REP100 Project: An Evaluation by Birmingham Rep

The REP100 Project An evaluation for Birmingham Repertory Theatre 2014

With thanks to all those people who completed questionnaires and surveys and provided spontaneous feedback, to those who contributed to the evaluation through semi-structured, informal interviews or e-conversations and especially to the REP100 volunteers: Zachariah Adams • Eve Allsop • Mandy Argus • Geoffrey Batten • Emma Brown • Christine Buckley • Robert Burley • Ruth Carless • Elenor Carroll • Margaret Cash • Pauline Chadaway • Sarah Chaudry • Bryan Clarkson • Carole Cox • Angel Dabrowski • Merry Davis • Sue Deeley • Andrew Donovan • Maureen Edkins • Catherine Edwards • Maggie Eggar • Paula Elenor • Dot Emm • Kerry Fair • Molly Forbes • Toyosa Fuwa • Sylvia Gill • Gil Gillis • Sophie Goodridge • Katherine Grayson • Frank Gresham • Carole Gumbley • Ginny Hartley • Josephine Hastings • Sophie Hawker • Linda Hisgett • Ann Howard • Andrew Jolly • Balisha Karra • Clare Kelly • Eve Kenny • William Lane • Robert MacQueen • Steve Martin • Diane McCann • Carole McKeown • Kevin Middleton • Sarah Moors • Linda Morgan • William Neale • Jenny Perry • Diana Phillips • Susie Phillips • Jeanine Plain-Jones • Sheena Raxster • Sue Risolo • Nicholas Shelton • Shirley Smith • Amahra Spence • Hannah Swingler • Vicki Taylor • Gabrielle Thompson • Edwina Turner • Oscar Turner • Aline Tyralla • Sarah Unes • Alyson Warren • Jane Winder • Christine Wood • Harvey Woolf • Leila Woolf • Claire Young • Katie Youngwood

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Contents 1. Our Plans

Factors of Success

Case Studies...

How We Evaluated

Case Studies...

2. What Happened

Outcomes for People

Case Studies...

Meeting Stated Objectives

Case Studies...

Other Outputs

3. What We Learned Things to do Differently

4. Conclusions Appendix

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The ReP100 PRojecT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

1. Our Plans Background – Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre was 100 years old in 2013. Built and founded by Sir Barry Jackson (1879-1961), it was the first purposebuilt repertory theatre in the UK and has a rich history of ground-breaking productions with significant playwrights and actors. The REP was the first theatre to produce plays by Shakespeare in contemporary dress and was significant in the early careers of a large number of people key to the history of theatre in this country and beyond. Sir Barry himself was influential in the foundation of many arts organisations across Birmingham and the West Midlands and in the development of the repertory theatre movement in Britain. The REP is situated on Centenary Square in the heart of Birmingham and the 100th birthday celebrations coincided with the refurbishment of the building, linking it to the newly built Library of Birmingham. During the refurbishment, the theatre moved out of its building: productions were staged in the Old Rep on Station Street (The REP’s original home) and other venues, and administration and other departments relocated within Birmingham. The move back into the

REP100 had a contextual structure related to four key themes:

newly refurbished building in September 2013 proved a culmination and focal point of the 100th birthday celebrations.

• ‘Drama Queens’ using heritage items that explore The REP’s long and positive history of encouraging and championing women working in theatre; from playwrights through to performers, from administrative staff to directors.

REP100 The project focused on the digitisation of The REP’s archives, which are contained in the Sir Barry Jackson Archive and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Archive, both held at the Library of Birmingham (LoB). These archives contain a rare collection of photographs, programmes, publicity materials, press cuttings, scripts, books, letters, plans, licences and other documents relating to the one hundred years of Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s history. The project was planned to make the heritage contained in these archives accessible to the whole community and to enable people (particularly from Birmingham) to have greater access to their shared heritage.

• ‘The Detail’s in the Design’ using heritage items from the archives to learn how design plays such a critical role in theatre; from looking at original architectural plans for Station Street to the ideas formulated for the current building on Broad Street, from the design of a programme cover to the costume and set designs created by theatre designers. • ‘Station Street to Stratford Via Malvern’ looking at the heritage journey from the Pilgrim Players in 1907 to the original Birmingham Repertory theatre in Station Street, built in 1913, then to Jackson’s work at the RSC in Stratford, via the Malvern Festival, to The REP on Broad Street, Birmingham 1971-2013.

The programme of activities was conceived as a way of exploring the connection between the city, the theatre and its history over the 10 decades of its existence. The project was aimed at a lasting legacy for the theatre and the city. it was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Sir Barry Jackson Trust, with additional in-kind support from local businesses including indigo River (design company), Colour Cubed (printing company) and Grosvenor G Casino.

• ‘Hidden Histories’ telling the story of The REP through different perspectives and using a wide range of heritage items, and in particular production photography, prompt scripts and publicity, to allow audiences an alternative insight into the workings of a producing regional repertory theatre.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Delivery aspirations were: • digitisation of 3,000 items from the heritage archives; • creation of The REP100 website with e-resources to enable access to the heritage archives in interesting ways including a digital game; • contextualisation of the archive under four clear themes which highlight the particular and speciﬁc contribution the company has made; • recording oral testimony, creating a new archive of heritage memories; • heritage activity days which would include access to original heritage items; • resource materials for teachers and students, general public, writers’ groups and local historians; • exhibitions of original materials at The REP and Old Rep and a touring exhibition for community libraries and community venues across the city and region; • a programme of lecture talks using selected material from the archives to expand on the four heritage themes and further investigate The REP’s history. The REP100 project was to provide new skills and training opportunities for staff and volunteers who would be involved in

participation, digitisation, curatorial and conservation work. The project would include participation and training opportunities for people of all ages, interpreting the heritage in new and fun ways. The marketing and audience development plan was designed to ensure that the project was widely promoted and accessed and there was to be added beneﬁt from the signiﬁcant public relations activity focused on the centenary and re-opening of the building. Activity ran from summer 2012 until a ‘wrap party’ for the volunteer team was held on15 January 2014, although this was seen by many as a pause for breath, rather than as an end to activity.

• designing and curating an interactive exhibition at the Old Rep; • designing and curating an interactive exhibition at The REP; • designing and curating an exhibition touring to libraries across Birmingham; • collecting 100 oral histories from people with stories of their involvement with The REP; • audio tour of Birmingham, guiding users around the history of The REP buildings and their relationship with the city; • electronic games giving players access to information about and insights into The REP’s archive and history.

Key Activities The REP100 programme had a number of key strands of activity which dovetailed with ongoing activity at the theatre. The main strands were to be: • recruiting, managing and resourcing a team of volunteers as a foundation for all programme delivery; • digitising 3,000 artefacts to go on The REP100 website; • lectures on relevant subjects delivered by high proﬁle individuals; • backstage tours at the Old Rep and at The REP, enhanced with interactive performances;

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Factors of Success Personnel Almost without exception, all the interviews carried out during the research for this evaluation, and a great many of the open-ended comments in electronic and paper surveys, identiﬁed Jenny Smith, The REP100 Project Manager, as the single most important reason for the initiative’s success. Words were used to describe her and her impact on the project such as ‘tenacity’, ‘enthusiasm’, ‘energy’, ‘positivity’, ‘professionalism’, ‘generosity’. During the course of the evaluation, there was - quite literally - not a single negative comment made about her or her work. it seems that the key qualities Jenny brought to the project were a combination of outstanding people skills and highlydeveloped project management skills. Each of these areas was crucial to the successful delivery of a programme that not only met its stated objectives but has left an embedded legacy for The REP. There was a potential risk for the project insofar as it was designed to be managed by a contracted freelancer, and the professional experts brought in to train and support volunteers as well as deliver some aspects of the project were also freelancers, rather than employed members of staff. Add to this the reliance on the delivery capacity of the volunteers

The exhibition design team is being brought together again for the installation focusing on the upcoming Epic Encounters season: that makes me proud and is a clear sign of the legacy of REP100

and the structure of delivering The REP100 programme could easily have become marginal to The REP. This risk was heightened given the pressures The REP was under during the move.

Digitisation Ofﬁcer and others are all leading practitioners in their respective ﬁelds and worked intelligently with the team, including volunteers, to ensure that delivery was of a consistently high quality.

However, ownership of the programme was won very early on; the Project Manager embedded herself in The REP and the quality of the contributions made by the other contracted professionals and the volunteers (see below) led to relationships marked by trust and respect.

Staff members were quick to recognise that the project would enhance the proﬁle and reputation of The REP.

REP100 Project Manager

Senior Management Lead it was also important that the lead for the project came from senior management. The Artistic Director, Roxana Silbert, is very clear that the modern REP is aspiring to continue to be an expression of Sir Barry Jackson’s original core ethos for the theatre: to bring the best actors and the best theatre to West Midlands audiences and to nurture new local talent. For the few staff who were unsure as to the value of ‘looking back’, the lead from senior management was that REP100 was not a retrospective exercise, but rather a way of grounding The REP in its history as a way of strengthening its place in Birmingham and beyond. Thus, REP100 had an impetus behind it that came from the artistic ethos of The REP and was entirely congruent with its heritage agenda.

The contribution of the interns and work placement students was also important as an extension of the team’s capacity. The transferable lessons are about the importance of the right person in the Project Management role, and how crucial it is to ensure that all staff are on board as early as possible.

Quality Throughout the interviews with members of staff, the quality of the work and commitment of everyone involved was cited as vital both to the success of the project and to the support of staff. Professor Claire Cochrane’s contributions as Historical Advisor and chair of parts of The REP100 Weekender event were important in ensuring the historical validity of the content of the delivery. The Curator, Designer, Oral Historian, Archivist,

As Claire Cochrane has commented, ‘The REP has an ethical responsibility to remember people’s experiences and lives and how they have contributed to what The REP is now.’

Installing The REP ‘family tree’ in the foyer of The REP

The last 100 years is part of our Trina Jones, REP General Manager

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

everyday

An understanding of history, of origins and of the transmission of influence is important… Prof Claire Cochrane

Generosity The REP’s generosity towards contracted staff on The REP100 team and towards the volunteers has been consistently remarked upon as engendering commitment, ownership and loyalty. The volunteers unanimously reported being surprised and delighted at The REP’s generosity, not only with free and discounted tickets but, less tangibly, in how they have been welcomed throughout the building. Members of staff have treated them as part of the team, making coffee, clearing desks to make work-space and giving them tasks which are commensurate with their skills and experience.

