Jack
Trow, Rochi Rampal, Adam, Albert (Tres Bandes), Sarah-Jane Watkinson, Julia
Negus, Pippa Frith, Megan,
Session
convened to bring attention to the new Hashtag, a successor to a similar
Hashtag which was used to promote and identify West Mids work which was
presented at Edinburgh in 2011 (#WM2Edin)
The
Hashtag has been initiated by Tin Box / Pippa / Tom. The objective is to share
information. So who is going to Edinburgh this year?
Stans
Cafe The Cardinals greyfriars 12 noon
Untied
Artists For their own good Summerhall 4.30
Tres
Bandes Solferata Summerhall 8.00
Theatre
Absolute The Wedge Zoo venues 3.30
Babakas our Fathers Summerhall
Tin
Box pint dreams various pub venues
Barbara
Nice
Other
companies mentioned include Rosie
Kay Co.
Vlad
Chekov ?
Vincent
Gould / Rebel Army?
And
associated companies Orit/Nofitstate
– ‘Bianco’/ ‘Noodles’
Out
of Balanz (BEfest)
There
are practical reasons for sharing knowledge and offering the support network;
Eg. Emergency technical needs while in situ /
advice or information sharing about the Edinburgh experience / dealing with
press & publicity, or as Alison Gagen puts it “overcoming network terror”.
Helping with introductions in order that the network can be extended.
Just
having friendly faces present in the City. Feeling that you are not alone, but
part of a community. Knowing that there’s an immediate social hub.
Support
with resources/ transport-sharing, if necessary, to reduce costs
We are
a proud community of makers here in WM but prone to keeping it under our belts
rather than blowing the trumpet. Rochi: We should help the outside world see
this enthusiasm and respect by broadcasting the hashtag so that the outside
world cannot help but take notice.
Adam
noted the organic feel of this idea but asked whether this should have a more
statutory backing. A discussion was had about the EscalatorEast programme and
Northern Stages, in which regional work is curated and promoted in a more
official way.
AG
noted that it works in the East because they can commit huge funds. They don’t
have the demands of infrastructure on their region. East made unilateral
decision to promote in this way. This not possible to justify in the WM.
Escalator
/ Northern Stages is good platform for advocacy. It works Escalator gets
noticed because punters / promoters are looking for a route into navigating the
vagaries of the Fringe. It is a stamp which is recognised and has currency.
Can we
make #WMinED13 do similar?
This
is essentially inclusive, not curated or approved. We are informally bonded. We
aim to offer support to each other. With the diverse amount of work we can
offer suggestions to punters of what to see. / look out for.
Julia:
“reciprocal piggy-backing”.
Satnam
Rana ran a feature 2 years ago. Let’s continue to encourage her thru tweets to
revisit Edinb this year. Similar with press releases where possible – use the
hashtag. Easy to nudge individual journos like Lyn G / I. Shuttleworth, etc.
Also
important to hold social sessions, drinks - to compare notes/ experiences and
say hello.
Suggestions
for action:
Free
and liberal use of the hashtag #WMinED13
Retweeting
each others’ tweets to broaden exposure and support of each others’ work, press
stories, etc.
BEHAN:
The place/role of improvisation (as a
performance art form, not a rehearsal/devising tool)
Jon Trevor
We
were – Jon Trevor, Derek Nisbet, Rob Stanley, Becca Thomas and Orit Azaz. We all have experience of working in
Improvisation as teachers, performers, musicians choreographers or directors.
We
found ourselves united in our belief that not only are the skills of
improvisation of huge benefit in the rehearsal room, the corporate setting, the
music studio, and in a variety of other applications, there is also a great
value in the experience of the truly improvised performance, where skilled and
practiced improvisers act as writers, performers, musicians, editors, directors
and stage managers in true real time to create spontaneous extraordinary art.
There
a slowly growing vibrant independent Improv scene in Birmingham, but nothing in
the way of formal structures. We felt
that it was missing a trick that we were not really seen as part of the wider
theatre scene in the West Midlands.
