Annual Report 2014 –15
Based in Manchester, Contact is a vibrant professional contemporary theatre and arts venue, with young people at the heart of everything we do.
‘Contact provides a source of inspiration, nationally and internationally, for young people’s leadership in the cultural sector.’ David Jubb, Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre
WELCOME What an excellent year it has been for Contact. In 2014 – 15 we have enjoyed record-breaking audience and participant numbers, developed and presented a body of innovative, provocative and exciting new work, sharply increased our national and international reach, and continued to engage young and highly diverse audiences. Contact is unique in its ethos of placing young people’s decision-making and leadership at the heart of everything we do. With young people working alongside staff in deciding our programme, making staff appointments and acting as full Board members, Contact delivers an outstanding public programme for all ages, and successfully engages with a remarkable range of communities. Our success is only possible with the ongoing support of our funders, sponsors and project partners, the passion of our audiences, artists and staff, and, of course, all the young people who make the organisation such a creative and exciting place to be. Charles Lauder Chair, Board of Trustees
YEAR IN REVIEW 2014 – 15 saw Contact re-emerge as a major commissioner and co-producer of new professional shows for national touring, with a vital focus on diversity and social issues relevant to young people. The extraordinary Common Wealth/Contact co-production No Guts, No Heart, No Glory gained significant coverage for its cast of young female Muslim boxers, toured extensively nationally and internationally, and will be broadcast by BBC TV. Other coproductions included Quarantine’s Summer. performed by 40 local Manchester residents of all ages; Big Girl’s Blouse by transgender artist Kate O’Donnell; and our Contact Young Company production Under the Covers, presented in Manchester, London and Edinburgh. We also developed Rites, a major Contact/National Theatre of Scotland show about Female Genital Mutilation, and The Spalding Suite, a Contact/Southbank Centre commission exploring basketball culture. We saw strong growth across the year for our young people’s engagement and skills development activity, delivering over 16,000 participations with young people aged 13 – 30 from across Greater Manchester, progressing from free weekly drop-in activity, to high-level skills, leadership and entrepreneurship programmes. Attenders came from some of the least served wards in the city. Future Fires, Contact’s socially engaged young arts leaders, delivered communitybased projects reaching over 30,000 people.
The Agency, our young social enterprise programme in partnership with Battersea Arts Centre and People’s Palace Projects, delivered entrepreneurship activity in North Manchester and Clapham Junction in London. Meanwhile our young facilitators in business – Contact’s Creative Experts – delivered consultancy work for the likes of Electricity North West and The University of Manchester. Audiences and attenders for shows, festivals and exhibitions remained young and highly diverse, the result of sustained engagement in communities across Greater Manchester. Festivals included an outstanding Contacting the World, bringing young ensembles from across the globe to Manchester. Queer Contact, our fifth and most successful annual festival of the best LGBTQ arts and culture, included a stunning exhibition of large-scale photographic works by Manuel Vason, in partnership with SPILL Festival. In June 2014 we were thrilled to be successful in our Stage One funding application to Arts Council England for major building redevelopment, and a selection panel of board and young people chose architects Sheppard Robson to lead the design process. Since then we have been working hard to progress the £6.2million project to create new facilities and spaces for the next generation of audiences, artists and young people. Matt Fenton Artistic Director and Chief Executive
‘It’s perhaps sometimes forgotten amid the huge success Contact has had in changing the game around theatre with and for young people, that their nurturing support for new ideas in performance over the last decade has benefitted artists of all ages.’ Richard Gregory, Artistic Director, Quarantine
Produced and Co-produced work included: Common Wealth: No Guts, No Heart, No Glory Jackie Hagan: Some People Have Too Many Legs Kate O’Donnell: Big Girl’s Blouse Quarantine: Summer Roundhouse/Contact/CAST/Royal Exchange: Puffball Puffball