Evaluation Approach

instead, key personnel realised the importance of taking an almost cultural mediation approach. For example, the Project Manager sought to explain the strange world of display cases to the Workshop by using set-building and theatre design language. There is no doubt that The REP100 activities have all beneﬁted from being born of collaboration between the worlds of theatre and heritage.

The evaluation was focused on a framework, drawn up by the independent evaluator working with The REP100 Project Manager and The REP’s General Manager. This framework uses the stated objectives to generate measures of success, evaluation tools and a timetable for intervention. This all relies on a Theory of Change relating to achieving HLF’s overarching aims (see below for more detail).

The Programme The programme of activities was ambitious, extremely well thought-through, wellexecuted and exciting. Of course, none of the other factors of success would have counted for anything had the programme of activities not been of such a high quality.

Evaluation is seen as a way of evidencing success and as a way of identifying learning from those things that did not go as planned, with a view to disseminating transferable principles for other organisations and initiatives.

The Meeting of Two Worlds The culture of a professional producing theatre is a very different one from that of heritage and archives. People working in the theatre are more used to an atmosphere of immediacy and quick-ﬁre decision-making than perhaps those used to working painstakingly with objects that need careful conservation and cataloguing. There was a risk that the two worlds would remain distinct, neither understanding the other and speaking – literally – two different languages about what was important as they sought to deliver the work.

it had an internal consistency because of the robust historical basis for all the work, and because of the growing sense of pride and rootedness evolving throughout The REP as the birthday celebrations gathered momentum.

Evaluation was set at the heart of REP100 when the project start-up meeting included an exercise to identify what the stakeholders’ aspirations were for the project.

The REP

The Report

Behind much of the support, certainly initially, before The REP100 programme had had a chance to prove itself, was the warmth and fondness for The REP within the volunteer team, regular audiences and the wider public. REP100 beneﬁted greatly from this goodwill.

The report is divided into four parts. Part 1 contains introductory information: a summary background to the project and to the process of the evaluation. Part 2 lays out the main ﬁndings of the evaluation. Part 3 identiﬁes the learning: factors of success and the learning from those things that did not go as planned, and Part 4 comprises concluding remarks.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Photographs are from a number of sources including ofﬁcial REP photographs, photos taken by Robert Burley, a REP100 volunteer who documented the entire programme, and photos taken by Michèle Taylor, independent evaluator and author of this report.

A Note on Terminology This report uses the term ‘The REP’ when talking about Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and when talking about the theatre building located on Broad Street. The Old Rep on Station Street (the Company’s original home 1913-1970) is referred to as the ‘Rep’ or the ‘Old Rep’ to denote its current separateness from the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company.

‘M’ Rediscovering Confidence M has been involved primarily in archiving as a ReP100 volunteer, although she has also taken some oral histories, run backstage tours and been available for general duties such as stewarding when required. She had been occupied for some years with caring responsibilities for elderly parents. indeed, M had left a job working at a senior level in a large firm in order to be available as a carer. When those responsibilities changed, M found herself with some spare time. A theatre-goer, M had not been more a fan of The REP than of any other theatre or venue in the West Midlands but decided to sign up as a volunteer since the historical focus of the project attracted her. She hoped that it would give her something to do and that she would be able to be useful. M’s time as a volunteer has more than fulfilled those expectations and she has particularly valued the mix of flexibility with structure that working as part of the archiving team has given her.

major highlight. She also mentions the Open Day as a key moment, as she thoroughly enjoyed talking to the public, sharing her new-found knowledge and expertise. When asked about frustrations, M is clear that, for her, they were all teething problems, at the beginning of the project. She says that The REP dealt with them quickly and that the communication issues were addressed. M says she has learned a great deal of information about The REP as well as gaining insight into the way in which a large theatre works. She speciﬁcally talks about ﬁnding out how much the Learning and Participation team do. She has gained skills, too; she has brought her computer skills up to date, following her break from paid work, and cites her growing ability to conduct oral history interviewing as a key development. She feels that she is better at managing people and at “working with other, strong-minded women!”.

I realised I can still do things. I’d lost confidence without knowing it. I had been in a high-powered job, but had lost

Most of all, though, M talks of having regained her conﬁdence, which had been depleted since leaving paid work.

confidence since leaving that job. Now

Along with all the volunteers engaged with digitising the archive, achieving the 3,000th upload to the website was a

I’ve got it back. ‘M’, REP100 volunteer

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. Albert Einstein

How We Evaluated Introduction Having developed the evaluation framework (as detailed in ‘Meeting Stated Objectives’, pages 16-26), tools were identiﬁed and designed for capturing data and gathering stories. Quantitative data was collected about and from key groups of people, and qualitative data was gathered from a number of other stakeholders, individuals and groups of people with stories to tell as a result of their involvement in REP100. Quantitative data was collected through a number of methods most particularly surveys, head counts, estimates of footfall, web-based analytics and The REP’s ticketing database. Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured and informal interviews, observation, a range of evaluation exercises with the volunteer and staff teams, e-conversations, surveys and tracking social media (see Appendix for a list of individuals who were interviewed during the evaluation).

the evaluation framework in order to ensure that robust and rigorous processes were identiﬁed to measure success and to avoid project drift.

that would make more people care more about it. This, in turn, would motivate people to want to learn how to take care of, and display, the physical and digital artefacts that tell that story. Key activities and how they relate to the changes The REP wanted to see are detailed below.

The REP100 programme was designed to achieve these outcomes by adhering to a set of values for the programme and by establishing and sustaining relationships within and without The REP to deliver activity that would achieve those changes. Those values were articulated at the project start-up meeting at The REP’s temporary administrative home in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in the summer of 2012. The list of values included the primacy of social history and people’s stories and memories. in addition, the values lying at the foundation of the project were:

Conserving the UK’s Diverse Heritage Archiving professionals worked with volunteers, building their knowledge and skills so that they became able to selforganise to sort, catalogue, digitise and physically store The REP archive. By locating the team in the heart of The REP company and building, and by developing The REP’s (speciﬁcally, the volunteers’) relationship with the Library of Birmingham, this activity was retrospective and ongoing. Alongside the archiving, the research and curation involved in designing, building and installing the exhibitions were designed to locate The REP’s history in its wider context and thereby place it within the heritage both of Birmingham as a city and of British Theatre.

• pride • building skills and capacity • a sense of community • ownership • valuing people

Theory of Change

Relationships amongst stakeholders were seen as key to expressing the values of the project and to achieving the aims.

The REP had a number of outcomes it wanted to achieve through the project, which are congruent with the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) aims. These were clearly articulated in the original application to HLF, and were replicated in

REP100 was based on the premise that celebrating 100 years of The REP’s history would provide a number of opportunities to explore, express and share moments and themes from The REP’s history in a way

This development of knowledge, skills, ownership and team-work would achieve HLF’s aim of “conserving the UK’s diverse heritage for present and future generations to experience and enjoy”.

Help People Learn About Heritage The REP opened itself up to the volunteer teams in order to allow them access to the

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

existing archive and to the stories and memories of staff members, in order to create plentiful opportunities for the volunteers to learn about The REP’s heritage. By training volunteers to take part in oral histories, they were able to develop an even greater sense of the heritage of The REP and its place in people’s lives. The backstage tours, lectures and talks, Open Day, digitised archive and exhibitions have provided opportunities for people - many of whom would not otherwise have engaged with The REP, or with heritage - to access the archive in a number of different ways. They have been able to learn visually, aurally and kinaesthetically, alone or with others, formally or informally. in this way, The REP hoped to ensure that people were able to “learn about their own and other people’s heritage”.

Help More People Take an Active Part in Heritage The REP was clear that the volunteers should have signiﬁcant ownership of The REP100 project. The volunteering programme was established and structured with the intention of ensuring that they received the training, support and resources they needed to manage and have input into as much of the activity as possible. The programme was designed so that existing skills and

I was keen to be involved in showing off the Old Rep in Station Street to people who were not from the city. And when the time came to show off the new REP, I did it with immense pride that Sir Barry Jackson had made such an impact in the theatre. REP100 volunteer From the exhibition at the Old Rep knowledge could be developed to allow volunteers to take as much responsibility as was appropriate. The call for volunteers, and publicity about the programme generally, was distributed as widely as possible, so as to reach a broader cross-section of people. in this way, The REP intended to help more people, and a wider range of people, to take an active part in and make decisions about heritage.

highly qualiﬁed and experienced professionals in archiving, oral histories, curation, conservation, and project management to ensure that capacity would be built amongst volunteers, staff and others. The REP believed that exposure to the archive would be enough to compel people to change their attitude to The REP and its history, opening up as they were sure it would, a world of hidden stories, remarkable lives, high quality artistic endeavour, innovative design and making, and much more that it could not anticipate.

Heritage Will be Better Managed By setting aside time, resources and person-power, by engaging recognised professionals, and by maximising contact time with the archive, The REP intended to ensure that the material culture of the theatre would be better organised, stored appropriately with rigorous cataloguing, and would be interpreted in a number of different creative ways for different audiences. This contact with the artefacts, time to develop a robust cataloguing system and multi-layered approach to interpretation was to ensure that The REP’s heritage would be better managed, in better condition, better interpreted and explained, better identiﬁed and recorded.

Developing Skills and Changing Attitudes The REP resourced the programme with

Resilience

By starting with ‘friends’ and moving beyond to other networks, The REP believed it could build a body of people willing to volunteer time, skills and energy to the project. it built into the volunteering programme a generous offer of complimentary and reduced tickets for shows at The REP, privileged access to it and to the various buildings The REP called home during the time of the programme, and other opportunities which would express the way in which the volunteers’ time was valued. The hope was that this would build relationships and support the recruitment and retention of the volunteer teams.

Through the activity of the programme, The REP believed that it would increase the number of people engaging with it as an organisation, the quality of the engagement from a signiﬁcant number of people and the capacity of The REP to deliver a broader offer than had hitherto been the case. The REP believed that it could learn about broadening its baseline offer to the public, increase its value to the public and build ﬁrm foundations for its partnership with the new Library of Birmingham by addressing a heritage agenda in a manner characterised by creativity and high quality practice. Thus it hoped that “more people and a wider range of people will have engaged with heritage, organisations will be more resilient, local economies will be boosted, local areas/communities will be a better place to live, work or visit”.

in this way, The REP hoped to ensure that “people will have learned about heritage, developed skills, changed their attitudes and behaviour, had an enjoyable experience of volunteering.”