We
felt there might be room to investigate some resourcing or funding to run some
exploratory cross artform workshops (dance, music, theatre).
We
decided to stay in touch as a small group to see if we could generate something
together.
CHURCHILL:
Society, politics and disaster response
Anna Himali Howard
-
Torycore, Lucy Ellinson - George Osborne's budget speech + benefit cuts letters
sense
of empowerment, not satirical but gritty
- Max
and Pete
-
Political work is successful and people clearly want it but who will fund it?
Who used to? ACE? The unions used to and still do to a degree
-
Outdoor large scale, The Barricade and As The World Tips, v political, getting
10,000 people together to talk about politics w/out being arrested
- Good
quality, interesting approach to storytelling
- Not
overt enough. Does it have to be?
- Do
we have to satire something which is already ridiculous? It has become
normalised so we need to reframe it
-
Bigmouth at wac, Presenting speeches afresh, allows you to make links
-
Putting things next to each other, theatre can do something to reframe rather
than mirror
-
Getting a response done in time, circumstances. access, where and when?
-
Political debate is focused around wrong things, what we haven't got, we need
to look at society as a whole rather than dividing it up
-
Danger of preaching to the choir
-
Allow people to make choices and make changes
-
Where is the countercultural response?
- The
Gate, The Tricycle, verbatim work (script is already out there)
-
Context is more political than content
- When
making a piece of work, collaborating with non-theatre people changes who comes
to see it. Way of making work which can help to avoid preaching to the choir
and could be useful.
-
Disseminating can be more effective with partners
-
Theatrical 'Spitting Image', make sure response is not too late, but...
- We
make the same mistakes over and over so things remain relevant
- Big
Brum present political work to young people but have to present it differently
-
Shift in perception of society, no longer a social contract
- Use
of humour? Should we be lessening the blow?
-
Activists and lobbyists need artists to 'give them a new language' to make
meaning and translate material
-
Protest as theatrical, people who climbed The Shard
-
Madrid squats and artistic movements right in the middle of the city, politics
and art entwined despite declining audience numbers in formal spaces
-
Conventions of theatre buildings are ripe for attack, could be political.
DELANEY:
What does a development space (in
Digbeth) mean to WM theatre and arts practitioners and how could it be used?
Tyrone Huggins
Participants: Kristina
Gavran, James Yarker, Naomi Paul, Nic Bailey, Michael Addison, Tracey Briggs,
Nadia Kemp-Sayfi, Julia Rudd, Martin Spruce, Luke Elliott, Jane Campion Hoye,
Jenny Stokes, Rachel
Notes: Those present
the beginning of the session were invited to say a little about themselves
• Nic Bailey - formerly
an actor now a producer interested in unlocking the potential of the
arts community as
business people
• James Yarker - Stan's
Cafe after 5 years at A E Harris are due to contract the amount of
the space they use and
have access to holding on to what will allow a 50 seat
performance space at
front of building
• Kristina Gavran - a Croatian
writer working with Space2Develop to develop a new work
looking at 3 different
cultures in Birmingham with her director Tina Hoffman
• Naomi Paul - a
performer who presented work at The Artists Salon at The Edge, then a
double bill show
First part of question
was addressed as a general idea "what does a development space
mean". The
conversation then flowed on to specifically identify the space as The Edge in
Digbeth, before
widening out to other spaces in the city and region.
• Opportunity for new
artists/audiences within theatre working on non conventional work -
and rehearsing.
• Rehearsal space;
developing work; performance
• A place for writers
to contact actors, directors
• A fast response and
communication environment.
• A place enabling risk
taking in a safe environment
• An artistic community
hub, informal, not a big business
• Free; low cost.
• Access to wide
general network and groups who can interact with each other
• A place with a
variety of types of audiences
• Digbeth is in the
centre of Birmingham - accessible from other parts of city tackling North/
South city divide.