Work in development included: Contact & National Theatre of Scotland: Rites FUEL, Southbank Centre & Contact: The Spalding Suite Rites
Presented companies included: 20 Stories High Aakash Odedra Amy & Rosana Cade Action Hero Bryony Kimmings Christopher Green David McAlmont Eggs Collective Hetain Patel Bryony Kimmings
International work included: Afrovibes Festival Edit Kaldor Justin Vivian Bond Mammalian Diving Reflex Pieter Ampe Yael Farber Justin Vivian Bond
imitating the dog Kate Tempest Mark Bruce Company Paul Sinha Peggy Shaw Peter McMaster Scottee Tamasha Tim Crouch & Andy Smith
2014 –15 IN NUMBERS
Exhibition audiences Live audiences
34,865
84,812
Digital audiences
25,767
Total reach
162,209
Participation
16,765
Audiences were young and diverse over
70% under 35
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
over
30%
Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic
27% 16,765
29%
Participant numbers
i n c re a s e d to
11
in 2014 – 15
of audiences came from audience segments traditionally characterised by lower engagement
100%
Live streamed events viewed by
4,280 people
of our electrical energy was sourced from renewables
NTACTIN
4
WO
01
TH
E
O
G
C
C O N TA C T I N G RLD
2
THE WORLD EVERY TWO YEARS CONTACT PRESENTS CONTACTING THE WORLD, AN INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
Contacting the World in July 2014 brought together six young companies from India, Iran, Jamaica, England and Scotland through a ten month collaboration process, culminating in a five day festival at Contact. We hosted performances from CTW companies, alumni and local schools alongside workshops, youth led debates and a keynote ‘in-conversation’ event with Alex Poots (Manchester International Festival).
Unable to join us in Manchester due to visa issues, the young Iranian company margintheatre presented a film of their work, and joined a live-streamed panel discussion exploring their practice and the challenges of working internationally. Our crowd-funding and sponsorship campaign saw us raise £40,000 for the festival, with support from local businesses and over 300 people who donated to our individual giving campaign.
‘The opportunity to meet and work with talented artists from all over the world is incredible. Contact provides a totally unique experience.’ Ruaridh Furness, Livingston
‘If the world was run like this festival, it would be a beautiful place. It has changed my perspective on life, art and living!’
‘The week has been the warmest and most creative of my life.’ Craig MacPhee, Corby
Medha, Mumbai
142
young artists performed
18
new performances
4,640 people watched shows
100
young people volunteered for the festival
1,388 at Contact
2,052 online
1,200
at the international companies’ home shows
QUARANTINE’S SUMMER. Renowned Manchester theatre company Quarantine presented Summer. in June 2014. A large-scale theatre piece performed by 37 local people of all ages in a warehouse in Salford, Summer. was co-produced by Contact and premiered to sell out audiences.
Summer. used projected instructions, unrehearsed interviews and live writing to directly engage with the real lives of its performers. Summer. is the first part of an ambitious quartet of performances – Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring. to be co-presented by Contact, HOME and SICK! Festival in 2016.
‘The whole thing exudes warmth, and a valuably impolite yet delicate and searching curiosity about what it is that makes us human.’ The Guardian
COMMON WEALTH NO GUTS, NO HEART, NO GLORY
★★★★ ‘Raw, heartfelt, blazing with energy & sometimes absolutely beautiful’ The Scotsman
★★★★ ‘Punchy and powerful’ The Guardian
★★★★ ‘Life-affirming’ The Independent
A Contact/Bradford Theatre in the Mill commissioned play by the critically acclaimed Common Wealth, No Guts, No Heart, No Glory was devised in collaboration with five 16-23 year old performers, giving voice to young Muslim female boxers.
No Guts, No Heart, No Glory is the perfect example of how Contact supports young, diverse makers to create exceptional product of the highest quality for and with young people, challenging stereotypes and championing positive role models.
Starting life at Edinburgh 2014, the play won acclaim, rave reviews and awards. It toured to Bradford and Manchester, staged in the heart of communities in working boxing gyms and reaching diverse audiences. It attracted further national attention through a run at the Southbank Centre and national and international dates followed.
