Issue 11 Summer 2020
Welcome In this Issue: - Welcome - The Big Debate - Time To Breathe - A Friend In Need… - REPurposed - Steve Steps For The REP - Still A Unique Venue - Open Kitchens - A Powerful Advocate - Young And Reloaded - More Than A Moment
Welcome to this Summer issue of The REPort. Whilst the past few months have been amongst the most challenging in The REP’s history, we have been sustained by the affection shown for the theatre by its audiences and thank everyone that has sent messages, donated and lobbied on our behalf. Your support has been truly appreciated – thank you. Since the theatre closed its doors on 16 March, we have been battling to secure the future of this wonderful institution. The loss of nearly all our earned income overnight was profound and posed an existential threat to our survival. The Job Retention Scheme was vital and since March nearly 90% of our staff have been furloughed. Audiences responded magnificently, many of them donating ticket refunds or increasing existing donations to help our cause. A lifeline arrived in June in the form of a grant from the Arts Council’s Emergency Coronavirus Fund, which will sustain us through into autumn. We are now in the process of applying to the Government’s recently announced £1.57bn bailout fund for culture to mitigate losses over the rest of the year. If successful, we will be able to steer The REP through to March ‘21, at which point we hope to be able to return to some semblance of trading normality – or a ‘new normal’. As you will read in this issue, we have found innovative ways to keep activity and engagement going
where possible. Throughout the last few months, we have also been busy making plans for the future, especially our 50th Anniversary and Commonwealth Games seasons. We have been so proud of the way our staff have responded to the crisis. As a theatre with a civic as well as an artistic mission, we have made it our role to use our assets and resources wherever we can to improve the lives of people within our city during this time of need. As we move into the autumn, we look forward to a phased re-opening and to piloting some COVID-safe events in the theatre and out in our communities. These won’t be our usual shows – we don’t expect to return to making large scale productions until 2021 – but they will be imaginative, entertaining, engaging and fun. We’re forging new creative partnerships too and look forward to announcing those soon. More than anything, we look forward to welcoming you, our audiences and supporters, back to the theatre again and sharing with you the joy of live performance. Rachael Thomas and Sean Foley Executive Director and Artistic Director
The Big Debate On 15 July, 300 theatre professionals, educators and VIP speakers sat at their screens to take part in The Big Drama, Theatre and Education Online Debate produced by The REP and the Gusto Group, with generous support from Arts Connect. The event marked the launch of the Drama and Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA), which promotes the cause of theatre with, for and by children and young people – and a big alliance it is too, with a membership of thousands of individuals, theatres, businesses, schools and universities across the country, marshalled by our very own Associate Director, Steve Ball. Steve opened up the debate before handing over to our Senior Education Officer, Bhavik Parmar. Speakers included Robin Pascoe, President of IDEA (the International Drama and Theatre Education Association) and Senior Lecturer in Arts and Drama Education at Murdoch University, Australia; Tim Boyes, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Education Partnership; Simeilia HodgeDallaway, Theatre Director, Writer and Co-Founder of Black Lives Black Words; and Jenny Sealey, Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre, the UK’s flagship disabled-led theatre company. Decolonising the curriculum, teacher training and higher education, teaching drama in schools, and the challenges facing theatres all featured in the breakout groups. Contributors included Matthew Milburn, Executive Headteacher at Saddleworth School, playwright Roy Williams, drama therapist and lecturer Sam Adams, and Tracy Brabin MP, Shadow Minister for Cultural Industries. Steve sums up the importance of the event: “This online conference was a landmark event for all of us engaged with drama, theatre and young people – the first time that all major membership associations have come together to lobby and advocate for drama and theatre with children and young people. It provided an opportunity to meet virtually and learn from each other, to seek inspiration from our keynote speakers, and to Get Our Act Together”.
Time To Breathe The phrase has haunted the conscience of the world since it was spoken by a dying George Floyd: “I can’t breathe”. Now, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and as part of the Shifting The Dial project, The REP and their project partners have created a free online series called Fix It: Time to Breathe. What problems do young African Caribbean men face in the fields of Art, Health, and Justice? Where are the solutions? And how can we best share them? Those are the key questions we’re addressing. Each event in the series featured guest speakers and young men from our Shifting the Dial project, giving space for discussion and planning between practitioners, decision-makers and anyone with an interest in addressing the issues. The first session, on 14 July, looked at trauma. No fewer than 45 people took part: a big digital conversation between practitioners, commissioners, elected officials, service managers, community leaders and – most important of all – young people themselves. Subsequent sessions focused on justice and rights, and on healing. Each session ended with space to make a pledge: to address systemic racism, to support young African Caribbean Men, to make time to breathe. The foundation for the series is our innovative Shifting the Dial project, designed to boost young Black men’s resilience and wellbeing. It’s a unique collaboration: The REP, First Class Legacy, Centre for Mental Health and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, all working together thanks to funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. This is how Fix It: Time to Breathe is described by Samina Beckford, Project Producer for Shifting the Dial: “Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to change how we run our ever-popular quarterly Fix It events. This new format allows our delegates the space for vital reflection during and after our online conversations. We will continue to work with our attendees who have pledged practical and sustainable organisational changes which aid in dismantling systemic issues that negatively impact young Black men.”
