Issue 4 Autumn 2018
A very warm welcome to this edition of The REPort The REP has always been passionate about nurturing artists and audiences of all ages and in this issue we’re celebrating our work with children and young people. We hope you enjoy reading about these exciting projects and hope you can join us again soon. Rachel Cranny Head of Fundraising
In this Issue: - For/With/By Festival - The Dial is Shifting - A Theatre that Works for Everyone - Learning and Participating - The First Rule of Spy School - A Gift for the Young REP - Lasting Legacy
For/With/By Festival “The European influence is really important for our future”: no, it’s not from a newspaper or House of Commons debate but from one of the participants in our summer Festival of Youth Theatre. On July 30th no fewer than 240 young people from Poland, Spain, Ireland and from ten youth theatres across the UK converged on The REP for workshops, conferences, performances and socialising. They saw the Young REP perform Antigone at THE DOOR and The Place for Me in THE STUDIO. Midweek they went to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire at Birmingham City University to explore perspectives on youth theatre across Europe. Daniel Tyler-McTighe, Head of Education at The REP, recalls that “everyone was really energised by the buzz the festival created” and is still making his way through a big pile of appreciative comments from participants.
It was the generous support of Ramps On The Moon, Baron Davenport’s Charity and The Golsoncott Foundation that made it possible for so many young theatre practitioners to have such a rich experience. For some it was their first trip abroad; for others the main feeling they came away with was being part of a family – perhaps the project’s most important legacy for our fractured times. And it’s legacy that’s now at the forefront of their minds. The UK partners meet again in October to start planning further festivals in 2020 and again in the year of the Commonwealth Games, 2022, when a much bigger family comes to Birmingham. Ah yes, the title. It’s the European Festival of Youth Theatre, the first to be designed and delivered by The REP For/With/By Young People. They are, after all, the authors of their future.
A Theatre that works for Everyone (where everyone can work) The REP is committed to being an inclusive theatre, which means a lot of things. It means giving every member of the audience the best possible experience. It means putting on shows that speak to the whole population of Birmingham. It means creating opportunities for performers with a range of disabilities. And increasingly it means creating employment opportunities for people with additional learning needs who want to work in backstage and other support functions.
The Dial is Shifting We’re overjoyed to carry news of a major funding success: National Lottery Funding of almost £750,000 for a project to improve the mental health of young African Caribbean men. These are the details. It’s another great REP partnership. Over the next three years we’ll be working with First Class Legacy, the Centre for Mental Health and the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to create a brotherhood. That’s 300 young men working with artists and other facilitators. Resilience, wellbeing, self-esteem, personal development, life skills, economic opportunity, mental health awareness and social inclusion: they will all be the goals of ‘Shifting the Dial’. The project is so timely. Studies show that young African Caribbean men in the UK are much more likely than their white counterparts to develop serious mental illness, and three times more likely to be at risk of suicide. Our own pilot, ‘Up My Street’, which ran from 2015 to 2017, provided strong proof of the benefits of intervention. From the 300 will emerge 30 future leaders, ambassadors who will take the lessons of the project into communities across the region, providing informal routes to support and a new model for tackling a major social problem. Stuart Rogers, Executive Director of The REP, describes the project as “a brilliant example of how theatre can work with other sectors to tackle some of the most pressing issues in our society.” The last word goes to our generous funder. James Harcourt of the Big Lottery Fund sums it all up: “Supporting good mental health is an important issue in the UK today, which is why we’re proud to be funding Shifting the Dial. It’s great to see these four organisations from across different sectors joining together, to take action to help young African Caribbean men build their mental resilience and wellbeing.”
Recently we’ve arranged supported work placements for people who want to work in the theatre but whose needs have traditionally been a barrier. Two of our departments employ deaf staff and many of their colleagues have learned the basics of British Sign Language to ensure effective communication. Staff on the autistic spectrum are supported to develop skills in customer service. One of our real stars has been Brendan Nolan, who joined us on work experience from the Hive College, a bespoke provider for people with special educational needs. Brendan worked for six months with the theatre lighting crew and moved on to a role in hospitality and retail. He’s now on a contract with us. That’s the ultimate sign of success, of course. Work placements are a step in the right direction but it’s paid employment that really represents progress. There is always more to do but we’re proud of our record of turning internships into proper contracts both here and in other arts organsations across the West Midlands.