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

There’s definitely a sense from The REP that the volunteers are a valuable resource. There’s a feeling of inclusivity, a trust that has been built over time. I have a pass into the building - I just have to sign in at Stage Door, so I feel I belong here. The REP has been really generous and this means I have been able to connect with what’s going on. That’s tied me in. REP100 volunteer

‘F’ A Young Volunteer F was only 15 when he volunteered to be a part of The REP100 programme and, because of his age, his mother accompanied him whenever he was delivering work for REP100. (As a result, she became involved directly and not just as F’s chaperone.) He has spent his time on the project learning about the history of The REP in order to be a tour guide. in addition, he has been involved in stewarding and other, more general duties.

‘P’ A Staff Member Celebrates The REP’s History

F has found his time as a REP volunteer very inspiring; the best thing has been being part of The REP family. He acknowledges that these are important years for him, the years between 15 and 17 years of age, and The REP has been an important part of his growth during that time.

P has been a member of staff at The REP for some years and, whilst not unsupportive of The REP100 programme, had not considered himself particularly involved in the celebrations. This was until the evening he was at The REP with a group of friends and family, seeing a show. With time to spare before the show began, he found himself spontaneously taking them up to the Mezzanine ﬂoor and walking them through the exhibition, explaining the historical context of the displays - he hadn’t even realised he’d learned so much about the history of The REP.

A highlight for F has been seeing the inside of the new REP building before anyone else was allowed in!

F has enjoyed learning facts and anecdotes for his backstage tours at the Old Rep and at The REP and has appreciated the freedom to pick and choose the stories and facts that particularly appealed to him to share with members of the public. Having been involved in the Young Rep since he was eight, F felt comfortable around the building, but had known very little about the Old Rep and he wanted to get to know the place better and have a meaningful role within the organisation, to be a part of it. F studies at the Birmingham Ormiston Academy and, during his time as a REP volunteer, has had his ﬁrst paid theatre job at The REP.

I love history and I love Birmingham. The REP is an important part of that history and of the history of theatre this brings all my passions together.

I realised I felt part of something much

‘F’ REP100 volunteer

bigger than I had before. ‘P’ member of staff

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

2. What Happened? People volunteered time 1,178 79 as part of REP100 49

897

Volunteer days logged between them during REP100

2,879

266,450 2,467

Volunteers still active by December 2013

Searches have been made on the site

Nearly

1,897

Logged visitors to The REP between opening on 3 September 2013 and end of December 2013; they all saw at least part of The REP100 exhibition; 31,977 were children

Individual artefacts have been viewed online

500

people have attended those talks and lectures

32,264

Backstage tours at the Old Rep and The REP to end of December 2013; this includes nine full Hidden History events

3,000

People accessed the full exhibition at the Old Rep

Files uploaded to the online archive

96%

129

116 Nearly

Oral histories collected

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

People came to see shows at the Old Rep and also saw The REP100 exhibition

Libraries hosted the touring exhibition

Capacity on ticket sales to backstage tours at the Old Rep

People bought tickets to attend tours, talks, Hidden Histories and Open Day events at the Old Rep and The REP

Unique page views over the lifetime of the site

8,352

Talks and lectures have been delivered

High quality exhibitions designed, curated and installed

5,000

Views of a photograph of The REP’s stage, the most viewed artifact

ﬁles have been digitised

Outcomes for People What Volunteers Valued about Being Part of REP100

The REP Staff’s Responses to REP100

This word cloud shows the responses given in a survey at the end of The REP100 programme. 40 volunteers answered the question, “What have you most valued about being part of REP100?”:

This word cloud summarises the responses of staff during qualitative interviews about the programme:

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

People Developing a Greater Interest in History At The REP100 events, we asked whether people had become more interested in history as a result of their experience. We asked whether they had become more interested in the history of The REP and whether they had become more interested in the history of the local area generally.

Across all events where formal feedback was gathered, we received 884 responses to the ďŹ rst question, and 876 responses to the second. These charts below show the responses:

REP History

Local History

more interested 85.6% (757 people)

more interested 65.5% (575 people)

less interested 0.1% (1 person)

less interested 0.5% (5 people)

no difference 14.3% (126 people)

no difference 34% (296 people)

The ReP100 PRojecT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

People’s Attitude to The REP We were interested to explore whether The REP100 events contributed to the resilience of The REP as an organisation, speciﬁcally whether we were building an audience for The REP beyond The REP100 programme of activities. We therefore asked people whether they had been to The REP before and whether the event had made them more or less likely to visit The REP again.

Across all events where formal feedback was gathered, we received 434 responses to the ﬁrst question, and 423 responses to the second. These charts show the responses:

Been Before?

Coming Back?

had been before 75% (326 people)

likely to return 85.5% (362 people)

not sure 2.5% (11 people)

no difference 12% (52 people)

not been before 22.5% (97 people)

less likely to return 2.5% (9 people)

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

‘K’ Maintaining the Archive

‘D’ Purpose after redundancy

K had been working on The REP marketing archive for some 10 years before The REP100 project began. His job was to ensure that there was an ongoing archive of marketing materials for each production at the end of each run, to annotate them and package them up to go to the main archive at the Library. When The REP100 volunteering opportunity came up, it seemed natural for him to join the archiving team as a continuation of his involvement.

D had been working in Birmingham for the same ﬁrm for many years before being made redundant. He initially saw the callout for volunteers in the Library. He approached the Library, who signposted him to The REP, having learned about his particular interests and skills. According to his sister, D had become someone who rarely left the house and who had become somewhat lost following his redundancy. D has become an invaluable member of the volunteer team.

Recently, K’s role has switched from supporting the archiving of historic material to maintaining the record of current productions. The team realised, during their archiving activity, that the historical archive was missing in-depth records of processes such as wardrobe, wig-making, set design and construction and prop-making. in response, the team decided that it was important that K revert to working with contemporary productions and ensure that those gaps were closed. He is now spending his time photographing and scanning set-boxes, costume design sketches, the propmaking process and so on, and downloading them for storage in the digital archive. in this way, the team is ensuring there is a full record created and maintained for the future.

in September 2012, the volunteers were asked if anyone could come and take photos of costumes for the archive and D enthusiastically turned up. He describes his commitment, in all things in his life, to “turn up first to everything”. This meant that he was first to arrive for the photography task and he sorted the backdrop and the lighting, searching around the building for a large piece of felt and some desk lamps. D has subsequently documented the entire Rep100 programme in photographs which is a very useful supplement to official photos as well as those of other volunteers.

Much of what I am doing now simply wouldn’t have happened without REP100, without the volunteers. It’s a key legacy of the project. ‘K’ REP100 volunteer

I’ve been involved with some decent people, and that has been important to me. ‘D’ REP100 volunteer

REP100 has been very important to D as an uplift following his redundancy and he has attended at almost every opportunity.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

This project has deepened and widened our knowledge of the archive and given us ideas for using it in the future.

Meeting Stated Objectives The overall aim of the programme was to create a high quality, creative programme of interactive and informative exhibitions, events and activities that take people behind the scenes of a hundred years of theatre history. in addition, The REP was hoping to increase its own resilience as an organisation and that of its partner, the Library of Birmingham, by attracting more people into the theatre and into a relationship with the organisations.

Speciﬁc Aim 1 We will conserve the broad range of material relating to the old and new REP buildings held in the Birmingham City Archive for present and future generations to experience and enjoy. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre Archive will be better managed, identiﬁed and recorded, as items that are currently in boxes marked ‘unsorted’ will be catalogued, so that it is more easily accessible for people to search and use. A proportion of the archive will be digitised, providing a sample of material from each decade from the last century, enabling people to access it online. This will protect the original archive material as it will reduce the number of times fragile items will be handled.

Paul Hemmings, Senior Manager, Special Collections, Library of Birmingham

OBjECTIVE 1 | Create a Digital Archive OBjECTIVE 2 | Create On-Line Access To the Digital Archive

The site had had more than 32,000 unique page views and nearly 2,500 of the individual artefacts had been viewed at least once.

Outputs

At the time of writing, the archive covers materials from 1904 (the programme cover from a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night) to November 2013 (The REP’s production of Tartuffe).

• catalogue and digitise 3,000 artefacts by December 2013 • interpretation for key items in digital archive

There were big spikes of 400 or so views of the archive on the day of the launch and for the 100th birthday celebrations. There was a smaller spike in early December 2012 of just over 300 views on the day The REP ran a press release about the caravans in the city centre, where they were gathering Oral Histories. Later spikes corresponded to the public launch of the audio walks and the touring exhibition reaching the Kings Heath/Moseley area. This is interesting evidence for the joining up of the various strands of the REP100 programme.

• make as many digitised artefacts as possible accessible on-line through a searchable website, by December 2013 (where copyright restrictions allow) with a target of 2,000. The archive is available on The REP100 website and is fully searchable, including the facility to ﬁlter according to type of artefact, by theme and by date. Each ﬁle can be commented on via social media.

Delivery By the end of December 2013, nearly 5,000 digital ﬁles had been created and 3,000 ﬁles were available to view on The REP100 website.

The archive contains a wide range of materials, including photographs, scans of programme covers, correspondence and other documents, and audio ﬁles of oral histories. included in the archive is an audio ﬁle of the last interview with Barrie Edgar before his death in 2012. Barrie Edgar was an actor and Stage Manager at The REP and famously met his wife, Joan Burman, on the steps of the Old Rep on Station

This represents a significant achievement for the programme and especially for the team of volunteers who were responsible for archiving. At the final volunteers’ evaluation event at The REP on 15 January, a number of them spoke of their sense of achievement when they uploaded their 3,000th file.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Screen shot of the online, searchable, archive

Street. Their son, David, a proliﬁc playwright, was resident at The REP 1974-5 and has been on The REP’s board since 1985. Joan Burman’s sister, Nancy, ran The REP during the 50s and 60s as The REP’s ﬁrst Theatre Administrator. Work on the archive has included producing guidelines on looking after materials and transferring them from The REP to the Library archive, as well as an archive and records management policy for The REP.

The highlight of the project for me? Definitely when we realised we were going to reach the 3,000 target. And then when we did it, it was just brilliant. REP100 volunteer Looking through the archive has not only identified productions and events that had been forgotten about, but has also enabled the archivist and volunteers to list items which need attention for conservation reasons. items from The REP archive that are located elsewhere have also been identified and listed. This work has been challenging, not least because it coincided with the closure of the Central Library ready for its move. it proved difficult to negotiate permissions around some materials and this was another challenge of drawing the archive together.

