Summer 2015: Evaluation Report 27 July – 31 August 2015
Compiled by: Zona Reid
Mousetrap Theatre Projects 33 Shaftesbury Avenue | London | W1D 7EH 020 7632 4111 | ffn.admin@mousetrap.org.uk | www.mousetrap.org.uk
Table of Contents I.
Introduction
II.
Overall Statistics
III.
IV.
V.
p.2
a. 2014 Family First Nights Participants by Borough
p.3
b. Top Referring Organisations 2014
p.4
c. Number of Adults and Children Who Attended Each Show
p.5
d. Total Number of Families and Tickets for Each Show
p.6
Responses to Questionnaire a. Family’s enjoyment of the show?
p.7
b. Booking leaflet – info clear?
p.7
c. Happy with FFN administration?
p.8
d. Confirmation details – clear and useful
p.8
e. Was this your family’s first visit to a West End theatre?
p.9
f. Was this your family’s first visit to any theatre?
p.9
g. Has this experience made you want to take your family to the theatre again?
p.10
h. Do you feel confident in taking up other theatre offers?
p.10
Comments from Family First Nights Participants - Shows a. Making Theatre Affordable
p.11
b. Making Theatre Accessible
p.11
c. Organisational Information
p.12
d. General Comments
p.13
e. Suggestions from Participants
p. 14
Comments from Family First Nights Participants – Workshops a. General Comments from Practitioners and Participants
p. 14
b. General Comments from Participants of the Walking Tours
p. 14
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Introduction Now in its 17th year, Mousetrap Theatre Project’s Family First Nights (FFN) programme had a fantastic summer, running for five weeks in 2015 from Monday, 27 July - Monday, 31 August. 666 families took part - 2,741 individuals of whom 1,532 were young people between the ages of 3 – 17 and were accompanied by 1,209 adults (relatives, guardians & carers). Families came from 31 London boroughs and a wide range of English counties. Families had a choice of 33 top West End and children’s theatre shows with all tickets at £5. The FFN 2015 leaflet offered 11 musicals, 7 plays, and 13 shows for younger children and 2 special events at the Royal Albert Hall. The most popular shows were Wicked, Thriller Live and The Gruffalo. We worked with 138 social service agencies, charities, community organisations and housing associations who referred families they felt would benefit from a theatre visit. Representatives of these organisations attended an information meeting on 9th June at Bloomsbury Baptist Church and were invited to Memphis the Musical as a thank you. Jigsaw4u, a charity working to support children and young people through trauma, loss and bereavement, sent the most number of families – 33 families. We offered two access performances – one for deaf and hard of hearing family members at Gorilla and a relaxed performance of The Gruffalo for families with children on the autistic spectrum. This performance was fully booked with 121 families, not all from FFN. We also ran three, free 60 – 90 minute family workshops for Memphis the Musical, Stomp and Barmy Britain in which 12 families (52 family members) participated. The Barmy Britain event included a tour of the National Portrait Gallery. For the first time this year, we hosted two free walking tours of ‘Haunted Theatreland’ led by veteran guide, Diane Burstein, with 12 families (49 individuals) attending. Another first this year was the introduction of restaurant discount vouchers for The Rainforest Café, Planet Hollywood and Caffé Concerto. These vouchers proved very popular and will be repeated next summer with the addition of Pizza Express. In early November, all 666 families plus the 4,000+ who are on our FFN database will receive a range of new offers of theatre, opera, dance and special events for the winter and spring to build on their summer experience. In addition to these special offers, we continue to send FFN families email offers on a bi-weekly basis with a very high response rate. Last year an additional 39 offers were sent. Recent offers have included free and £5 tickets to productions such as War Horse, Wicked, To Kill a Mockingbird as well as special performances at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Opera House. Mousetrap Theatre Projects wishes to thank our funders for their generous support of Family First Nights: The Society of London Theatre, The Colwinston Charitable Trust, The Dorset Foundation, The Childhood Trust and Tesco. We also wish to thank the theatre producers, who by subsidising the cost of their tickets, enabled 666 disadvantaged families to attend London theatre this summer, many for the first time. The following detailed analysis of FFN 2015 is based on 183 returned questionnaires from participating families, representing approximately 27% of attending families. Susan Whiddington, Director