A Friend In Need... As a registered charity, The REP relies on the generosity of individual donors to support all our activities on and off stage. At The REP we have several donor tiers including REP Friends, REP Understudies and REP Protagonists. They are such an integral part of The REP family and we have never been more grateful for their help. During this crisis, you have overwhelmed us with
kindness. Our Friends and donors in particular have demonstrated their love for The REP. As well as many choosing to increase their monthly donations, we have received numerous heartfelt messages of support. It has been wonderful to keep in touch and to pass on so many kind words to REP staff. As Shakespeare said ‘Words are easy, like the wind, faithful friends are hard to find’.
Here, some Friends share their lovely messages, and what being a REP Friend means to them: “I hold The REP to be ‘part of my family‘. Each visit is like coming home and knowing you’re going to get a treat… So to you and all at The REP, keep your spirits up, and one day soon, your sails will be full of wind and we can all be together once again.” Mike Lunn REP Friend
“We’ve been coming to The REP since we first moved to Birmingham in 1971... It’s always been a very welcoming theatre and there’s always something we want to see. We think it’s extremely important for Birmingham to have a producing theatre, so decided to become REP Friends and give a regular contribution.”
“The REP is unique in Birmingham as the city’s only producing theatre. As well as staging plays, there is a strong commitment to take The REP into the wider community. Alongside in normal times a season of fresh and exciting theatre productions including old favourites and new works. All this work requires even more support because of the pandemic devastating the industry. I decided to support The REP as I felt that theatre should be accessible to all and I became a Friend. I look forward to live theatre returning to The REP and the outreach and education programmes continuing to enrich peoples’ lives.” Alan Walker REP Friend
“I can’t wait to get back to see a wonderful new play in The DOOR, these are always the icing on the cake of life for me!” Tricia Lowe REP Friend “I just keep thinking about all the young actors I used to see at The DOOR, especially the ones who can’t currently make a living telling their fantastic stories. With so many more people from Black and minority ethnic communities dying from the virus, they have such important stories to tell.” Beck Collins REP Friend
You can become a REP Friend today by donating a minimum of £12.50 a month. If you would like to sign up or find out more, visit us online here or send an email to development@birmingham-rep.co.uk.
REPurposed The REP may be having a longish interval, but that doesn’t stop us inspiring you with a love of theatre. REPurposed is our innovative series of conversations, insights, and masterclasses, all delivered via the wonder of ZOOM. These free conversations (yes, free!) are hosted by The REP’s double Olivier Award-winning Artistic Director Sean Foley, together with Deputy Artistic Director Amit Sharma and Associate Director Madeleine Kludje. Special guests from the theatre’s group of Associate Artists join in, like Actor Lorna Laidlaw (Doctors, Coronation Street), casting Associate Pippa Ailion and Literary Associate Tanika Gupta. The first REPurposed Zoom event was on 2 June and every virtual seat was full. There were 80 alumni from the REP’s groundbreaking artist development programme Foundry, together with artists from across the Midlands – a chance for local practitioners to reconnect and share ideas. Then, on 9 June, it was the turn of writers. The REP’s Literary Associate, Tanika Gupta MBE, joined a discussion about creativity in lockdown and the role of The REP in nurturing new talent. After that came actors, creative teams, and local independent theatre companies. Here’s Artistic Director Sean Foley’s summary of REPurposed: “This season of talks, seminars and artistic exchange provides our artists and audiences with the opportunity to engage with the life of the theatre. It’s a chance to develop relationships and share common purpose within the theatre industry – in Birmingham, regionally, and nationally – and to explore together what the future can look like…” REPurposed continues into the autumn. It will take place on Zoom on Tuesday evenings between 5.45pm-7pm. Each week will focus on a different theme. You can sign up to as many as you want. REPurposed continues into the autumn. Each event will focus on a different theme and you can sign up to as many events as you wish. For more details visit The REP’s What’s On page here.