Speciﬁc Aim 2 We will help people to learn about the heritage of Birmingham REP and its place in the history of theatre and in the social history of Birmingham and Britain. People will learn key facts about the heritage of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and its place in the history of Birmingham over the last century. People will have the opportunity to see original heritage items from the archive, which are not normally on public display. People will access the exhibitions, events and activities, who do not normally access heritage.

OBjECTIVE 1 | Deliver exhibitions at the Old Rep and at The REP

with handwritten interpretation, around the walls of the top ﬂoor space. in addition, members of The REP’s Art Club had created stools for the bar, each designed around the style of one of the last ten decades. On the tables of the bar, there were specially designed beer mats of various designs, each depicting an individual who has been key in The REP’s history.

Outputs • Curate two high quality interactive exhibitions within the framework of the four themes (‘Drama Queens’, ‘The Detail’s in the Design’, ‘Station Street to Stratford via Malvern’, ‘Hidden Histories’), to tell the story of The REP through archival heritage material. One exhibition at the Old Rep Feb-March 2013, one exhibition at The REP SeptOct 2013

All of this worked together to create an immersive and interactive experience for visitors, which was designed to be experienced via the backstage tours delivered by volunteers.

• Exhibitions explain and interpret the heritage of The REP

Delivery The first exhibition was installed at the Old Rep in Station Street and previewed on 13 February, 2013. Original archive items were shown in bespoke exhibition cases; there were also duplicate and original items displayed with careful consideration to conservation issues. items were also replicated for the exhibition for people to interact with, such as letters, plans, meeting minutes and designs displayed in an interactive mockup of Sir Barry Jackson’s desk. There was also a ‘talking chair’, costumes and hats to try on, drawers to rifle through and – perhaps the most significant achievement in terms of volunteer time spent researching and producing it – a timeline,

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Whilst there were some parts of the exhibition generally available in the foyer and in the bar, most of it was designed to be mediated through tour guides, and volunteers were trained and did their own research to deliver tours around the building (see below for more detail of backstage tours and Hidden Histories). There is no doubt that the exhibition and associated events presented challenges. Access to most of the theatre is very difﬁcult, including as it does a large number of stairs, many of them steep and narrow. Volunteers dealt absolutely

The Timeline in the Old Rep

Thank you so much for last night at the launch of the Rep100. A terrific start to this great time of celebration. You have all put in an amazing amount of work and I am astonished by the quality of the exhibition. Anthony Collins, following the exhibition launch

appropriately - and impressively - with visitors’ access requirements: they were honest about the limitations of the building, ﬂexible in exploring ways of enabling visitors to access as much as possible, patient with people who needed to take longer to move around the building and more than willing to pitch their narrative at the particular group they had in front of them. For many of the volunteers, the exhibition at the Old Rep was their ﬁrst opportunity to be involved in researching and interpreting The REP’s history and, for many, it was a highlight. Experiencing the exhibition also prompted visitors to share their own stories and memories. People attending the backstage tours and Hidden Histories (see below) were asked to provide feedback on the exhibition. 105 people answered a question asking about the quality of the written explanations in the exhibition.

Table 1: How Hidden Histories attendees rated the quality of the explanations

their shows, who will have accessed at least part of the exhibition. in addition, footfall estimates for the new Library of Birmingham are around 10,000 visitors a day, and some of these also walk through into The REP foyer. in the ﬁrst month of opening there were 170,000 visitors to The REP and observations by volunteers suggest that a large number of these people engaged at some level with the exhibition.

On a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is not very good and 4 is excellent, how would you rate the quality… …of the written explanation of the exhibition (n=105) 1 1 1.0% 2 1 1.0% 3 28 27.0% 4 75 71.0% …of the explanation given by your tour guide (n=106) 1 1 1.0% 2 0 0 3 22 21.0% 4 83 78.0%

OBjECTIVE 2 | Deliver touring exhibition to libraries and schools Outputs • Curate a third, high quality exhibition, to tour to community libraries and schools Sept-Dec 2013 • Exhibition has appropriate interpretation and explanation

Delivery Staff at The REP, including Roxana Silbert, the Artistic Director, and Stuart Rogers, the Executive Director, are very excited about how the exhibition in The REP foyer has altered their perception of the theatre as a public space. The space is seen as more welcoming, and an important link between the theatre building and the community work. The staff members interviewed for this evaluation spoke of a renewed pride in the theatre as a result of the birthday celebrations, and many linked this with the quality of the exhibitions.

897 people attended the full exhibition experience, and 8,352 saw it whilst attending the Old Rep to see other shows. The exhibition at the newly refurbished REP opened on 3 September 2013. it occupied the downstairs foyer and the Mezzanine level and was, like the Old Rep exhibition, researched, curated, designed and built by a team of volunteers working under the guidance of a curator and a designer.

installations and exhibitions in the foyer will be a regular feature of The REP’s offer in the future, and a recent installation, using the same designer and curator, was created for The REP’s “Epic Encounters” season.

This exhibition was in the public foyer spaces and therefore accurate visitor ﬁgures are impossible to calculate; however, between opening (3 September 2013) and the end of January 2014, The REP had 116,875 audience members to

A total of 1,961 people bought tickets for REP100 events, including backstage tours and Hidden Histories.

The touring exhibition was launched at the Grosvenor G Casino on 16 April, 2013. Prior to this, librarians were invited to a backstage tour at the Old Rep speciﬁcally for them, so that they could see the exhibition and make decisions about how it might work in their spaces. The exhibition toured to 15 libraries in total and was extremely well-received at all of them. The team of volunteers, with the Project Manager, worked hard to redesign the exhibitions to suit the available space allocated to them. Librarians were all impressed with the quality of the show, the professionalism of the team and the reactions of the members of the public who saw the exhibitions. A number of libraries requested talks to accompany the exhibition for local history groups; volunteers researched and delivered these.

As our first date was at this theatre and I asked my wife to marry me that night, The REP has always The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014 been important to us... Visitor to the Old Rep exhibition 18

It was so positive to see it here. It really fitted in and is exactly what we should be doing as a library. Margaret Hunt, Kings Heath and Hall Green Libraries

Social grade

Social deprivation

Ethnic proﬁle Not known 7.5%

White English 50.5%

Chinese 1.0%

4 dimensions 1.0%

White Irish 2.5%

Other Asian 3.0%

3 dimensions 8.0%

White Gypsy/Romany 0.5%

Black 10.0%

2 dimensions 24.5%

White Other 3.0%

Arab 1.0%

1 dimension 33.0%

Mixed 4.5%

Other 1.0%

No deprivation 26.0%

SE Asian 23.0%

AB 18.3% C1 29.0% C2 17.0% DE 35.7%

The touring exhibition had to be expanded so that it could tour into two libraries simultaneously, to meet demand. Kevin Duffy is Senior Service Manager for Community Libraries and he was very pleased with the quality of the partnership and of the exhibitions themselves. His view is that the exhibitions deﬁnitely widened The REP’s reach into isolated communities who are not necessarily City Centre visitors, let alone visitors to The REP’s building. Parts of the exhibition travelled with the Sir Barry Jackson tour into schools and community venues across the region, as well as being seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and at Malvern Library as part of the Malvern Festival.

almost certainly saw at least part of it, if not actively engaged with it.

Librarians were very positive about the exhibition, especially the interactive elements. Their observations were that many people took the time to look at the exhibition and that, in some venues, it changed people’s perceptions of the library.

Across the areas in which those libraries are situated, social grades are as shown in the (above left) pie chart, where: A is upper middle class higher administrative, managerial or professional; B is middle class intermediate managerial, administrative or professional; C1 is lower middle class supervisory or clerical and junior management, administrative or professional; C2 is skilled working class skilled manual workers; D is working class semi and unskilled manual workers; and E is non working casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners, and others who may rely on the welfare state for their income, including students.

Libraries deﬁnitely had different experiences depending on the space they had available and the exhibition worked best where items could be displayed with space around them. Librarians commented that the items were well-chosen for community settings. Although it was impossible to log visitor numbers for the exhibition in community libraries, we can extrapolate from library footfall. Taking visitor numbers across the 15 libraries and mapping these to the days they hosted the exhibition, we can estimate that over 72,000 people visited those libraries when the exhibition was on and

in terms of deprivation, the chart (above centre) shows the number of indicators of deprivation in the areas served by the

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

libraries, where the four indicators are: Employment, where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick; Education, where no person in the household has at least level 2 education, and no person aged 16-18 is a full time student; Health and disability, where any person in the household has general health that is 'bad' or 'very bad', or has a long-term health problem; Housing, where the household's accommodation is either overcrowded, with an occupancy rating -1 or less, or is in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating. Also shown in a chart (above right) is the ethnic proﬁle of those areas served by the libraries that hosted the exhibition.

We need to keep animating the foyer and merging the community work with what happens in the foyer. Stuart Rogers, Executive Director

I am over the moon with how it turned out, from the casting and directing to how the dressing room looked. It was exactly how I imagined it in my head. Everyone did such a good job I'm really pleased, which is VERY rare for me to say! Stephanie Ridings, writer of Gwen and Edith Gwen and Edith, part of the Hidden Histories event

OBjECTIVE 3 | Design and make interactive games and activities to create access to exhibitions Outputs • Create interactive games and activities, both online and at events and exhibitions which provide different access points to the archive artefacts. One online game and eight activities taking place at events between September 2012 and December 2013

Delivery Students from Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) designed four games based on the archive. This means that the 15 students engaged with the archive during the design process. Beta versions of these were available at the exhibition preview evening at the Old Rep. REP100 paid for one of these games to be professionally developed; this has now launched. Volunteers and REP staff collaborated to create other access points to The REP100 materials. The Hidden Histories tours were developed as a way of bringing the Old Rep exhibition materials alive. The programme was designed to animate the backstage tours at the Old Rep. Performers (from The REP’s core

Foundry programme) reenacted seven stories from The REP’s archive for tour participants. This proved an extremely popular and immersive experience. Nine Hidden Histories tours were delivered in all and 365 tickets were sold through The REP’s booking system during the run, 1830 March 2013. Feedback on Hidden Histories was very positive, from participants and attendees alike.

Table 2: Whether Hidden Histories attendees thought the acting elements added to the experience Have the acting elements of the Hidden Histories tour added to the experience? Yes 104 99.0% Not sure 1 1.0% No 0 0

Table 3: Whether the Hidden Histories experience made attendees more interested in the history of The REP and local area

106 people answered a question as to whether the Hidden Histories experience had made them more or less interested in the history of The REP. See table 3.