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Overall Statistics 2015 FFN Participants by Borough Westminster
23
Watford
1
Wandsworth
13
Waltham Forest
15
Tower Hamlets
10
Sutton
48
Southwark
27
Richmond
1
Redbridge
6
Out Of London
89
Newham
5
Merton
48
Lewisham
19
Lambeth
41
Kingston Upon Thames
3
Kensington and Chelsea
22
Islington
18
Hounslow
11
Havering
2
Harrow
16
Haringey
25
Hammersmith & Fulham
14
Hackney
19
Greenwich
5
Enfield
10
Ealing
15
Dartford
1
Croydon
22
City of London
1
Camden
19
Bromley
42
Brent
31
Bexley
16
Barnet
19
Barking & Dagenham
9 0
10
20
30
40
3
50
60
70
80
90
100
Top Referring Organisations 2015
Young Hackney
11
Yass & pp4danBarnet
11
Harrow Council
12
SHINE Merton
14
Royal Marsden Hospital
14
Hestia Domestic Abuse Service
14
Contact-a-Family Lambeth
19
West London Action for Children
20
Haringey Youth Offending Service
20
Bromley Children's Project
25
SmileyArk Kids
26
Leatherhead Foster Carers
27
Suttons Women's Aid
32
Jigsaw4u
33 0
5
10
15
Number of Families
4
20
25
30
35
Total Number of Adults and Children Who Attended Each Show Wicked
189
War Horse
53
Tiddler and other Terrific Tales
52 37
288
85
Thriller Live
127
155
20 17
The Woman in Black
12 7
The Wind in the Willows
53
The Three Little Pigs
29
The Railway Children
42 32 35 19
The Play That Goes Wrong
35 48
The Phantom of The Opera The Gruffalo
85
115
37 32
The Curious Incident of the Dog 7 8
The Commitments
11 13
The 39 Steps
43 30
Stomp! Shlomo's Beatbox Adventure for Kids
10 6
Number of Children (3-16)
Sherlock Prom
10 6
Number of Adults
Monski Mouse
9 7
Memphis The Musical
63 63
Lord of The Dance
61 49 49 42
Les Miserables
22 29
Jersey Boys 5 2
I Believe in Unicorns
62 45
Horrible Histories Barmy Britain‌ 9 13
High Society
69
Hetty Feather
94
28 20
Gorilla
21 12
Brat Kids Carnival
39 27
Bend It Like Beckham
66 51
Ben & Holly 19 17
Adventures in Wonderland
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350
5
Total Number of Families and Tickets for Each Show Number of Families
Number of Tickets 119
Wicked 30
War Horse
150
23
Tiddler and other Terrific Tales
502
93 66
Thriller Live 11
The Woman in Black
4
The Wind in the Willows
47
18
The Three Little Pigs
17
The Railway Children
18
82 79
12
The Play That Goes Wrong
294
45
20
The Phantom of The Opera
87 50
The Gruffalo 19
The Curious Incident of the Dog The Commitments
5
The 39 Steps
5
206 69
15 24 18
Stomp! Shlomo's Beatbox Adventure for Kids
3
Sherlock Prom
4
Monski Mouse
6
77
16 16 16
Memphis The Musical
28
Lord of The Dance
25
Les Miserables
22
Jersey Boys
14
I Believe in Unicorns
3 11
135 114 92 51
25
Horrible Histories Barmy Britain Part 3 7
High Society
110
26 33
Hetty Feather 12
Gorilla
10
Brat Kids Carnival
126 54
39
16
Bend It Like Beckham
70
30
Ben & Holly 11
Adventures in Wonderland
0
117
38
100
200
6
300
400
500
600
Responses to Questionnaire 5 = Extremely
1 = Not at all
Family's enjoyment of the show?
Happy with administration?
160 140
160 139
136
140
120
120
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
30
26 20
20 3
1
4
0
5
4
3
2
5
1
Was the information on the leaflet clear?
0
4
3
2
1
Were the confirmation details useful and clear?
160 140
0
0
0
160 135
152
140
120
120
100
100
80
80
60
60 40
40 26
17
20
20 6
2
0
2
1
0 5
4
3
1
0
0
3
2
1
0 5
7
4
Was this your family's first visit to a West End Theatre? 120
Was this your family's first visit to any theatre? 140
110
130
120
100
100
80 68
80 60 60
51
40 40 20 20 0 Yes
0
No
Yes
No
Would you feel confident in taking up other offers?
Has this experience made you want to take your family to the theatre again?