• Fear/anxiety leaving
Blue Orange and The Edge late at night
• City centre is
spreading The Edge well located as Eastside develops area may lose
personality
• What is artists
responsibility for economic/running costs
• Responsibility is a
barrier but also could draw on imaginative ways of financing e.g. The
Sweetshop
• The Edge a difficult
place to get to and from - access, but appealed to middle class
audiences as a
non-theatre space
• Must not be over
developed
• Think of fundraising
events to address economics - crowd funding
• Exchanging skills,
non-monetary economy - cooperative
• AEHarris had electric
lines put in by theatre company ideas of drivers, electricians as
resources - Robert Owen
principal. Ort cafe Moseley with spoken word, poetry. Also
at AEHarris emergency
lighting and 3 phase power was bartered. Running bar etc. can
be harder to exchange
• Health & Safety
must be addressed. These spaces can be cold - very cold for working in.
• Don't lose quirkiness
of The Edge
• Draw upon popular
support like The Public's users not wanting it to only as a college
• Need a space where
rehearsal and performance areas are separate and costs are
included when everybody
is working for free
• Old Joint Stock as
development space
• National Theatre
Studio - actors
• Actors may need a
rough space to add to creativity and connectedness to people
• Unisex toilets cause
issues
• Privacy and
disability access must be catered for
• Spaces for workshops
at £50 with 10 people paying £5 each would be appealing but has proved hard to
sustain
• There is a continual struggle to make money.
Other
development/rehearsal spaces in city?
• Blue Orange; Sweet
Shop (Moseley); Old Joint Stock; Theatre Xchange; Rural spaces.
JELLICO:
Transforming audience
Rob Harper
Participants: Roxana, Kate, Jules, Jane, Julia, Adam,
Oluwatoyin, Katarina
I convened this session as a way to discuss the issues
of a reducing economy with regard to place/space/venue for performance and to
see how we can bring new thinking around the development of new writing through
found or temporary spaces.
The question arose from my development of a project
for Bare Fiction, 40 Plays in 40 Nights. A brief can be downloaded from the
following link to include if you wish: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h1onug2mowuqlrk/40Plays40Nights.pdf
Unedited notes:
It is about going to alternate places?
South Wales company Dirty Protest challenged writers
with their Plays In A Bag series, which can be performed anywhere.
Economic state questions how can we keep creative
processes/development within low budget constraints.
What can we afford to try? Think creatively.
How we might encourage an audience to still view a
piece as theatre, regardless of venue?
Re 40 plays project: can we take concept of
transformation further? So audience accepts a reworking of what happened in
Shakespeare's day, with the actors performing sight unseen, allowing a complete
transformation to happen in front of the audience.
Is a more raw experience acceptable to an audience?
Much like improv is happily accepted because they understand the concept.
Are these constraints workable in some circumstances?
Would this be transforming existing audiences or
creating new ones? How can that be combined?
Talked about space again. Literal pub theatre, fast
food joints, trains, dry cleaners, restaurants. Can we take over these spaces
for a performance? If we do, how do we assess and gain feedback?
Can we take over a space with the audience being
unknowing beforehand? How vocal are they likely to be? Do we involve them in
the performance?
Jules has performed pieces on a train, and people used
law of two feet if they weren't happy.
Can we develop inertia for a piece by generating
performance on route to venue?
In taxis, buses, pubs and meeting places etc.
It's ok for people to leave.
Should theatre be unexpected? Blurring boundaries
between audience and artist.
How does a normal theatre goer engage and enjoy
performance in a found space? And a new theatre goer, would they prefer
performance in a theatre building more or less than an unusual venue, just
because of their preconceptions.
Can audience be found themselves, within a theatrical
event?
Always remember the importance of knowing who you want
your audience to be, wherever you are performing to them.
How much of the Pre performance process does an
audience need to understand or have knowledge of?
KANE:
Beyond emerging: what opportunities are
there for makers going 10 years or more?
Katie Day
Project funding, living project by project
Funding changes make it a tougher scene
What is emerged?