The Scotsman Fringe First Winner 2014 Shortlisted for Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award Selected to be filmed and broadcast by BBC Television in Autumn 2015
CONTACT COMMISSIONED ARTISTS Chanje Kunda
Eggs Collective
Debs Gatenby
Keisha Thompson
Louise Orwin
Greg Wohead
Ester Natzijl
Cheryl Martin
KATE O’DONNELL BIG GIRL’S BLOUSE In February, transgender artist Kate O’Donnell presented Big Girl’s Blouse. Commissioned as part of Queer Contact, this autobiographical show told the story of Kate’s life growing up in the 70s through song, dance, humour and costume.
Big Girl’s Blouse went on to win the Brighton Fringe LGBTQ Award 2015, and tours nationally throughout next year. ‘Furiously funny…’ Sunday Times Style Magazine
‘A Manchester Legend’ Timeout Manchester
JACKIE HAGAN SOME PEOPLE HAVE TOO MANY LEGS Commissioned by Contact and National Rural Touring Forum, Jackie Hagan’s Some People Have Too Many Legs charts her recent experience of disability, and was performed at Contact before touring nationally to rural venues in Spring 2015.
‘We have been delighted by Contact’s generosity of spirit during our Strategic Rural Touring partnership over the last four years. Jackie Hagan’s Some People Have Too Many Legs has been a triumph.’ Ralph Lister, Development Director, National Rural Touring Forum
★★★★ ‘a powerful story told with wit and in beautifully evocative phrases’ Upstaged Manchester
In development:
THE SPALDING SUITE In 2015 Contact and Southbank Centre commissioned The Spalding Suite. Conceived by Inua Ellams and directed by Benji Reid, this new physical theatre show was inspired by the UK’s basketball sub-culture and featured six performers mixing beatboxing, Hip Hop, music, movement and poetry.
Produced and presented by Fuel, The Spalding Suite took to the Contact stage in April 2015, before embarking on a national tour.
‘A fresh combination of eloquently rhythmic spoken text and a stylised physicality that honours both competitive sports and street moves.’ The Times
In development:
RITES 2014 –15 also saw the development of Rites, a co-production between Contact and the National Theatre of Scotland supported by the Scottish Refugee Council and Dignity Alert Research Forum. A powerful and provocative production exploring the cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Rites was created by Olivier award-winning director Cora Bissett and acclaimed Mancunian theatre-maker and Contact alumna Yusra Warsama. The creative team conducted interviews and gathered true stories from girls affected in the UK to weave different perspectives into a multi-voiced production.
Rites went on to critically acclaimed performances in Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh, alongside extensive professional development workshops for healthcare and legal professionals, panel discussions and women-only performances.
★★★★★ The Public Reviews
★★★★ ‘powerful’ The Times
★★★★ ‘subtly argued’ The Guardian
QUEER CONTACT Each February we present our annual celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender arts and culture – the Queer Contact festival. The 2015 event was our best-selling to date and saw 168 artists deliver 26 unique events across 10 days to a 75% seating capacity. Artists this year included Justin Vivian Bond, Dave McAlmont and Guy Davies, Kate O’ Donnell and The House of Suarez Vogue Ball. Over 3000 people from across the UK, USA and Europe attended the festival and 55 participants took part in workshops, with a further 20,000 people experiencing exhibition work across 2015. Queer Contact supported shows went on to be presented in London and Brighton, and partnership discussions with Glasgow’s Outspoken Arts Scotland, Brighton’s Pink Fringe, Liverpool’s Homotopia and Birmingham’s SHOUT! Festival will provide future presenting opportunities nationally.
