Issue 2 Winter 2017 Let’s Prepare Some Festive Folly The season of good will is upon us and it leads me to reflect on what makes this time of year so very special. Making moments where people put aside their daily concerns, prioritise togetherness and share memorable experiences is what makes Christmas special. It’s also what The REP aims to do all year round through our programme of productions and events. In this Yuletide edition of The REPort, you’ll learn about the huge variety of ways in which we aim to contribute towards the warm community spirit of the festive season and discover ways in which you can join us. From sharing our knowledge and experience with a group of eager young apprentices who we hope will transfer the skills they learn with us into theatre careers for the future - to making a contribution towards training eager young pups to become Hearing
In this issue: 101 Businesses
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In Conversation With Jason Donovan
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REP In The Community
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Engineering 3 Talent To Sparkle and Shine Fun facts about Nativity!
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REP First updates
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Dogs for deaf people – these are gifts that keep on giving. We’ve also invited audiences and visitors, artists and staff, friends and family to use their creative flair and express their charitable side simultaneously by helping us to dress our foyer in preparation for the festive season. To get involved, simply collect one of our seasonally themed cardboard shapes from our Box Office counter and personalise it with a jolly design on one side and single wish for the future on the other. For each completed shape returned, The REP will offer a ticket to see our seasonal spectacular, The Hundred And One Dalmatians, to someone who might not otherwise be able to attend as a gift from you!
I’ll leave you now to read though The REPort and I hope you find something that inspires you to get involved with us in new and different ways. In the meantime, enjoy the festive season and remember, we have a theatrical ‘hamper’ of fabulous Christmas entertainment available to put you in the mood. Paul Reece Head of Marketing & Communications
First Foot On The Backstage Ladder As one of the big twelve producing theatres in England, The REP is committed to training emerging talent in its backstage technical departments as well as its more established artist development programmes. So in September, three new apprentices joined The REP, based in our workshop, our sound department, and our stage management team. All are working towards their Level 3 Technical Theatre Apprenticeship qualification. Their 12-month contracts began with a fourweek induction which covered the basics, including external theatre and workshop visits, as well as the theory of set and costume design. Each apprentice is also being supported by an internal mentor. In addition the lighting department has also
Jessica in the workshop
recruited a work experience student for one day a week for an initial period of three months. Tomas Wright, Head of Production at The REP said, “We are delighted to offer these young people a step up on the rung of their theatrical careers. In the future we hope to secure an external funder so that we can sustain and grow these extremely important technical training opportunities.”
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101 Businesses The REP is seeking to unite the business community by recruiting a litter of 101 businesses to spread the joy of theatre this Christmas! The businesses will enable disadvantaged children and families to see The Hundred And One Dalmatians. Recipients include families living in sheltered accommodation and terminally ill children. Could your company help? For details about this ‘paw-some’ project and to sign up, contact Rachel Cranny by 5 December on 0121 245 2163 or via development@birmingham-rep.co.uk
In Conversation With Jason Donovan As part of our REP First fundraising appeal, well-known celebrities Lenny Henry, Ian McDiarmid, Meera Syal and Jason Donovan have all kindly offered their support as campaign ambassadors. The REP’s Head of Fundraising, Rachel Cranny, recently met with Jason to talk about his involvement. Here’s an extract from their conversation: What do you love about theatre? The raw energy and adrenaline; the sheer exhilaration of seeing magic happen in front of your eyes. Film & TV can never capture this spirit. And also the sense of cohesion: Theatres should be at the heart of the community, bringing people together. When did you first experience The REP? My first performance here was as The Rocky Horror Show’s Frank n Furter in 1998. It was great fun and I met my wife too; 20 years later we are still together with three children so The REP is very special to us personally. It is a really fun, friendly place to work. We’re really pleased that you’re one of our campaign ambassadors. Why do you think supporting our theatre is so important ? There are so many reasons. I think Birmingham is one of the UK’s leading cities, and The REP is right at its centre - fostering arts
provision, providing a diversity of expression, developing future audiences & theatre makers. Supporting and encouraging the next generation should always be the number one goal across the Arts, and I believe The REP is at the fore of this. It is truly one of this country’s great performing houses so let’s make it bigger and better for everyone. I am extremely honoured and humbled to be a REP First Ambassador. The full conversation is available online at birmingham-rep.co.uk/news/
REP In The Community This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Sir Barry Jackson Community tour. Each year The REP produces a new play to tour community halls, cafes, libraries, schools and residential settings. This Autumn saw Birmingham born artist Steven Camden’s play I Knew You take to the road. It featured much loved Brummie actor and REP trustee, Lorna Laidlaw who said of the experience: “This is theatre right in the middle of the community! We are in their world; we don't have the rules of a theatre to restrain or dictate how our audience should or shouldn't act. Every day was a true adventure!” The tour is supported by a grant from The Sir Barry Jackson Trust County Fund, which was established in 1985 with the purpose of supporting theatre
companies to take their performances to non-theatre venues throughout the West Midlands. Roger Burman, Chair of The Trust explains - “We aim to show the art of the theatre to new audiences who might then be encouraged to visit mainstream theatres and become regular attendees.”It seems to work, as Lorna added, “For me one of the reasons why this tour packs a real punch is when you are approached
The cast of I Knew You at All Saints Community Centre in King's Heath
by a woman in a library in Oldbury and a man in a community centre in Kings Heath who tell you that this production is the first play they have ever seen, and they both wanted more: job done!”