When it is about making a living. When you will do
anything for free to promote you.
When you are heavily booked by multiple venues - have
money, audience, venue
Turning vicious circle into virtuous circle
What do we actually need and want?
Move away from funding model. Be more self-sustaining.
I am always going to be an artist whatever happens.
People who actually care and support you
Need to be under an umbrella of an organisation, or
people don't take notice.
As you become more established your needs are more
bespoke
Can a producer fill this caring support role?
A conversation
Not just money and space, someone to support.
Working in partnership, collaboration.
Should you hand over power to a producer/tour booker?
Human resources at venues can't cope with that level
of support
Peer networks of emerged artists that support each
other.
Chisenhale Dance scheme- knowledge share - anything happening
in Mids like this? Yes, informally.
In the past tried On Call, but interest dried up.
Selective at this stage, people need to like your
work. Venues make their choice
Finite resources. Commissioning budgets are too small.
Perception of who is right to have the money.
Maybe my subsector causes more issues
Promising signs from regional Rep, but may take 10
years for change to trickle through
More contemporary work, maybe more of an issue. Trust
about contemporary
Programming & commissioning vs Support
Research -
Platforms
Money
Caravan - focused on emerged work
Trigger at WAC - get right people in the room, to
create a distribution network
Bite size?
Pulse
Grouping work together to make it easier to get
promoters to come. Then ideally broker relationships with them and companies
Regional key festivals - more important now Edinburgh
is flooded & bloated
Is WM missing this. Personalities but then backed by
key regional venue - e.g. Mayfest
Capital Festival - is growing
Holding Space - could they take on this challenge?
Venue desire to be transparent. Organised and
structured at mac. Controlling the open door.
Is mid career dev important to venues, or is it
irrelevant as they have enough viable talent already presenting itself
Implicit structure determines if emerging or emerged,
even if labelled.
Keep pressure on venues to keep providing
opportunities
Bite size? Should it happen again this year?
KEATLEY:
A better process of sharing
knowledge/intelligence
Hardish
Participants:
Alison; Holly; Nicky; Nadi; Roxanna; Vanessa; Mark; Elizabeth; Purvin; Julia
Notes:
·
Knowledge/
intelligence such as good practise; audience data capture tools and findings;
training and funding opportunities have traditionally not been equally shared
within the sector.
·
There
has also sometimes been a territorial attitude towards sharing knowledge/
intelligence.
·
Therefore
this stops the opportunity for collective working and learning:
o Between departments;
o Between organisations;
o Between individuals and organisations.
·
E.g.
venues can learn so much about community engagement when working with someone
who does site specific work within a community setting.
·
Strategic
and sustainable sharing of knowledge and intelligence is important
-particularly in todays’ economical climate.
·
Organisations
are more territorial about sharing information now due to funding cuts – is
power knowledge?
·
Examples
of good practise sharing include National Association Youth Festival and Youth
Theatre Festival but what happens to the young people after the festival?
·
Royal
Shakespeare Company (RSC) have different skills sharing initiatives including
professional actors working with youth theatres and amateur dramatics.
·
Arena
Theatre were recipients of the skills sharing initiative at the RSC.
·
The
internet has a lot of intelligence but is there too much?
·
There
are lots of reports and tool – there are sometimes challenges of implementing
these due to time, resources and too often consultants have done the work
without training staff to take over when they leave.
·
How
do individuals with no connection to the (mainstream) arts community access
these opportunities?
·
Access
via schools is a good opportunity to reach new audiences/ communities.
·
Do
we hold an open space event to share knowledge and intelligence – e.g. case
studies; lessons learnt; etc.
·
Some
current NPO organisations are concerned about losing their NPO status and
therefore not being taken seriously by the theatre sector – there is a
possibility of fragmenting smaller scale theatre organisations and venues as a
result of this.
·
Pairing
with organisations such as The Rep would be useful but what?