‘Seasoned pros rub shoulders with new artists again in a fantastic celebration of the best queer arts and culture’ DIVA
‘Contact is an outstanding partner. Its focus on high-quality, innovative and socially engaged theatre provides the perfect context for our festival.’ Helen Medland, Artistic Director, SICK! Festival
SICK! FESTIVAL SICK! Festival had its inaugural Manchester event in March 2015. Collaborating with the NHS, universities and cultural organisations, the 23-day festival incorporated performance, film and literature to address the physical, mental and health challenges facing society. Contact presented five outstanding performances from around the world, including the important piece of human rights theatre Nirbhaya from India. Our own Contact Young Company also performed their new show Under The Covers within the festival to widespread acclaim.
‘SICK! Festival has a terrific line up of performance, discussion and film, alternating venues between Manchester and Brighton.’ The Guardian
CONTACT YOUNG COMPANY UNDER THE COVERS Contact Young Company (CYC) is Contact’s ensemble of 15 to 25 year old actors, dancers, musicians, poets and MCs. Each year the company creates three brand new, professional-standard shows. In January 2015 we re-launched the company with a renewed focus on reaching national audiences, and creating new work facilitated by outstanding artists with an international profile.
‘A delicate and sophisticated piece of work.’ Dr. Rachel Morris, Psychotherapist, Writer & Broadcaster
The first outcome, Under the Covers, was devised by 20 young people with artist Stacy Makishi. Responding to the Wellcome Collection’s Institute of Sexology exhibition, it premiered at SICK! Festival (Contact) and Hourglass Festival (BAC, London), with further performances at London’s Southbank Centre and Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre in Autumn 2015.
99% of audiences rated the show as excellent.
‘Exhilarating.’ Jackie Stacey, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, The University of Manchester
MEDIA DROP Media Drop is a weekly opportunity for young artists to create and share new music and media, supported by trained facilitators. Based in our Media Lounge recording studio we work with young MCs, musicians, producers, vocalists, poets and those interested in digital media, film-making, blogging and live streaming. A focus on female facilitators has attracted a diverse group with a strong gender balance. Participants produced an EP and performed as part of RAW, Contact’s regular open-mic night, over the course of the year.
LEVEL UP Level Up is Contact’s higher-level music production course for young people. It gives young artists the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals to develop their skills in arranging, mixing, producing and recording music to a higher level. In Autumn 2014 the group was given the opportunity to be part of a national project with the Wellcome Trust which focused on Sexology. They worked with facilitators alongside University of Manchester lecturers to create a five track EP, and performed their material at the Wellcome Trust showcase event Sounds of Sexology at the Roundhouse in February 2015. Level Up also performed at Contact’s Black Sound Series alongside industry professionals including Swindle Live, Jenna G and Burga Boy. Supported by Youth Music
CONTACT’S FUTURE FIRES Future Fires supports young emerging artists to plan and deliver their own community arts outreach projects in Greater Manchester through a tailored programme of training, mentoring and support. The 2014 programme culminated in a symposium attracting organisations UK-wide, and a public event headlined by Lemn Sissay. We began the partner development for national roll-out in the coming three years, and established a Future Fires short course.
Future Fires
FUTURE FIRES 2014
8
community projects delivered
90%
Projects engaged
of participants demonstrated significant career progression during the year
100
350
33,046
people reached in communities across Greater Manchester
people
Participants wrote
Participants received
866
19
successful funding bids raising
£50,292
hours of training,
hours of mentoring from industry professionals,
125
84
hours of peer mentoring
hours and of one-to-one support
‘The programme allowed me to understand every stage of building a project. It divided each element of project management into achievable tasks and through workshops with industry professionals, the stages were clear and attainable. Future Fires allowed me to grow and develop as a facilitator as well as on a personal level – overcoming self-doubt and fears such as public speaking. It gave me the confidence to recognise myself as an artist and has opened so many doors for me in community arts and the creative industries.’ Jessica Loveday, Future Fires 2014
Future Fires is funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
THE AGENCY The second year of our young entrepreneurship project with Battersea Arts Centre and People’s Palace Projects, London, saw nine projects developed with fifteen young entrepreneurs in North Manchester. Following pitches to a panel including Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, three projects were selected for funding: a baking project tackling food poverty; a sewing academy for young people; and a visual arts project for local artists. The Agency featured in the Saturday Telegraph Magazine and a weekend of discussions at the Southbank Centre, and Contact staff presented at a major international conference on youth poverty at Stanford University, USA.