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Engineering Talent To Sparkle And Shine
Fun Facts About Nativity! The Musical The show which opened to huge acclaim is now flying the flag for Birmingham as it tours to six major UK cities.
This Autumn & Winter season, the main auditorium at The REP will have staged two major new productions: last month we premiered Nativity! The Musical and this month, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. These glorious celebrations of theatrical talent don’t just appear over night: They take years in planning and development, then months in rehearsal, before finally reaching the stage. And the same is true of the artists involved – on and off stage – whose individual aptitudes are identified, sharpened, and perfected over decades. The REP is committed to nurturing talent. It is a responsibility that permeates across all its activity: in its community work, its apprenticeship and artist development programmes, and its casting and programming decisions. For example in the forthcoming The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Nadi Kemp-Sayfi, plays Mrs Dearly. Nadi started with The REP when she volunteered to be a community performer in the 2012 Neighbourhood REP project, progressing to work with the Learning & Participation department, before going on to act in creative workshops, and performances in The DOOR: Five years later, she is a lead role in The REP’s main annual production. Nativity! The Musical was recently brought to the stage with the help of
27 children, split into 3 teams alternated between two roles each. Aged between 8 and 11, they are all from the West Midlands
Lynette Dakin, who joined The REP in 2014 as a cultural intern graduate from the University of Birmingham. Lynette is now The REP’s in-house producer. Debbie Isitt, creator of the hugely successful Nativity! films, wrote and directed this spectacular production: 20 years earlier, she had 400 costumes written Squealing Like A Pig for The REP’s 1996 community tour. Nativity! are in the show, featured 27 children from across the including 54 school West Midlands region, many making uniforms. That's a their professional stage debuts. lot of ironing! This is true of many of the artists involved in The REP’s flagship artist development programme, The REP Foundry. Manjeet Mann was 14 when she saw her first play at The REP. Years later she participated in The REP’s Write Away scheme, and was then accepted on The REP Foundry. Upon its completion, The REP programmed her first play, A Dangerous Woman, in this Autumn’s New & Nurtured season. So appropriately in a city known for its manufacturing heritage, Birmingham Repertory Theatre is itself a factory for theatre-based talent, gradually polishing, refining and amplifying the promise of fledgling artists. It is a process which takes significant financial investment and considerable time but when success eventually happens, sparks fly and individuals shine.
100 litres of glitter paint was used on the set and an extra 50 kg of glitter 40 oversize Christmas presents frame the stage.
500 handpainted glittering stars of different sizes and shapes are in the set
14 Christmas trees on stage and two 3m high candy canes
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A ‘Paw-some’ Partnership The REP has announced a joint fundraising partnership with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People alongside the run of The Hundred And One Dalmatians. Twenty pence of every pound raised during the run of the show will support their work, with the remainder going towards REP First initiatives, such as providing interpreters for the REP's youth theatre in order for Deaf children and young people to take part, as well as allowing the theatre to stage more accessible productions for people with a variety of additional support needs.
Birmingham Airport Helps REP First Reach New Heights
REP FIRST Thanks to all those who have supported our REP First campaign in the last few months. Together, we have raised £170,000.
Birmingham Airport is the latest business to support The REP’s one million pound campaign by joining the theatre as a Corporate Partner. To celebrate, Justine Howl, Head of Communications from Birmingham Airport joined Head of Fundraising, Rachel Cranny for a guided tour of the theatre’s latest production, Nativity! The Musical.
Legacies
Book online birmingham-rep.co.uk Box Office 0121 236 4455 Birmingham Repertory Theatre Centenary Square Broad Street Birmingham B1 2EP Follow us online /birminghamrep @birminghamrep @therepbirmingham
Registered in England 295910 Charity No.223660
Leaving a legacy to The REP is a generous way to enable us to achieve our ambitions. The unrestricted bequest we received this summer from the late Miss Ruth Daniel enabled us to purchase our own in-house captioning equipment. Providing this service became far easier and for the first time all performances of our Christmas production will be captioned. We are extremely grateful to Miss Daniel for remembering The REP in her will, helping us to be even more accessible. If you are interested in using the power of your will to support The REP, please contact Rachel Cranny at rachel.cranny@birminghamrep.co.uk With thanks to our legacy partner
UVB The REP has launched an exciting new partnership with the Library of Birmingham to develop a unique conferencing and events offer at the heart of the city. Unique Venues Birmingham operates on behalf of both organisations, exploiting the excellent opportunities offered within the shared building and turning the mundane into the spectacular! To find out more visit www.uniquevenuesbirmingham.com
Events The following events are planned for the upcoming season: 6 December: REP Friends Puppetry Workshop 12 December: Donors Festive Cheer Drinks 5 January: Celebration of Hearing Dogs For Deaf People Partnership 8 February: Spring & Summer Season 2018 Donors Reception 22 February: Corporate Reception