Have this tour and exhibition made you more or less interested in the history… …of The REP (n=106) More interested 102 96.0% Less interested 0 0 Made no difference 4 4.0%

This is a signiﬁcant outcome in terms of the value of one strand of REP100 activity: increasing interest in history, of The REP especially, but more generally of the local area.

…of the local area generally (n=106) More interested 90 85.0% Less interested 2 2.0% Made no difference 14 13.0% On 13 October, The REP hosted an Open Day, a hugely successful event, enjoyed by

volunteers, staff and visiting members of the public. As well as theatre-based workshops, backstage tours ran throughout the day, focusing on the history of The REP, and The Quiet Pioneer was screened three times. At the Open Day, 35 people responded to a question about whether the event had made them more or less interested in the history of The REP and of the local area. 28 (80%) said they were more interested in the history of The REP as a result of the event and 20 (57.1%) said they were more interested in the history of the local area as a result of the event. This is interesting as it demonstrates how the history of the theatre has become a key part of how The REP understands and presents itself.

The detail of the background gave a whole new view of the history of the Old Rep The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Hidden Histories attendee

A wonderful project - 1) nurturing a new generation aware of its inheritance 2) Bringing together a huge band of theatre enthusiasts - both as volunteers and as visitors to the event and exhibition. 3) maintaining The REP's traditions as a centre of theatre and excellence through this wonderful weekend. REP100 Weekender attender

Table 4: Impact of the Open Day on attendees' interest in history Has the Open Day made you more or less interested in the history… …of The REP (n=35) More interested 28 80.0% Less interested 0 0 Made no difference 7 20.0% …of the local area generally (n=35) More interested 20 57.0% Less interested 0 0 Made no difference 15 43.0%

OBjECTIVE 4 | Develop an audio tour Outputs

imaginear who used the REP100 tours as a case study on their website.

The audio walks were rolled out gradually, with Chapters 1 (Birmingham) and 2 (Stratford) being made available in April 2013. A Birmingham extension was launched in September to coincide with the opening of the new REP building and Chapter 3 (Malvern) was launched in January 2014.

The lack of focused impetus behind publicising and selling the tours has been for a number of reasons. REP personnel were focusing on other aspects of the programme as well as on the practical tasks associated with moving into the new building, recruiting and inducting new staff and familiarising themselves with new systems and procedures. The audio walks were not prioritised amongst the other activity.

Take-up of the audio walks has not yet been high, but there are plans to publicise them more, for instance when people buy tickets for shows and for backstage tours. There have been 580 plays by people accessing tracks from SoundCloud.

OBjECTIVE 5 | Deliver a Lecture Series MP3 players were acquired at cost by negotiating a deal with the suppliers

Outputs

• Create one audio tour to take people on a journey to explore the history of The REP to be launched in February 2013

• Run a series of eight lectures within the framework of the four themes (‘Drama Queens’, ‘The Detail’s in the Design’, ‘Station Street to Stratford via Malvern’, ‘Hidden Histories’) by December 2013

Delivery The REP100 Centenary Strolls were launched to take visitors on journeys through Birmingham, Stratford and Malvern. Visitors can access the walks on the web via QR reader, or by directly accessing the site through their browser and downloading the MP3 ﬁle, or by borrowing an MP3 player. Transcripts are also available on the web, increasing the appeal of, and access to, the Centenary Strolls.

Delivery During the course of REP100, a weekend lecture-based event was held along with other lectures and presentations. The REP100 Weekender was held on 23 and 24 March 2013 and included eight sessions, including lectures and panel discussions. The event was priced at £5 a day, and there were associated special offers available on the play showing at the Old Rep, Heather Gardner, and also on a meal at a local Chinese restaurant. Contributors to this event included Meera Syal, Lorna Laidlaw, John Harrison, David Edgar, Claire Cochrane and Janet Suzman.166 people attended across the weekend. Sylvia Morris, a contributor to the event, posted a blog about the day on “the shakespeare blog” and Adam Somerset reviewed Sunday’s programme on the Theatre Wales website.

Bricks and Mortar comprised two free talks covering the history of The REP’s architecture. On 16 February, 2013, Anthony Collins talked about the building of the Old Rep, focusing on John Bowen, the local builder responsible. 156 people attended. On 30 March 2013, there was a presentation on designing the new REP. This was by Graham Winteringham, the architect of the building and trustee of The REP. 71 people attended.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

A wonderful trip down memory lane seeing and remembering shows and actors… I had no idea

As a team of volunteers, we’ve brought people to The REP who wouldn’t normally have come.

the theatre was so prestigious. Backstage tour attender

REP100 Volunteer When asked for feedback on what had been the highlight of the day, one attendee at the John Bowen talk said it had been the “references to buildings, long gone, as an insight into 1920s Birmingham”. On 30 March, as part of Birmingham’s Flatpack Festival, The REP arranged for a screening of The Quiet Pioneer, a ﬁlm about Sir Barry Jackson, founder of Birmingham Repertory Company. This event was free. On 12 October, there was an event exploring 100 Years of Theatre Design, a talk on theatre design using The REP’s productions as examples, by Peter Farley, theatre designer, senior lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art and Director of Brighton’s Nightingale Theatre. Tickets to this event were £3 each. 34 people attended. A presentation of material from the archive was held by the library on 12 November. 30 people attended. During REP100, volunteers developed four talks covering the four themes to be delivered at libraries where the touring exhibition took place. Eight talks were delivered. Feedback on all of these events was overwhelmingly positive. At The REP100 Weekender event, attendees were asked

Hidden Histories events) and 631 people attended Saturday morning tours at The REP to the end of December, which represents a 96% capacity.

to rate each individual session from 1 to 4 where 1 is poor and 4 is excellent. Across all sessions, the average score was 3.54.

OBjECTIVE 6 | Run Backstage Tours Volunteers have taken ownership of the backstage tours, instigating and managing their own informal evaluation meetings to ensure that quality of delivery and accuracy of information is maintained.

Outputs • Run 36 backstage tours at the old and new REP buildings with a heritage focus by December 2013

The knowledge and enthusiasm of the volunteers was remarked on by a number of backstage tour attendees and many of the volunteers have, in turn, mentioned delivering the backstage tours as a highlight of The REP100 experience.

• Tours to have a heritage focus including interpretation of key heritage elements

Delivery This has been an extraordinarily successful aspect of The REP100 programme. Prior to REP100, the theatre ran backstage tours on a roughly monthly basis and struggled to ﬁll them. The legacy of The REP100 tours is that backstage tours are now running on a weekly basis, are very popular and provide an income stream for the Company.

Data was gathered from 320 people who went on backstage tours at The REP. 316 answered a question asking them to rate the quality of the explanations given during the tour by the guide.

By December 2013, volunteers had researched and delivered 30 tours at the Old Rep, plus nine Hidden Histories events; Saturday morning tours are ongoing at The REP; eight tours took place over the opening weekend and six weekday tours have been programmed and delivered speciﬁcally for community groups and schools. in total, there have been over 70 backstage tours. 444 people attended tours at the Old Rep (not including the 356 who attended

Table 5: REP backstage tours, quality of tour guides' explanations On a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is not very good and 4 is excellent, how would you rate the quality of the explanation given by your tour guide (n=316) 1 0 0 2 5 1.50% 3 81 25.50% 4 230 73.0% This means that 301 people (94.06% rated the quality of the tour guides’ explanations as good or excellent.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

We also asked whether the tour had made them more or less interested in history. 318 responded with regard to the history of The REP and 317 regarding the history of the local area generally. Results are set out in the table below. Nearly 85% of tour participants were more interested in the history of The REP as a direct result of the tour and over 60% were more interested in the history of the local area.

Table 6: Impact of REP backstage tours on attendees' interest in history Has the tour made you more or less interested in the history… …of The REP (n=318) More interested 269 84.5% Less interested 1 0.5% Made no difference 48 15.0% …of the local area generally (n=317) More interested 191 60.0% Less interested 0 0 Made no difference 126 40.0%

OBjECTIVE 7 | Produce Resource Packs Outputs • Create resource packs for three target groups: primary and secondary education at different key stages; post graduate students in theatre and theatre design; local historians and

Thanks, once again, for yesterday. It really made such a great difference to us and the information you provided us with will definitely inform our Tour Guide programme going forward. Sally Munday, Volunteer Coordinator, Science Museum

community groups by September 2013. These packs will facilitate further interaction with the online archive and the exhibitions • Packs will provide an additional level of interpretation of digital archive and heritage of The REP

Delivery This delivery target was changed during the course of The REP100 programme. There was some time slippage in producing the packs which was largely due to the emerging recognition that the packs would rely for their effectiveness on the digitisation of the archive in order to be comprehensive. in other words, there was little point in producing the packs until there were enough items available on-line to reference and use as stimuli. Also, the amount of work needed was underestimated to complete packs with a different basis from those usually produced by The REP to support its programming. The packs that were envisaged for REP100 were a new departure for the Learning and Participation Team. The REP100 team worked with The REP’s Learning and Participation Team and an education consultant to produce an online Resource pack for primary and secondary education at different stages. This was then edited by an intern from the University of Birmingham’s Cultural Studies Department.

Manager and Curator to the GEM (Group for Education in Museums) conference in September 2013. The theme for the conference was “People Power: Realising the potential of volunteers, communities and partners” and The REP100 team were proud (if a little surprised) to be the only contributing organisation who were represented by volunteers themselves. Their session was entitled, “Putting Volunteering Centre Stage”.

Facilitating further interaction with the archive and the exhibition was maintained as the desired outcome, but it was achieved via different means for post graduate students, local historians and community groups. Volunteers were trained in editing and creating Wikipedia entries, including etiquette and conventions as well as the technical know-how necessary for effective interventions. For example: volunteers have been involved in correcting and supplementing The REP’s entry on Wikipedia; they have also created an entry for the Malvern Festival, and one volunteer became particularly excited about her research around Lisel Haas and has created a Wikipedia entry from scratch about the photographer. These entries link to other Wikipedia articles, as well as back to The REP’s archive website.

As a result of their presence at the conference, The REP has been approached by the Science Museum to share their experience in working with volunteers.

OBjECTIVE 8 | Attract Users Outputs • Engage 10,000 people through activities at events and online by December 2013

Local history groups requested talks and these were hosted by community libraries, as discussed above; some students attended events such as The REP100 Weekender and the Bricks and Mortar talks. However, the reach into higher education was not achieved as fully as the team would have liked.

