Tuesday 27th February 2024 – Touring

Theatres and Venues: What to consider when programming a production?

• Scale of production
• Time frame
• Financial cost
• Requirements of venue
• Health and safety
• Added Value – Workshops/ Talks etc
• Accessibility
• Reviews/ Video recording/ script
• Artistic vision

Deals:

• Guarantee.
• Box office split: tends to be 70/30 split.
• Guarantee followed by split.
• First call/ Second Call + Split.

Tuesday 20th February 2024 – Partnership Building and Fundraising in the Arts.

Ways to Fundraise:

• Supporters
• Sponsors
• Donors
• In-Kind Support
• Fundraisers
• Charity

Judy’s Project with Dance X Change (now known as FABRIC):

• Money secured through the Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England
• £24,000 – Dance X Change
• £38,500 – Arts Council England
• Worked at Icon Gallery
• Project wanted to introduce work to a wider audience in Birmingham City Centre.
• They teamed up with two team members from Icon Gallery to promote the event and make the work.
• Teamed up with Birmingham Rep, given props workshop to create cells sculpture.
• Received funding from funders from another country to help support the project.
• Haiku exchange to write own Haiku.
• Worked with a local poetry company.
• Dragons Den Task:
• I am a company member for Birmingham City University. Research below:
• They have a focus on ‘practice based learning.’
• Have over 30,000 student from roughly around 100 countries.
• Give students the best opportunities for success in the future.
• The history of the university can be traced back to five colleges that were bought together as The City of Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971.
• 1843 – Birmingham College of Art.
• 1888 – Birmingham School of Jewellery.
• 1859 – Birmingham School of Music.
• 2007 – Birmingham City University.

Stans Cafe Research – 29th November 2023

Stans Cafe was founded in 1991 and they work in schools with students and teachers. They sometimes help other people because of their love for seeing other people make art.

They are a Theatre company and charity who work collaboratively following ideas (wherever they go, sometimes into theatres.)

They have artists from a variety of different disciplines but mostly theatre makers, working under the direction of James Yarker. They have a long term team of collaborators and artists but the line up changes according to the project being worked on.

James Yarker graduated from Lancaster and decided to make a theatre company whilst eating at stans cafe, Brick Lane, London.

The name they wanted was to be unusual but they didn’t want it to be too aggressive, a bad pun or cheap joke.

Round Midnight Vist – 30th January 2024

RM was founded in 1992 by Claire and Stuart. They began as a touring TIE company. Over the years Round Midnight focused on bringing education to life (through drama, music and other art forms). They have worked with 1000+ schools and over 200,000 young people within the UK. They have worked with 10 international schools and reached over 2,500 international students.

In 2018, they developed their first VR programme. This is now the main focus of the company after being successful.

Round midnight Ltd’s governance:

⁃ is a vat registered, private limited company.

⁃ Company also hires specialists actors, production crew and facilitators based on a project by project basis.

⁃ Commissioned by clients to produce new work to deliver existing programmes.

Brand personality:

⁃ safe

⁃ Real

⁃ Trusted

Became round midnight creative arts in 2010.

Round midnight creating arts governance

⁃ sister company

⁃ A not-for-profit organisation

⁃ Receives grants that enable the delivery of community projects to enrich lives and support people.

Funding and theatre-

Recieved funding from previously:

⁃ active citizens

⁃ West Midlands police etc

RMCA encompasses also their youth theatre, Raw Talent

RMCA is no longer the main focus of the business even though they are still running.

⁃ All VR experiences are followed by interactive and creative workshops

⁃ Majority of films have a bespoke extended learning package built around the content, which corresponds to an interactive Instagram page for film.

Since the beginning of their VR journey, they have delivered over 500 Virtual_Decisions sessions in 100+ schools, youth centres, and FE establishments with around 5,000 young people.

In 2024 they will have a rebrand – virtual decisions: caring about consequences- because their work is bigger than their brand.

Autin Dance Theatre Visit – 23rd January 2024.

The director of Autin Dance Theatre is Johnny Autin and it was founded in 2013 and incorporated in 2017. They are a collaborative ensemble of creative people who devise and produce different projects. Issues they draw on are contemporary social issues such as the environment, community, relationships and identities.

Consitution: Documents about how company works.

Trustees: On the board and are responsible for the constitution of the company.

In-kind support: Means money support from partners or rehearsal space. (props, tech, transport etc.)

Founder and directors cannot be on the board of trustees if they are a charity company, they have to be employees. Make sure to ask about different policies companies have.

In ADT they only have two people getting payslips, everybody else is freelance workers. They have producers who help with admin and also have bookkeepers, accountants and freelance dance artists (in 2023 they hired over 40!)

They have a range of partners and supporters such as DanceXchange, Birmingham City Council, Arts Council, Sea Changers, Outdoor Arts Creation Space, Blue Print, Outdoor Arts Uk, One Dance UK and The MAC (Midlands Art Centre.)