Steve Steps For The REP When you work for a place you love, in a cause that means the world to you, what would you do to help it through its hour of need? Associate Director Steve Ball is going to walk from Birmingham to London. That’s 116 miles, starting outside The REP and ending up a week later in Leicester Square, in the heart of the West End’s “Theatre Land”. He’s doing it because he wants to raise money for the work he loves: The REP’s industry-leading work with young people. Every one of Steve’s Steps for The REP will highlight a stark fact. COVID-19 has made theatres across the country vulnerable. We rely on the generous support of donors, sponsors and funders to sustain our activities both on and off stage. Our internationally renowned creative learning programme is one of the largest in the UK. Every year it reaches over 70,000 children and young people. We’ve found innovative ways of developing the programme during lockdown, but it needs more support. Leicester Square lies in the heart of the West End, where countless productions have transferred from the second city’s only producing theatre during its 107-year history. Back in the 1920’s, founder of The REP, Sir Barry Jackson transferred his pioneering Shakespearean productions to London’s theatre scene, the first to be seen in modern dress. More contemporary examples include The Snowman which marked its 22nd consecutive season at London’s Peacock Theatre in 2019 and Nativity! The Musical which started life at The REP in 2017. Steve takes his first steps on 22 August. Initially he’ll be accompanied by Simon Greenfield and Steve Moszynski, co-directors of our wonderful sponsors, Colour Cubed, and this is what he has to say: “I am lucky enough to oversee the theatre’s renowned work with children and young people. By Stepping for The REP, I hope to raise funds which will go towards supporting the continuation and commissioning of this vital work whilst also raising awareness of the plight and importance of our region’s theatres.” For more information on ‘Step For The REP’ and to make a donation click here. To find out about more ways you can support us visit our website here.
Still A Unique Venue The REP is also a great venue for conferences and events, as recognized in our recent nominations for Excellence in Customer Service and Hospitality at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce awards. You can imagine how thrilled we were when the government announced that conferences and events could go live again from 1st September. At Unique Venues Birmingham (UVB), we’ve been getting ready with new safety measures and strict implementation of COVID-secure guidelines. We couldn’t be more excited by the prospect of welcoming customers back to our fabulous conference and events spaces. Until then, we’re still providing support for online conferences. Most people have come across a ‘whoops’ moment when a virtual meeting goes wrong. We have the perfect solution! Say goodbye to constant interruptions, technical glitches and intermittent WiFi connection and say hello to a polished, professional production with none of the aggro of doing it all yourself! All you have to do is watch this video here. Regrettably we can’t yet reopen our lovely restaurant, Marmalade, because of the cost of opening up the building. We are in constant contact with friends in the sector and across the city to keep up with the prospects for hospitality venues. We miss our customers very much and look forward to the day when we can welcome you back. But in the meantime…
Open Kitchens We’re proud to be the first UK theatre to partner with Open Kitchens, the national organisation devoted to tackling food shortages for children living in poverty. Here’s how it works. Every week the theatre receives one tonne of surplus food from manufacturers, supermarkets, and the hospitality sector. Then, volunteers from our bar and restaurant team, working to strict health and safety guidelines, get cracking under the supervision of Head Chef Dario Pinho, Sous Chef Marc Scott-Smith, and Chef de Partie Matt Smith. Thousands of individual meals are prepared, then chilled and distributed by Open Kitchens’ partner organisation Fareshare, the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors. The plan is to make 1500 meals a week for six weeks – that’s a total of 9000 meals for children living in poverty here in Birmingham. But then, as the Founder and CEO of Open Kitchens, Adam Roberts, points out, our city “has one of the highest percentages of children in the Midlands living in poverty after housing costs, amounting to over 130,000 vulnerable children.” Adam is delighted that The REP has joined forces to tackle the problem. Jules Raikes, Catering Director at The REP, agrees: “It’s fantastic to be able to open up our kitchens for such a worthy cause during a time when a lot of families will be struggling financially…Thanks to our partnership with Open Kitchens and our incredible team of REP volunteers, we are now preparing meals from food that would otherwise go to waste, providing vulnerable children with a regular free nutritional meal during these unprecedented times.” Open Kitchens brings together volunteer organisations prepared to cook meals for those in need. Funded by community donations, pledging restaurants work to a budget of £1.85 per meal to cover costs, while Open Kitchens subsidise energy usage. Generous donations direct to Open Kitchens make the project possible. For more information about this amazing organisation, go to www.openkitchens.co.uk.