Delivery Exact ﬁgures for people who have engaged with REP100 are almost impossible to assess. Users of the Library of Birmingham have also come into The REP foyer and seen the exhibition there, people coming in to The REP to buy tickets, to see a show, or just for lunch or a cup of coffee have engaged with it, too. Similarly, people saw parts of the exhibition at the Old Rep in Station Street when they came in for shows, or to buy tickets. Attendance ﬁgures for the Open Weekend are an

The project and its achievements were disseminated more widely in ways that had not been anticipated. For example, two volunteers accompanied the Project

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

underestimate, since some people ‘wandered’ in from the Square and were not logged. We do know that this engagement happened, from observation reports by volunteers and from people who have told their stories for the oral histories collection. The REP100 team’s records show that 266,450 people accessed the project at events up to the end of December 2013 and, in that same period, 1,897 people bought tickets for REP100 events (tours, talks, Hidden Histories and the Open Day), excluding audiences at shows, bespoke group tours and people who ‘dropped in’ to the Open Day. This does not include people who accessed the project on-line.

Speciﬁc Aim 3 Outputs • We will help more people, and a wider range of people, to take an active part in heritage and develop civic pride, local community involvement and ownership of The REP and its archive.

OBjECTIVE 1 | Run a Volunteer Programme

Being a REP100 volunteer has added so much to my life. I retired in July and this has renewed my sense of purpose REP100 Volunteer

The volunteers' rehearsed reading of The Farmer's Wife

Outputs • Recruit and train 50 volunteers to work in various roles within the project and encourage them to take ownership of the archive so that work to catalogue, digitise and preserve the archive material continues beyond the life of the project. Volunteers to contribute a total of 714 volunteer days by December 2013. Target to retain at least one lead archivist volunteer to continue work on the archive beyond the end of the project in December 2013

Delivery 79 people gave time as REP100 volunteers during the life of the project; by December 2013, 49 of them were still active. 1,178 volunteer days had been logged by the volunteers by the end of December 2013. The target of 714 days was reached by May 2013. Of the 49 volunteers still active at the end of the project, 41 completed a survey. This is a remarkable response rate (83.7%) and demonstrates clearly the commitment of the volunteers to the project. Volunteers were recruited via The REP’s existing mailing list, a presence at ArtsFest 2012, press releases in local newspapers, notices in programmes, through the Library, and via the project’s

activities. They were asked to express an interest in areas of activity: archiving, tour guiding, exhibitions and oral histories, and these continued to be the main teams in which they worked. For the second phase of the project, when it had become clear that the volunteers had a high level of experience and expertise, team leaders were appointed and the volunteers became much more self-organising. Most volunteers had a single key area of involvement, and also turned their hand to a number of activities and tasks as needed. Activities additional to the four main areas included stewarding, stufﬁng envelopes, proof-reading, giving talks, devising activity sheets for children and providing soundeffects for the recording of a backing track for a show.

Artistic Director, for example, has said that the volunteer legacy will change the way The REP works, inﬂuencing the company’s engagement and connections with its communities. At the end of The REP100 project, volunteers were invited to a ‘wrap party’ and a number of them decided to mark the occasion by preparing a rehearsed reading of The Farmer’s Wife, a play by Eden Phillpotts that they had come across in the archive. The play was described by the volunteers as The REP’s “ﬁrst blockbuster” following its premiere in 1916.

A key theme to emerge from interviews with both the volunteers and the staff was the degree of trust and mutual respect that had grown up between these two groups. Staff were impressed with the quality of the volunteers’ work and consequently willing to delegate tasks and responsibility to them; volunteers were appreciative of the welcome they received from The REP team and respectful of the fact that they were professionals.

A number of members of staff attended the event, held in one of The REP’s rehearsal studios, including the Executive Director, as well as around 40 volunteers.

The volunteers felt part of what many of them referred to as ‘The REP family’, and this has left a lasting legacy for the company, which has been recognised. The

The reading proved to be a ﬁtting closure to this chapter of The REP100 story combining, as it did, elements of theatrical performance

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

and a rediscovered part of The REP’s heritage. Volunteers have greatly appreciated The REP’s generosity. This has been demonstrated, for example, by the fact that the volunteers received complimentary and discounted tickets for shows. One volunteer mentioned how included she felt simply because she, like other volunteers, has a REP pass that lets her into, and around, most of the building. They don't need to wait to be invited in or signed in, they sign themselves in and let themselves in at Stage Door, like staff members do, and this small practicality has had a major impact on their sense of belonging to The REP and on their sense of ownership of the project. The volunteers have proved to be an important body of ambassadors for, not just REP100, but for The REP more generally. A by-product of The REP’s generosity has

I am so pleased that I made the effort to come to Birmingham yesterday. I enjoyed talking to you and the girls and sharing my memories. I hope they will be of use for your Centenary Celebrations Attendee at REP100 caravan The Art Club works on stools for the Old Rep (3%) saying they were gay; 37 (57%) said they had no religion and 23 (35%) said they were Christian; and 53 (81.5%) said they had no caring responsibilities. A priority for The REP as it develops its volunteer body beyond the life of REP100 will be to work at recruiting a wider crosssection of people.

been that audiences have been even bigger than they otherwise might have been. The volunteers have received training in a number of areas directly and indirectly related to their primary interest. The training areas have included Archiving, Oral Histories (interviewing, recording, transcribing, cataloguing), tour guiding, working with exhibitions, Wikipedia and Disability Equality. The REP has taken seriously the need to develop the volunteers and there is a great sense, amongst the volunteer body, that they have been given opportunities to develop formal and informal skills and abilities. Many of the volunteers have been in highpowered jobs, some relevant to the work they have been doing for REP100 and some even have backgrounds in professional theatre.

Without exception, all the people interviewed for this evaluation, both as individuals and in groups, mentioned the volunteers as a highlight and success of The REP100 programme. This success was seen in terms of the number of people recruited and retained and also the quality of the work they have produced and their commitment to The REP.

They have appreciated the balance of ﬂexibility and structure that the programme has given them. Only one person expressed frustration at how tasks have been timetabled since she works full-time and has been unable to be involved in archiving (her ﬁrst choice) since these sessions were scheduled during working hours.

OBjECTIVE 2 | Collect Oral Histories Outputs

A disappointment with the team of volunteers has been that they do not represent a very diverse group of people. Equalities information was gathered from 65 volunteers; they were asked about age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, occupation, religion and caring responsibilities.

• Collect oral histories from 100 people who have a connection to The REP through work, family and/or as an audience member by February 2013

Delivery By the end of December 2013, 129 oral histories had been collected with 84 of them having been transcribed. Volunteers attended induction sessions in September 2012, delivered by the project’s oral historian. Areas covered included formulating questions, as well as interviewees’ consent, transcribing and using the technology.

Nearly half (30) of the 65 responding volunteers were over 55 (46%); 53 (81.5%) said they were White English; 58 (89%) said they were not disabled, whilst 5 (8%) said they were; 53 (81.5%) are women; 60 (92%) said they were heterosexual, with 2

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Further training was given as the project progressed. The process of gathering these memories and stories began with the installation of a caravan into Birmingham’s annual Christmas market, from the middle of November. This was designed to raise the proﬁle of The REP100 programme generally as well as to encourage local people to share their stories. Some of these oral histories are available on the web as part of the archive. Extracts have been included in the audio walks and snippets (written and audio) have been used in the exhibitions. Collecting the oral histories is ongoing, since the project has continued to stimulate new people to contact The REP with their own memories.

OBjECTIVE 3 | Run a Training Programme for REP Staff Outputs • Train key front of house REP staff to have a basic knowledge of The REP’s heritage and where to signpost people for further information by February 2013.

Delivery All box ofﬁce staff have been on the Birmingham audio walk and were briefed about REP100 events as they were

‘T’ New Skills, New Passions

planned and took place. Key staff have been included in tours around the Old Rep and new REP exhibitions. Some staff have come forward with items for the archive and for many, REP100 has been an important initiative in helping them locate the theatre, and their own contribution, in history. Having said that, some front of house staff, when interviewed, did express a degree of frustration that they did not know even more about the history, in order to be properly prepared if a member of the public had a question or request. There are plans to develop a rolling induction and training programme (using the volunteers) to build a greater awareness of The REP’s history into the staff team. A ‘crib-sheet’ has also been produced for them to refer to.

T has been a REP100 volunteer since the beginning of the project and has done a range of jobs within all the areas of activity except for exhibition installation. She took the opportunity which arrived “at the right time” for her, given her life circumstances. She was self-employed and had ﬂexibility with her time and had been looking for a new volunteering opportunity, when she found out about REP100. She had interests already in both the theatre and local history and saw this as a wonderful opportunity to ﬁnd out more about the theatre whilst pursuing her other interests. The archiving work was particularly appealing but, she says, she had no idea how much she would get out of her involvement.

Two completed stools T has been completely overwhelmed by the sense of belonging she has gained from The REP, and has greatly appreciated the welcome from the staff - and the free and discounted tickets, which were a real surprise. This generosity had not been on her agenda at all when she signed up. When asked about the highlights of her experience, T cites the ‘aha’ moments in the archive, which happened in the midst of the routine tasks. A particular moment developed into a passion, when T found herself inputting the Lisel Haas photographs into the archive. T became increasingly interested in the life and work

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

of this pioneering female photographer who worked at The REP documenting shows in the 40s and 50s. She loved the photographs, especially the use of light and became caught up in Haas’ idea of photography as a universal language. T was asked to write a blog entry on Haas. During her research she was surprised to ﬁnd there was no Wikipedia entry for her, so T went on the training programmed by The REP and wrote the entry herself. T has also carried out a huge amount of research on Sir Barry Jackson and has scripted and delivered library talks. She has gained a great deal of knowledge as well as new skills. These skills don’t relate only to iT: despite having worked in local authorities for around 40 years and being used to giving presentations in which she conveyed information in an engaging way, T found herself actually scripting the library talks, something she had never previously done. This was because she was handling a completely different kind of information, one in which hard facts and ﬁgures were central.

Even when there have been frustrations, they have always been balanced by the attitude of everyone working on the Project, especially the tenacity and enthusiasm of [the Project Manager] ‘T’, REP100 volunteer

Other Outputs in addition to meeting (and, in almost all cases, exceeding) stated targets, The REP100 project delivered several outputs that were not explicit in the aims and objectives, that were not part of the original plan or that signiﬁcantly exceeded expectations in the quality of delivery.