·
The
Rep works with different partners but the danger could be that the smaller
partners might lose their voice/ identity within the partnership. Need to keep
the smaller organisations voices alive.
·
Blue
Orange Theatre could work with the RSC in terms sharing audience knowledge.
·
Theatre
Absolute (not a NPO anymore) utilise every resource available to market and put
on their work in their shop front theatre in Coventry. They get very different
audiences but don’t have the resources to evaluate their audiences. They
adopted the stewardship approach, which was run by the RSC.
·
There
was a time when there were no marketing departments or audience development initiatives
– money can be saved by potentially not having them and putting the funds into
the artistic work.
·
Audience
development is still key to engaging and sustaining new audiences. Strategic
audience development work in theatre was set up as a result of recognising that
public funded theatres did not engage with all the public. Significantly the
Macpherson Report written in response to the murder of Stephen Lawrence
identified institionalised racism in the Police force. In 2001 the Eclipse
Conference in response to this report discussed institutionalised racism in
theatre and this led to the Eclipse Report and funding to change the landscape
of theatre. This funding supported a number of audience development
initiatives.
·
Word
of mouth/ recommendations/ passing traffic is really important components of
audience development.
·
Suggestion:
to open up a space after performances for audiences and artists to speak,
share, learn and ultimately develop a greater relationship between the art,
artist and audience. Audiences can speak with directors and emerging artists
can ask questions.
·
Suggestion:
flyer swapping between different organisations – share resources.
·
Without
audience evaluation resources it is challenging to learn if the marketing work
has had any affect.
·
Universities
have a responsibility. Coventry University have the Creative Enterprise scheme
to support the set up of businesses, mentors, etc.
creativeenterprisecoventry.wordpress.com
·
Good
to work outside the comfort zone – with other art forms and sectors.
·
There
were examples of job change initiatives – step into other experiences – a
sharing and learning process
·
Number
of different sharing opportunities:
o Theatre Exchange –
theatreexchangebirmingham.com
o Theatre Cuppa – google search
o Coventry and Warwickshire Digital Arts
and Marketing – google search
·
A
lot of informal sharing but need to share on a money saving.
LAVERY:
Rural Midlands: the village fete
condition
Lisa Morris
Participants: Kate Kavanagh, John
Laidlaw, Oluwatoyin Odunsi, Ian Wainwright, and various bee species.
What does The Village Fete Condition
mean? When
I wrote this, the idea I had in mind was of this very closed, traditional event
practice, which is very local, rather twee and not willing to change. The
question needed to be asked is how we change the attitudes of those in rural
locations to be more willing to promote and to book into venues those
performance practices which are experimental and emerging, and encouraging
those venues and organisations to be more open to the art going on in the urban
West Midlands areas.
Point: The Village Fete of long ago used to
be THE place for the spectacle and
awe of those travelling events, ideas and inventions. Projections of trains
travelling towards the audience in Victorian times had village folk ducking for
cover. What we need to do is tap into this long forgotten approach to the
village fete and reinstate it as a popular entertainment braid of performance.
The current performance that I am involved with ‘Letters From Another Island’
uses green screens and models to make a film, and the audience love to stick
around to play after the show. This is perfect for this model of the village
fete condition, as experimental performance suddenly and very drastically
differs from a pre-assumed norm from rural communities that devised performance
is very heavy and academically driven. Rather it becomes the magic trick again,
and is able to let the audience participate in it.
Question: Does performance need to
rethink of itself as ‘Event’ Theatre? If we can make this thing we do an experience rather than a
performance, will it carry easier into rural settings? Can we sneak it into a
rural location under their noses? ‘Trojan Horse Theatre’. (We could have a sign
at the end of a performance: “Congratulations, you saw art.”)