Adem Adem, 18, from Harpurhey, completed the first part of the 2013 programme, making it through to the panel stage, but didn’t show up to present his idea due to a lack of confidence. In September 2014, Adem returned to participate in the programme for a second time with his idea to run baking courses for children in his community, aiming to tackle food poverty in the area.
‘It’s about teaching [them] to bake if they can’t do it at home or their parents haven’t got the money to buy ingredients, because in this area a lot of families use food banks’. Adem Adem overcame his nerves to present to a high profile independent panel. His project was awarded £2000 and achieved his ambition of establishing his project Crumbs: Baking a Difference. Crumbs was responsible for engaging some of the hardest to reach young people from the local area, with over 50% of participants coming from families who access food banks.
‘Battersea Arts Centre’s partnership with Contact, developing The Agency in the UK, is central to our plans for the future.’ David Jubb, Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre Funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
CREATIVE EXPERTS Contact’s Creative Experts are a team of young professional facilitators under 30 who deliver unique consultancy services to corporate clients, charities and public organisations. Previous clients have included Siemens, the NHS, BBC, Sharp Futures and Insider Media. As well as providing professional development services, conference enhancement and workshop facilitation, the Creative Experts oversaw two major projects in 2014 – 15 as a result of Contact’s Lever Prize-winning year in 2014. Electricity North West commissioned the Creative Experts to deliver Flash Point, a £20,000 project to empower
young people to run community projects around fuel poverty, while The University of Manchester engaged them to deliver staff consultation and training as part of their IT Transformations project. Creative Experts provide businesses with creative, innovative and high quality solutions. For more information email creativeservices@contactmcr.com or call 0161 274 0628.
‘Very skilled facilitators’ BBC Learning ‘a great collaboration which delivers real change in the community’ Electricity North West
FINANCIAL INFO INCOME 2014 –15 Total Income: £1,792,513
Box office & trading income: £249,056 (13.9 %)
Project funding: £160,183 (9%)
Sponsorship & Donations: £26,280 (1%) Grant Funding – Capital (restricted): £271,289 (15%)
Other income: £1,087 (0.1%)
Grant Funding – Revenue: £1,084,618 (61%) Arts Council England AGMA Manchester City Council The University of Manchester
EXPENDITURE 2014 –15 Total Expenditure: £1,809,787
Trading expenditure: £124,565 (7%)
Projects & Participation: £333,835 (18%) Overheads including salaries: £1,071,511 (59%)
The financial information above has been extracted from the full audited accounts in order to give a brief overview of Contact’s finances.
Artistic / Production: £196,532 (11%)
Capital Development (restricted): £83,344 (5%)
CORE FUNDERS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Mr C Lauder, Chair Mr P Fell, The University of Manchester Representative Dr S Parry, The University of Manchester Representative Cllr S Reeves, Manchester City Council Representative Cllr A-M Humphreys, AGMA Representative Cllr J Emsley, AGMA Representative Ms K Jones Mr S McCombe Mr W Thomson Mr R Williams Mr R Skinner Mr M Ball Miss A Islam Ms J Beggs Ms L Dusgate Mr S Lindsay Contact, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA contactmcr.com
Photography: Joel Chester Fildes, Lee Baxter, Christopher Nunn, Sophie Gerrard, Saquib Chowdhury, Stephen King, Sally Jubb, Christa Holka, David Kimelman, Simon Banham, Roshana Rubin-Mayhew, Miselo Kunda, Ray Fiasco, Field & McGlynn, Rod Farry, Eva Gongrijp, Helen Maybanks, William Burdett-Coutts