Bibiliography:

A

B

Belgrade Theatre Coventry. (NA). Meet The Board. [Online]. Belgrade Theatre Coventry. Available at: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/about/meet-the-board/ [Accessed 23 November 2023].

Belgrade Theatre Coventry. (NA). About Us. [Online]. Belgrade Theatre Coventry. Available at: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/about/ [Accessed 23 November 2023].

Belgrade Theatre Coventry. (NA). History. [Online]. Belgrade Theatre Coventry. Available at: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/about/history/ [Accessed 23 November 2023].

Birmingham City University. (NA). Our History. [Online]. Birmingham City University. Available at: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/our-history [Accessed 20 February 2024].

Birmingham City University. (NA). About Us. [Online]. Birmingham City University. Available at: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/ [Accessed 20 February 2024].

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Jo Trowsdale, Richard Hayhow. (2013). Can mimetics, a theatre-based practice, open possibilities for young people with learning disabilities? A capability app. [Online]. Nasen. Available at: https://nasenjournals-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.bcu.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1111/1467-8578.12019 [Accessed 20 March 2023].

K

L

M

N

O

Open Theatre. (NA). Open Theatre and Ashton Brothers present…. [Online]. Open Theatre. Available at: https://www.opentheatre.co.uk/productions/open-theatre-and-ashton-brothers-present/ [Accessed 20 March 2023].

Open Theatre. (NA). WANTOK. [Online]. Open Theatre. Available at: https://www.opentheatre.co.uk/productions/wantok/ [Accessed 20 March 2023].

Open Theatre. (NA). Fee Fi Fo Fum. [Online]. Open Theatre. Available at: https://www.opentheatre.co.uk/productions/fee-fi-fo-fum/ [Accessed 20 March 2023].

Open Theatre. (NA). Ronnie and Johnny. [Online]. Open Theatre. Available at: https://www.opentheatre.co.uk/productions/3521/ [Accessed 20 March 2023].

Open Theatre. (NA). Behind Closed Doors. [Online]. Open Theatre. Available at: https://www.opentheatre.co.uk/productions/behind-closed-doors/ [Accessed 20 March 2023].

P

Q

R

S

Stans Cafe. (NA). Stans Cafe. [Online]. Stans Cafe. Available at: https://stans.cafe [Accessed 29 November 2023].

Stans Cafe. (NA). About Us. [Online]. Stans Cafe. Available at: https://stans.cafe/about/ [Accessed 29 November 2023].

Stans Cafe. (NA). Our History. [Online]. Stans Cafe. Available at: https://stans.cafe/about/history/ [Accessed 29 November 2023].

Stans Cafe. (NA). Our Homes. [Online]. Stans Cafe. Available at: https://stans.cafe/about/our-facilities/ [Accessed 29 November 2023].

Stans Cafe. (NA). Opportunities. [Online]. Stans Cafe. Available at: https://stans.cafe/opportunities/ [Accessed 29 November 2023].

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U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Open Theatre Research:

History:

• Open Theatre was formed in 1984 and they develop work for young people, who have learning difficulties, through non-verbal physical theatre.
• Committed to develop, promote and sustain artistry and creativity of people with learning disabilities.

Methodology:

• Non-verbal physical theatre – explore young people’s creativity.
• Non-verbal physical theatre includes play, music, movement and simple props.
• Work with a small pool of specially trained facilitators.
• Work is based on contemporary conversations about nature of disability, difference and creativity.

Future:

• Their vision is to make West Midlands a centre of best practice and excellence for young people with learning disabilities.
• Enable them to access and make meaningful creative contributions to the cultural life of the region and beyond and become the artists/facilitators/leaders and enablers of the future.
• Want young people to have chances to engage in arts and meet/share/talk/create and support each other with a focus of integration within their local communities.
• Want families and communities to take roles in supporting change, breaking down barriers to achieve true connection and integration.

Events and Productions:

• Fee Fi Fo Fum

• Wantok

• Ronnie and Johnny

• Behind Closed Doors

• Open Theatre and Ashton Brothers present… Stuff & Nonsense!

Tuesday 19th September 2023 – Intro to Professional Practice

What To Consider When Choosing a Potential Host:

Things to consider when choosing a host for placement are networking, travel, post placement, am you interested, shift patterns at other jobs, location, cost, accommodation, theme/type of theatre they do, your role, leader? big group?, timings, current projects, aims = career aspects, diversity, money, what would your roles be with other people?, how will you cope?, what will you get out of it?

What to research about the company before writing to them?

Different things to research about the company are their ethos, the background of the company, what impact they have on communities, have any previous BCU students been, how active they are as a company, what kind of theatre they create/do, location, company team/members, who their funded by, partnerships, performance styles, communities they work in, different performances they’ve created, who they work for and jobs/roles available.

What to include in an email to potential placement host?

In an email you should include your name, address, you are a BCU student, who you are, why you are writing, time/dates, why you like the company, background about you, where you are from/commuting, how you will fit in the company, include your skills/benefits, personal hobbies, past experiences, “hope you consider”, arrange a meeting, contact details, what you can bring/offer to the role and evidence of research/express interest.