The problem concerning rural venues: Many rural theatres and arts centres
are at the mercy of the local authority that owns them. They have very specific
needs and wants that mostly have finance issues at their core. Therefore,
getting your experimental performance into these venues can be tricky. There is
generally no forum available to discuss programming and what the local
community, local and regional artists want to see booked into those spaces, and
performance programs are often filled with am-dram pieces, children’s theatre
and West End knock offs. Unusually, in Shrewsbury where I am based, we have
quite a varied dance programme, as the manager of the Theatre Severn is very
interested in dance. Question: Is this a
case that the work isn’t being booked because the manager does not have the
confidence/knowledge to book it?
Point: West Midlands Arts used to run
small-scale Midlands tours (before it became Arts Council West Midlands).
Audiences for these works in rural locations were sometimes quite small, but no
one really minded at that time because there had been funding there to cover
that loss. Now what we are finding is that there is no buy in to performance at
a local level.
One
example of give and take that I can
share is the work that was done on ‘Silhouette’. This was a community project
about a huge underwear factory that operated in the Shropshire area from the
1930’s to 1979. As researchers, we interviewed former owners and employees, and
delved into archives. There was so much incredible material. But what we
created was basically an amateur musical, which was great, but it could have
been so much more. The important thing was that this performance had two
three-day runs at the Theatre Severn with matinee performances. So we got a
great audience and subsequently a book was released. So if we can tap into this
give and take relationship between artist and venue, maybe there is a chance
that we can gradually encourage them to be more open to very different brackets
of performance practice.
Action: Talk to ‘Arts Alive’, who promote the arts at village level. This might
also help to bridge the gap between those independent village venues, and those
in the market towns which are local authority managed and so can only obey the
whim of those in charge.
Point: Can we create a supportive framework
for rural venues, that advises on those upcoming companies as well as
important, well-established artists that can be booked into rural venues. They
can also assist on possible venue share schemes (you have two nights, we’ll
have two nights) to cut cost and risk etc. They could co-ordinate two sessions
a year to help programme and discuss/advise.
Another
thing that would help is negotiating the use of performance space during quiet
spells in the year in order to get performance moving.
Action: If you want to set up a rural
arts/fringe festival in Shrewsbury, the contact the Barnstaple FringeFest team.
They are a great example of a market town that is doing this really well, and
getting those artists into its town and to the rest of Devon. Approach the
business collective that sets all this up. Contact Ludlow Arts Festival as
well.
SAYERS:
Formation of new writers network or
workshops
Dobbir
SESSION 4: 3.30pm – 4.30pm
BAKEWELL:
We have Midpoint – do we want it?
Should we change it? What kind of theatre network (if any) do we want?
Alison
BEHAN:
How do we support back office needs of
indies in the region?
Katie Day
Accessing RSC staff for expertise - Ian from RSC
Lawyer
Finance
Fundraising
Health and safety
Lighting & sound
Finding personnel - recommendations
point of contact for that?
Suggestion:
Trade fair/careers day for regional makers to meet all
available staff
Make personal connections with staff
And meet regional people, other contexts
JELLICO:
After Open Space: what next?
Martin Spruce
KANE:
Education (Schools)
Sarah-Jane Watkinson
There
are a number of issues facing companies working with schools:
- Changes to curriculum, then
changes to changes
- Many schools becoming academies
which don’t have to follow the curriculum anyway
- Local authority infrastructure has
more or less disappeared eg no Birmingham schools mail box service, schools arts teams disbanded
- Nothing has replaced Creative
Partnerships nor Extended Schools
Some
services still in place eg Birmingham Grid for learning, but no way of
contacting all schools through it, especially as more and more leave local
authority control
Arts
Connect – new “bridge” organisation for the WM but lack of clarity around its
role. Good with connections to its Hub schools and schools in Black Country
from its previous incarnation as Schools Improvement Service, but little
knowledge of arts sector locally. There is no national remit or model for
bridge organisations, so each interpreting their role differently eg East Mids
is primarily delivery organisation, West Mids the complete opposite. Brokerage
role would be useful but schools to be the ones to contact arts organisations,
not the other way round. This will take time to establish.