Learning and Participating You may not know this but The REP has one of the largest Learning and Participation Departments of any theatre in the country. That’s a big investment in the education of young people across our region and beyond. Every single day of the academic year there is a REPresentative working with local children, often in one of our 22 established partner schools. We work with all five universities in the city (including BCU’s Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and with the Birmingham Virtual School, which supports Looked After Children. That’s not all. We have a long-term educational partnership with the National Theatre and are partners in the Creative Multilingualism project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by Oxford University with local support from BCU. The project seeks to inspire people of all ages to learn languages through creative practice. Another key partner is Open Theatre Company, experts in using physical theatre to engage young people with learning disabilities. With them we set up the Open REP Network, which has just completed its first year. The scheme reached an astonishing 730 pupils across five specialist schools. For 2018-19 we’re scaling up to seven schools and have two new Education Officers joining the Open REP team. Learning and Participation may be one of the biggest (and, we like to think, the best) but there’s always more to do.
The First Rule of Spy School… As part of our acclaimed Learning and Participation programme, over the summer The REP ran a number of summer schools for local children. This year our ‘Spy School’ were back for their biggest mission yet! It was a week jam packed with theatrical mystery and adventure for our 7-11 year olds. The young spies worked with our secret agents to follow suspects, decipher codes and create secret identities. They were also able to explore other arts venues in the City including the Ikon Gallery and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. One spy said it was the “best club I’ve ever done! Broke the scale 20/10” and another loved that it was a “really different way of acting”. The mission was a success and its impact, like all of our Young REP work, goes beyond the programme itself. One parent fed back that their child “is behind with his reading and writing but this interactive story has really captured his imagination. He has been keeping a diary and is reading for fun at home.” In total our Summer Schools engaged with 74 young people aged 7 to 23, and provided a unique insight in to the exciting world of a producing theatre. Over and out… until next summer.
A Gift for the Young REP At a time when schools are forced to restrict creative provision and drama teachers are an endangered species, theatres like The REP are stepping in to ensure children enjoy a rich experience of performance regardless of their background. We recently received a fantastic grant of £25,000 from a local foundation which means two new satellite centres will be established at primary schools in Shard End and Ladywood. Hillstone and Nelson primaries will benefit from a scheme that uses theatre to develop personal confidence and life skills. There is no shortage of research to prove the likely benefits. Arts activities have been shown to increase cognitive ability by nearly a fifth. They also have a positive influence on behaviour. Respect for others, tolerance, compassion, understanding of group
dynamics, time-keeping: they’re all qualities that exposure to creative practice encourages and delivers. Career prospects improve too. An Arts Council study showed that students who take part in drama activities significantly enhance their literacy. Studies in higher education demonstrate that students from low-income families who take part in creative activities are three times more likely to get a degree than those who do not. The best proof of the pudding is what the people involved say. “I only wish [our sons] could attend Young REP every day,” said one parent. “Becoming a member of the Young REP has developed my confidence and my ability to perform,” added a participant. If you’re reading this and thinking you’d like to help support the Young REP, whether via a direct gift or a legacy, do please talk to our fundraising team.
Lasting Legacy
REP Events
Anne Hawkins and her friend Margaret were frequent visitors to The REP and loved coming together to see our shows. Anne even celebrated her 80th birthday with a party at The REP. Sadly Margaret passed away a few years ago and Anne earlier this year. Her niece, Rachel, has kindly gifted us £2000 from Anne’s estate. This generous donation will cover the cost of two seat dedications, allowing the friends to still take a seat together in the main house. In addition Anne’s legacy will fund a total of 9 Young REP bursaries. This will enable 9 local children to join one of our Young REP companies where they will work with professional theatre makers to create and produce a broad range of high quality theatrical experiences. Many young people who would most benefit from the skills and confidence that drama can supply are not able to afford the annual membership fees, so this generous gift really will make a lasting and dramatic difference, enabling local disadvantaged young people to achieve their potential.
8th October - 24th November The REP on Tour - Rebus: Long Shadows 23rd October - 31st December The REP on Tour - Nativity the Musical 1st November, 6:15pm - In Conversation With Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones 3rd November, 10:00am - 2:00pm REP Discovery Day 27th November – 4th December The Big Give Christmas Challenge 12th December, 6:00pm - Artistic Director’s Christmas Reception for Donors
Leaving a gift in your will is a great way to make your permanent mark on the theatre and to ensure the future of The REP for the next generation of theatregoers. If you have left a gift in your will to The REP please let us know, and if you would like to find out more about making a will, we will be holding legacy drop in sessions each season, where you can receive free will making advice from our legacy partner and respected local solicitors, Anthony Collins.
REP First Now in the midst of its 2nd year, our REP First Campaign is going really well. To date we have raised a fantastic £473,000! We would like to take this opportunity to thank every donor, business and funder who has supported us so far on route to our million pound target. Without your generous support we would not be able to sustain our activities both on and off stage. Thank you!
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