A Powerful Advocate In March 2020, we introduced a host of new Artistic Associates who will help to inform and shape the development of new work at The REP. These influential advocates will play a vital role as ambassadors as we recover from this crisis and bounce back with exciting plans for the future. In our last REPort we introduced you to Mohammed Ali, an internationally renowned visual and graffiti artist. This time, we are shining the spotlight on Lolita Chakrabarti, an acclaimed Actor and Writer. Recently our Artistic Director Sean Foley chatted with Lolita and here’s what she had to say about her new role. Lolita grew up in Birmingham and when asked about becoming a REP Associate she said; “I’m really thrilled to be part of The REP and I genuinely wanted to get involved. I’m very proud to be a Brummie!” Sean asked Lolita about her earliest and fondest memories of The REP. “My school took us to the theatre and once I discovered it I went as often as possible to
The REP, the MAC and the RSC. It was top class theatre.” Lolita’s love for The REP developed as she progressed through school. “I remember a Young Company that was set up of about 20 young actors who had just graduated from drama school. I saw them in lots of shows. When I was doing my A-Levels I wrote to The REP to see if I could observe rehearsals. The director said yes, so I sat in on rehearsals and interviewed the actors for my Drama A level essays. I remember the actors I interviewed vividly, it was Alex Kingston, Iain Glen, Mark Lockyer and Stephen Persaud - really amazing people!” Encouraged by her drama teacher, Lolita went on to attend RADA. Her first job after graduating was at The Swan theatre in Worcester, so she commuted from Birmingham. Lolita later developed a love for writing and in 2012 her first play Red Velvet was staged and received much critical acclaim. Lolita explained; “Red Velvet is a play about Ira Aldridge, a 19th century Black American actor who came to Britain and played Othello at the Theatre Royal
Covent Garden in 1833. He had a substantial career across Europe, was knighted and became a huge celebrity. He was given a state funeral in Poland when he died in 1867, but was largely written out of history, so Red Velvet is my imagined idea of what happened to him and who he was.” Sean asked Lolita what Lockdown had meant for her. Lolita explained that before Lockdown she was filming a new series called Vigil for the BBC, which is a 6-parter about a submarine crew in which she plays a Lieutenant Commander of the Navy. In terms of her own writing, her adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel Life Of Pi was meant to be transferring to the West End, with rehearsals due to start in May 2020. In terms of The REP, we are thrilled to be staging Lolita’s play Calmer in 2021, which she will star in, and which will be the directorial debut of Lolita’s husband Adrian Lester. The dates for this are yet to be announced. Exciting times ahead for sure and we look forward to a fantastic relationship with Lolita as a REP Associate.
More Than A Moment
Young and Reloaded The Young REP ran an incredible series of events in the summer term, with groups for Theatre Makers and Young Playwrights (13-18s as well as under-13s), and for Actors (18-25s). In partnership with Company Three, we created ten Coronavirus Time Capsules for future historians to mull over. We improvised on themes to do with families, schools, and identity, sharing ideas on Zoom. We even produced two songs from our postponed Young REP production, Angry Birds. Our interactive drama films, created by our Education Officers, were really popular with schools. For Key Stage 1 we looked at Little Red Riding Hood; for Key Stage 2, Ancient Egypt and the Great Fire of London. For secondary schools it was Romeo and Juliet. “The children loved [the videos]”, said Katie Jones from Peters Hill Primary in Stourbridge. “On behalf of everyone at Peters Hill, thanks so much for your enthusiasm, hard work and dedication”. The films were fun to make, too. “I have thoroughly enjoyed creating digital drama content for young people across my schools’, says Bhavik Parmar, Senior Education Officer at The REP. “It has been a new challenge to learn to edit and find ways of adapting my drama activities into digital activities, but a challenge I have loved. Over the last ten weeks I’ve made more characters than I can remember and the feedback received has been really positive.” Also on the education front, Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) will be hiring our main stage and rehearsal studios in the autumn. BOA train youngsters in performance, design and technical skills alongside their regular education, and they need the extra socially distanced teaching space. It’s a great opportunity for BOA students to learn in an industry setting and for The REP to strengthen its ties with this key educational provider. With thanks to our Youth Theatre Sponsor KPMG LLP.
When a certain group has been marginalized, what do you do to include them? You listen, you make space, you reflect and you make progress. That’s the aim of More Than a Moment: Action with and for Black Creatives. It’s a three-stage programme that brings the arts sector into conversation with Black artists, employees, change makers and communities. By the end, there will be a pledge: a pledge for radical and permanent change in the opportunities we create for Black creative talent; a pledge to hold arts organisations accountable for driving that change. More Than a Moment is sponsored by Culture Central and co-designed by REP Executive Director Rachael Thomas, Assistant Artistic Director Amit Sharma, and a working group featuring Black artists and arts leaders from across the West Midlands. In the year of Black Lives Matter, its focus is systemic reform – a step change in the way we approach inclusion. As Amit puts it, “More than a Moment is a powerful piece of work that we’re proud to be part of. It goes beyond a tick box exercise. The Pledge will quite rightly make changes across the organisation and make sure we are held accountable in our commitment to Black artists, staff members and audiences”. For more information about this vital project, visit the Culture Central website here.
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