As
budgets tighten, bookings are less certain – maintaining contacts with schools
especially in climate of very high staff turnover is difficult.
As
more schools become academies, relationships with Academy Trusts will be key –
work with clusters of schools, decisions on expenditure made centrally.
Conversely,
interest in INSET is up, as Academies look for ways to improve performance and
add value.
KEATLEY:
The working playwright – 1 day
symposium – what does it contain?
Catherine
LAVERY:
How can writers and actors work
directly together to form a piece of theatre?
Frank Bramwell
Recognised
that there are plenty of opportunities for Theatre to come out of direct
collaboration between Actors & Writers.
Two
broad camps:
a)
Devised
Theatre
-
Can
be problems if the respective roles are not made clear at the outset
-
Different
ways of involving writers:
o
Writer
brought in halfway through
o
Writer
involved at the outset
o
Different
merits for the different ways, no way is right
o
Writers
as a bunch may need to be ‘mentored’ through the devising process, it does not
come as naturally to them as it does to Actors and Directors
- There are issues to be aware of:
o
One
example that works is where there is a high consistency of input from
participants; means they have a unified voice
o
Some
worries about who takes the credit – writer or actors?
o
Needs
to be a good ‘marriage’ of participants
o
Some
work to set deadlines, others take a long time to generate their pieces
o
Devised
theatre is a key way of breaking down traditional roles within Theatre
o
Producing
devised Theatre can be a quicker and more productive way of working
o
There
has to be an agreed framework
b)
Traditional
Theatre
-
The
Script/Stagecoach model of having days where Actors are brought in to workshop
scripts brought along by writers is missed. There is a feeling that this was a
very positive initiative.
There
were recognised problems of people being able to commit the right amount of
time, usually the need to earn money. Also Agents can have a bearing!
Interesting
how there were no British companies performing at BE.
There
are a number of devising companies in the West Midlands, but again dispersed
across the region.
Companies
like Appletree TC are willing to talk to artistes about sharing their space at
affordable rates.
Usual
recognition that money is the key to a lot.
Alternative
viewpoint is that Writers & Actors coming together, sharing the associated
costs, is a relatively achievable way or creating Theatre together. However a
number of people would prefer that participants are paid in some fashion or
other,
Overall,
this model is a way forward but does need to be approached with a certain
amount of energy and know-how.
Action Point
To put
together a regular set of sessions that Writers and Actors can take part in to
produce devised Theatre.
SAYERS:
Is digital the answer?
Craig Stephens
Participants: Luke Elliott, Katerina
Pushkin, Orit Azaz, Ethan Hudson, Lisa Morris, Adam Pushkin, Purvin, Steve
Johnson, Derek Nisbet
Notes:
Is
digital a space where it’s more OK to fail?
Linking
tech world with artists to aid innovation
How to
make it meaningful and worthwhile
Stan’s
Cafe show ‘Tuning Out With Radio Z which was improvised, streamed live on the
web and was based on audience contributions via text and message board
Use of
trailers by the RSC as a means of selling shows and disseminating work
Planetarium
screens might be available as places for art works (Full Dome)
Using
digital realm to create networks, as a tool for artist development. Possibility
of an online Open Space (Desperate Men in Bristol had run a similar session)
Digital
printing has allowed growth of small publishing houses
Touch
of the human hand is important
How
digital work can make human communication more fruitful
Shouldn’t
assume knowledge of tech/digital world
Technology
if used shouldn’t be an add on
Look
at how museums and libraries use technology
Use of
technology to document process
Other
Way Works Bandstand project shows how
digital piece can involve audience and actually be a visceral experience
Discussions
about work online can be very valuable
Digital
archives
Growth
of large scale and 3d projection – can draw people to an art work that also
contains live elements
Use of
digital technology can be hidden – audience may not even aware that it is being
used
Technology
(eg LED lighting) to make theatre ‘greener’ and more flexible
NT
live – has pros and cons
Linking
theatre with science and academia (eg Talking Birds and Centre for History of
Medicine)