Printed Materials These pieces of print were additional to the publicity materials (ﬂyers, posters, brochures) designed and created for The REP100 programme.

Centenary Brochure A full colour, 130 page publication was produced as a catalogue to the two exhibitions and a souvenir of The REP100 programme. Entitled The REP100, A Century of Dramatic History, it includes a foreword by David Edgar. it covers each of the four themes of REP100 as well as a look forward to the next 100 years. The brochure features pictures of items in The REP archive, with introductions to the themes by Professor Claire Cochrane, who has written two books about The REP. The ﬁnal double-page spread shows photographs of The REP Company, one in 1913 and one in 2013, side by side.

Just to say how much I enjoyed last night and admired the exhibition: it's evocative and atmospheric as well as telling the story clearly and well. I'm sure it will be very valuable to all those who see it. I also think the catalogue is a very fine document and will provide a permanent physical legacy. E-mail to Project Manager from David Edgar Postcards

The Project Manager was assisted by interns from the University of Birmingham (each for six months), an intern from the University of Worcester (for a total of 80 hours), and by two students on short placements from Warwick University’s MA in international Cultural Policy and Management, each for six-week periods.

A set of postcards was produced, entitled Postcards from a Dramatic Century. Four cards each portray a scene from The REP’s history and a ﬁfth carries the declaration that The REP adopted for its press and PR campaign.

Beermats

Volunteers Becoming part of The REP

These have been mentioned (above) in the context of the exhibition at the Old Rep. Eight designs were printed onto beer mats, each depicting an actor in a role at The REP. One side asked the question, “Do you know who you are resting your drink on?” and showed a picture of an actor in a production from the past. The other side gave the answer and a brief account of their association with The REP.

Again, even though it was a stated aim that volunteers would develop a sense of ownership of the project, the extent to which (and speed with which) this happened took everyone by surprise. it was exempliﬁed by an early backstage tour at the Old Rep when the Theatre Manager was delighted to hear a volunteer talking to members of the public and use the word, “we” when talking of The REP, rather than referring to it in the third person.

Interns, Placements and Volunteer Managers

REP100 as a Core Offer of the Company

Although internships and work placements were a planned aspect of the programme, their role proved more signiﬁcant than had been anticipated.

Everyone involved in the project has been gratiﬁed to see the extent to which staff have embraced The REP100 programme and its offer to the public.

Similarly, it had been hoped that a small number of volunteers would be able to take leadership roles within the programme, but the extent to which this happened far exceeded expectations. Very early on in the programme, a volunteer took on the role of managing the team in terms of scheduling tasks and coordinating communication.

There is no doubt that, whilst the timing was non-negotiable (after all, it had to coincide with The REP’s 100th birthday), it could not have been a more difﬁcult time to plan this large-scale, challenging programme of activity, just when both The REP and the Library, a key partner, were

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

having to move out of their own buildings. Although there was no real resistance amongst staff, there was something of a sense that looking back into history was somewhat irrelevant for a company that wants to move forward. At the beginning of the project, it was separate from the main business of the theatre. This could very easily have become compounded by the fact that the project was being managed by a freelancer and delivered by volunteers together with others also working on a freelance basis. Even though a producing theatre is used to working with freelance staff, this could have been problematic as the Project Manager was not automatically a ‘gatekeeper’ in the organisation. Another factor working against this embedding is the different cultures of the theatre world as opposed to the world of exhibitions and archives. Somehow the gaps needed to be bridged. it is testament to the skills of the Project Manager that REP100 became embedded in the company very quickly. At a practical level, she realised that the culture gaps were very much to do with vocabulary and she started to use theatre-based terminology to explain aspects of the programme to REP staff. in this way, tasks around REP100 were embraced as part of The REP’s work.

University of Worcester Research Researchers at the University of Worcester have carried out a study examining the impact of Claire Cochrane’s work with The REP100 project team. The research is summarised as describing the “impact associated with Prof Claire Cochrane’s twenty years’ research into the history of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, one of the UK’s largest and most historically important regional producing theatres.

Some of The REP100 volunteers and cast on the set of The Wind In The Willows at the Old Rep

Media Coverage There was a good deal of media coverage of REP100 both locally and nationally. For example, the BBC covered the Caravan Stories aspect of the project for broadcast on BBC Midlands Today and BBC inside Out, and the Daily Telegraph ran a story on “Birmingham REP at 100: where the stars learned to shine”. There was a feature on BBC Radio Two’s The Art Show in February 2013 and the Project Manager was interviewed on BBC

Radio Four’s Today programme in August 2013.

Claire Cochrane took part in a BBC1 inside Out West Midlands feature broadcast in time for its actual 100th birthday and, on discovery of an apparently handwritten script belonging to Laurence Olivier dating from 1927, she was also interviewed for The Times.

Brum Notes online magazine posted a piece about the Centenary Stroll and this ﬁrst audio walk was also featured in an interview with the Project Manager on Radio WM and on the BBC Local Live website in July 2013. The REP’s birthday celebrations, and the Centenary Stroll in particular, were mentioned on the What’s On Stage website in August 2013

REP100 also featured in Social Media including Facebook, Twitter and instagram.

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

impact derived primarily from her advisory work from 2011-13 with the theatre’s senior management and project leaders on realisation of their REP100 centenary celebrations. Cochrane provided support for the development of wider local, regional and national public recognition and understanding of The REP’s distinctive history and current role and inﬂuence within the evolving ecology of contemporary British theatre, at a time of extreme economic challenge for The REP and for regional theatres throughout England.” The research cites Claire Cochrane’s essential contextualisation of the archival items and especially the practical support this afforded The REP100 Project Manager and the project’s Curator, as well as her contribution to events, including chairing The REP Weekender event.

3. What We Learned

Knowledge and Understanding GLO

REP100 LEARNING

Knowing what or about something The REP’s place in the history of British theatre Differences between theatre and heritage practice

Preparing materials for The REP exhibition in this section, an overview is given of the learning journey of those involved in REP100, using the inspiring Learning For All framework of Generic Learning Outcomes (GLO). This review of learning sets out examples of key learning rather than seeking to be a comprehensive list. REP staff, Library of Birmingham staff, community library staff, volunteers, members of the public and others who came into contact with REP100 have all demonstrated learning in the ﬁve dimensions of the GLOs.

People have developed skills relating directly and indirectly to heritage management. These have included archiving and interpretation, in other words aspects of conserving artefacts and of helping others learn about them. Attitudes and values have shifted, particularly amongst REP staff and the volunteer team as they have developed pride and a sense of belonging based on the REP’s history. Many have evidenced changes in their ambition and intentions for how they spend their time in the future.

Knowledge and understanding of the REP’s history, its place in the history of Birmingham and in the history of theatre in the UK has grown as a direct result of the programme and members of the REP100 team have commented on new levels of awareness that they have developed as a result of working on REP100.

Above all, it has been an enjoyable and rewarding journey for those involved, with stories of interests rediscovered and developing friendships.

All All All

Biographies of key individuals, eg Barry Jackson, Lisel Haas REP as home of ﬁrst contemporary dress Shakespeare

All

Making sense of something

Locating The REP in history Seeing The REP’s history through the lens of the four themes

All All

Deepening understanding

The contribution of individuals and key All events to history Signiﬁcance of history of REP to current REP Company/Volunteers ethos Partners Event attendees

How museums, libraries and archives operate

Importance of conservation issues

Making links and relationships between things

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

REP Company/Volunteers Public in Birmingham and beyond Partners (eg Library) Project Manager Curator REP Company

REP’s architectural history Breadth of productions at The REP Famous faces who started at The REP Learning facts or information

Overview of Learning

PRIMARILY LEARNED BY:

All

Managing archive materials

Volunteers REP Company/Volunteers REP Company/Volunteers Project Manager

How volunteers can contribute to an organisation

REP Company/Volunteers Project Manager Disseminated widely

‘Joining the dots’ between The REP’s buildings Links between theatre practice and heritage Link between use of public spaces and community engagement Link between history and personal stories

All All Disseminated widely Staff Disseminated widely Volunteers Event attendees

Skills

Attitudes and Values

GLO

REP100 LEARNING

PRIMARILY LEARNED BY:

GLO

REP100 LEARNING

PRIMARILY LEARNED BY:

Knowing how to do something

Oral histories Designing an exhibition Researching and writing talks Writing for Wikipedia

Volunteers Volunteers Volunteers Volunteers Project Manager REP company Volunteers

Feelings

Pride in REP’s history Pride in achievements of REP100

REP company Volunteers REP company Volunteers Project Manager Speakers at REP Weekender Volunteers REP company

Digital cataloguing of archives Being able to do new things

Managing a large, complex project Lead a guided tour

Curator Oral Historian Project Manager Volunteers

Research Evaluating performance Exhibition interpretation

Volunteers Volunteers Volunteers

IT skills Cataloguing

Volunteers Volunteers

Social skills

Working in mixed teams

Volunteers REP company

Communication skills

Communicating across sectors

Project Manager REP company Volunteers Volunteers Actors Volunteers Volunteers

Intellectual skills

Working within a theatre environment

Moved by sense of historical continuity

Perceptions

Seeing The REP as important part of history Seeing self as part of REP ‘family’ Seeing The REP’s place in Birmingham The REP has gained gravitas Opinions about ourselves

Information management skills

Managing a team Giving a talk Physical skills Photography skills

Seeing The REP through lens of history

Opinions or attitudes towards other people

Increased conﬁdence

Volunteers REP Company

Sense of having made valuable contribution Locating self in REP’s history

Volunteers All

Valuing others even where they Volunteers are different Seeing contribution volunteers can make REP company Event attendees Appreciation of theatre-based skills Volunteers Event attendees Respect for individuals who have played a part in REP’s history All

Increased capacity for tolerance, Learning to listen to the story behind and empathy the headlines

Volunteers Event attendees

Increased motivation

Volunteers Event attendees

Events increased interest in history of REP & local area

Attitudes towards an organisation Increased respect for The REP Increased fondness for The REP Increased visibility of The REP The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

REP Company Volunteers Public All Disseminated widely Volunteers All Disseminated widely All

All Volunteers Event attendees REP company Nationwide

Enjoyment, Inspiration and Creativity

Activity, Behaviour and Progression

GLO

REP100 LEARNING

PRIMARILY LEARNED BY:

GLO

REP100 LEARNING

PRIMARILY LEARNED BY:

Having fun

Reading of The Farmer’s Wife

Volunteers Staff attending Volunteers Volunteers Project Manager REP company Event attendees

What people do

Engaging in new activities

Volunteers Public Volunteers Event attendees

Enjoying friendships, camaraderie Enjoying events

Being surprised

Historical facts a constant surprise Generosity of REP Generosity of volunteers Sense of place in The REP ‘family’ and history

Innovative thoughts and creativity Initiating design of children’s activity sheets Family tree in REP foyer

Hidden Histories Ideas whilst researching, interpreting, installing exhibitions

Constant ﬂexibility and responsiveness

New and increased theatre-going What people intend to do

Volunteers REP company Volunteers REP company Project Manager Volunteers Speakers at REP Weekender

Bring some of theatre-based approach to exhibition work Continue to develop archive Maintain archive, with ongoing documentation and cataloguing Continue to make archive accessible

Volunteers Volunteers Project Manager Designer Project Manager

What people have done

Volunteers Curator Designer REP Workshop Volunteers REP Company REP100 support team

Exploration experimentation and making

Creative activities

Volunteers Art Club Open Day attendees

Being inspired

Inspired by theatre history

Event attendees Volunteers

Maintain volunteer body More installations in foyer Continue volunteering Continue working with REP

REP company REP company REP company

Valued the time they have given

Volunteers Project Manager REP company Volunteers REP100 team REP company

Reported or observed actions

Engaged with exhibitions Valued opportunities

Event attendees Event attendees Volunteers

A change in the way that people manage their lives

Social engagement (new) Purpose and structure after retirement

Volunteers Volunteers

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

Developed skills

REP company REP company Volunteers Project Manager Designer Curator Curator

Things to do Differently With the benefit of hindsight, almost everyone from The REP agreed that The REP100 project put an almost unsustainable pressure on the organisation at a time when it was managing the move into temporary accommodation and back into the refurbished new REP. Having said that, there was also consensus that The REP100 programme of events made sense of the move, and especially of the residency at the Old Rep on Station Street, and that it really supported The REP’s ongoing visibility during what could have been a very difficult time in terms of public engagement. The fact that it was The REP’s 100th birthday also, of course, made absolute sense of The REP100 programme! it was also felt, by one or two people, that mistakes were made in pruning the budget quite as much as they did. The reduced financial investment made delivery difficult and entirely dependent on the goodwill, not only of the volunteer team, but also on members of the project team giving more days and hours than they were actually contracted for. Casualties of the under-resourcing have included the proper briefing of front-ofhouse staff and audience development around the audio walks. Front of house

staff, whilst very much enjoying and valuing the whole REP100 experience, have not felt as equipped as they would like to have been, to deal with questions from members of the public and to maximise on the opportunities that the activities offered.

Communication came up several times as an early problem for the programme. The volunteers felt that the lines of communication took a while to settle and be understood by everyone at The REP.

management, as well as the unexpected pool of skills and experience brought by the volunteer team.

There was an issue, too, over claiming expenses post August 2013. At the time of carrying out ﬁnal interviews, some volunteers were still not clear that this had been ironed out and were concerned not least because it disadvantaged some volunteers more than others (those with passes for public transport tended not to claim travel expenses anyway).

As far as the audio walks are concerned, more focused partnership working could have supported publicity around the initiative (for example in Malvern, the MP3 players are located at the Tourist information Centre, which seems to work well; nothing equivalent has been done in Birmingham), as well as making stronger links with ticket purchases and with backstage tours.

There was a sense of injustice when it looked as though the backstage tours team were to continue having their expenses paid whilst other teams had to fund their own travel. This, for those that mentioned it, ﬂew in the face of The REP’s generosity and was a rare instance of disrespect for the contribution that the volunteers were making.

The partnership with BOA, aimed at producing the digital games, could have been even more successful if discussions had started earlier and happened at a higher level of that organisation, rather than relying on an individual teacher. Volunteers were asked on a number of occasions and in different forums what they thought could be done differently. Many of them struggled to think of anything and some felt very uncomfortable being asked to look at their experiences through that particular lens. All wanted to be very clear that, even where they identiﬁed something, there was, as far as they were concerned, no blame or bad feeling.

Almost any project team will say, during a summative evaluation, that they should have had more time and more money. in the case of REP100, however, the scope of the programme and its ambition could easily have been its downfall. it was an enormous risk and that it paid off is down to the goodwill of everyone involved - staff, contracted professionals, volunteers and others - and the extremely skillful project

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

4. Conclusions The REP100 Story Throughout the process of evaluating this programme of events, a consistent story has emerged of a well-loved organisation being celebrated from within and without; of The REP’s generosity in welcoming volunteers, participants, guests and visitors; and, overwhelmingly, of the realisation of the vision of a group of people who saw The REP’s 100th birthday as an opportunity to locate The REP in history, looking back in order to look forward, recognising the Company’s heritage as part of the story of Birmingham and of the history of theatre in England and beyond. This programme of work is a successful demonstration of how the rigour and authenticity of a heritage approach can work with the vibrancy and energy of theatre to create something new. it was an ambitious undertaking. it would have been ambitious at any time in the life of a large producing theatre - even without the fact that it was to coincide with The REP’s relocating to temporary accommodation before returning to a newly refurbished building and a partnership with the brand new Library of Birmingham. As a result of REP100, Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s archive is more complete, better conserved and more

I was 100% committed to using the Real Stuff. The Collection was of paramount importance and I learned the value of bringing a creative, theatre-based approach to design and curation. We met the conservation challenge whilst still getting to the root of the real history of The REP. Gwendolen Whitaker, Curator

thoroughly catalogued than it ever has been in the past. Existing records will continue to be maintained and the archive will be added to on an ongoing basis with the new skills and procedures that have been invested in. This particular part of the UK’s heritage has been conserved and made accessible for present and future generations to experience and enjoy.

The REP or with heritage. This was partly through the successful touring exhibition which reached people who are not city centre visitors, let alone visitors to The REP, and also partly due to the variety and accessible nature of The REP100 activity programme and its connection to the diverse programme of plays showing during the 100th birthday celebrations.

As a result of REP100, volunteers, The REP company, event attendees, The REP100 team, partner organisations and others had formal and informal opportunities to learn about the history of The REP. For many, this is a deeply personal story and contributed to their sense of their own history. For others, the signiﬁcance was in learning about The REP’s place in local social history or The REP’s enormous contribution to the history of theatre in the UK and beyond. Many people learned of the role of Sir Barry Jackson for the ﬁrst time and, through the ‘Drama Queens’ theme, discovered more about the history of women of the British theatre.

As a result of REP100, a group of volunteers was recruited and retained who have made key decisions about conserving, cataloguing, storing and exhibiting heritage items and will continue to do so. As a result of REP100, there is no doubt that the heritage of The REP is better managed, in better condition, better identiﬁed and recorded and has been better interpreted and explained to give different people different ways in. As a result of REP100, people have learned about heritage, they have developed skills, changed their attitudes towards their own and others’ history, altered how they spend their time and had fun. A signiﬁcant number of people have volunteered time and many are willing to continue to do so. They have felt respected, appreciated and valued and see themselves as being part of The REP ‘family’.

As a result of REP100, many more people took an active part in heritage activities and developed a new interest in the history of The REP and of the local area generally. The REP was able to reach theatre audiences with no previous relationship with heritage and to wider communities with no previous relationship with either

As a result of REP100, more people and a wider range of people have engaged with

The ReP100 PRojecT – AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

heritage and The REP itself has become more resilient as it has attracted more and more loyal friends and grown new partnerships along with a greater visibility for its current work and its contribution to the history of British theatre. in its new partnership with the Library of Birmingham, The REP beneﬁts from the Library visitors and, with its new commitment to foyer-based installations, has more to offer these casual visitors than it previously did. REP100 has been a success. The REP company is excited to see what the future holds for them with their new sense of history, their learning and their raised visibility and gravitas. At the beginning of the project, the delivery team said they wanted to embed these values in REP100: • pride • building skills and capacity • a sense of community • ownership • valuing people This report clearly evidences that those values were central to the delivery and activities of The REP100 programme, and crucial to its success.

Appendix Contacts in addition to all those who completed questionnaires and surveys and provided spontaneous feedback, the following people have contributed to the evaluation through semi-structured, informal interviews or e-conversations: Shirley Adams; sister of REP100 volunteer Steve Ball; Learning and Participation, The REP Anne Bower; Front of House, The REP Robert Burley; REP100 volunteer Nigel cairns; Theatre Manager, The REP claire cochrane; Senior Lecturer in Drama, University of Worcester; historical advisor to REP100 Kayleigh cottam; Front of House, The REP Sue Deeley; REP100 volunteer Kevin Duffy; Senior Service Manager, Community Libraries, Birmingham City Council Dot emm; REP100 volunteer Gil Gillis; REP100 volunteer

carole Gumbley; REP100 volunteer

Ruth Morgan; Stage Manager, The REP

Ginny hartley; REP100 volunteer

erinn Murphy; Front of House, The REP

Paul hemmings; Senior Manager, Special Collections, Library of Birmingham

Sue Nightingale, Head of Wardrobe, The REP

Linda hisgett; REP100 volunteer

jeanine Plain-jones; REP100 volunteer

Margaret hunt; Library Manager, Hall Green and Kings Heath Libraries

Paul Reece; Head of Marketing and Communication, The REP

hilary james; Library Manager, Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton Libraries

Sian Roberts; Collection Curator, Library of Birmingham

clare jepson-homer; Communications and PR Manager, The REP

Stuart Rogers; Executive Director, The REP

Trina jones; General Manager, The REP

jaz Sansara; Front of House, The REP

helena Kendall; Front of House, The REP

Tom Saunders; Learning and Participation, The REP

Laura Killeen; Production Assistant, The REP

Roxana Silbert; Artistic Director, The REP

Fiona King; Learning and Participation, The REP

jenny Smith; REP100 Project Manager Shirley Smith; REP100 volunteer

Richard Leigh; Marketing Manager, The REP

Gerard Swift; Theatre Sales Manager, The REP

clare Lovell; Digital OfďŹ cer, The REP oscar Turner; REP100 volunteer Gudrun Limbrick; Oral Historian, WordWorks

Amy Watson; Front of House, The REP

Katie Moran; Marketing, The REP

Gwendolen Whitaker; Curator, REP100

The ReP100 PRojecT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AN EVALUATiON FOR BiRMiNGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE 2014

The tree that became a focal point of the exhibition at The REP

Photo: Gil Gillis ARPS

Birmingham Repertory Theatre is a registered charity. No. 223660