180
169
200 180
160
173
140
160 140
120
120
100
100
80
80
60
60 40 40 20
20
9
5 0
0 Yes
Yes
No
8
No
Comments from Family First Nights Participants SHOWS Making Theatre Affordable The family had a wonderful time with an experience they will not forget. Thank you so much for this experience that otherwise we would not have been able to do. :) Happy children! (Foster Mother, Wicked) This was a really enjoyable experience at an extremely affordable price. The administration was excellent, thanks to all concerned! The barrier for me and most parents for taking children to the theatre is always cost, so the opportunity for special offers is always going to help enable family visits. (Parent, Wicked) Thank you so much for the opportunity to take our family to a show that we would otherwise have not been able to afford. The process was easy to use and I can't think of anything that could be done better! (Mother, Thriller Live) My daughter thoroughly enjoyed it and could not stop thanking me! We'd been trying to see it for a long time, but money always seemed to be short. The smile on her face was priceless. Thank you so much! :) (Mother, Wicked) My children loved it, and we as parents had a great time too. We were not expecting such excellent seats! As a family of 6, it is quite an expense to visit the theatre, so we really appreciated this opportunity. Thank you! (Mother, Wicked) Making Theatre Accessible It was a great, lively, exciting performance which kept my autistic 12 year old engaged and intrigued. Great for all the family. Should pack a lunch bag (i.e. sandwiches) next time, though, as prices are extortionate! (Mother, Wicked) Brilliant day out. Thank you so much. It's very rare we are out together, so this was such a treat! My son who has autism loves this show, but we were a bit nervous and it all went well. If not for this opportunity we probably wouldn't have thought to go! These tickets are very expensive too, so once again, big thank you! X (Mother, Ben & Holly) Our son made it through without calling out! Your written leaflet about being quiet really helped us. It wasn't us, but "the rules" saying to be quiet. This means we can think about going again. Please give us lot seats near the aisle in case we need to go out during performances. Then we will disturb fewer people. The staff at Phoenix were excellent at assisting the less abled. Thank you. Great show, too! (Mother, Bend It Like Beckham) We really enjoyed the show. My son, who has autism, was quite overwhelmed before the show and decided he wanted to sit on his own. Thankfully, the staff were very accommodating and allowed him to sit in an empty seat behind us which meant he then enjoyed the show. (Mother, Horrible Histories of Barmy Britain) My experience with FFN was second to none, you're an amazing organization who really helps us enjoy the experience. My son has ASD so we were nervous, but all was well! We now have great memories to share. Thank you!! :) (Mother, Ben & Holly)
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Organisational Information Mousetrap Theatre Projects Our experience could not have been better. The FFN mail and follow up call from friendly and considerate staff to confirm we had received paperwork and warning of the tube strike was great. The production was child friendly and our seats were brilliant. Our little boy will remember this forever, he thought it was amazing, especially the steam train. Thank you so much for this opportunity. (Mother, The Railway Children) Thank you so much for a fantastic opportunity for my foster children to enjoy a fabulous show. The information sent and the pre-show phone call were really helpful. Well done for such a brilliant scheme. (Foster Carer, Wicked) We really enjoyed the show, it was quality time for all of us. It was a simple process to collect our tickets from Mousetrap, and use the directions to the theatre etc. We all had an amazing evening and feel thankful and blessed we were given this opportunity and such fantastic seats. Thank you. (Special Guardian, Lord of The Dance) Communication from Mousetrap was great! Checking on the day of performance that I was still ok to attend, knew where I was going, etc. Seats were fantastic! Brilliant birthday gift for the little one! Thanks soooo much, Mousetrap… See you again soon! (Mother, Wicked) Excellent service and flexibility when my work schedule changed at the last minute – Thank you. I was surprised how much my daughter enjoyed it and how she actually stayed still and listened to the performance. A great experience – Thanks for the opportunity! (Mother, Hetty Feather)
Theatres Exciting Night! Wonderful set, lighting costume and dance. Really great seats and friendly staff. Atmosphere buzzing. What you are doing is fantastic. I believe this will help my child (7 years) with creative writing at school and give her more confidence in school plays. Thank you, Mousetrap! (Mother, Wicked) This was my granddaughter's first visit to a London theatre. Her comment when entering was 'Wow! This is amazing!' She enjoyed every minute of the visit. (Grandmother, Lord of The Dance) Spectacular and entertaining show. Amazing actors and well performed. Just long queuing for toilets. Loved the staging, costumes, and lighting. Singing sent goose bumps down my arms. They had great voices. (Mother, Wicked) The seats were front row stalls and although in theatre these would be some of the best seats, the stage was too high and we were not able to view the production with our children being so small. Luckily the theatre agents found more suitable seats for the children and I. (Mother, The Three Little Pigs) I cannot fault the help & advice we received. Mousetrap advised us to let the theatre know of our foster daughter's needs and Dominion gave front row seats. She was thrilled and delighted! Thank you! (Foster Carer, Lord of The Dance)
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General Comments from the Family’s Theatre Visit This was an amazing offer. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of going to the theatre and would love to do it again. Fantastic seats as well. Thank you! :) (Mother, Lord of The Dance) We had a great time, the boys were really glued to the production and we all had a tear in our eyes at the end. It was much more grown up than panto and I think the boys appreciated that, being 13 now. (Mother, War Horse) Excellent experience, we did not want it to end. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity. (Mother, Thriller Live) I have always wanted to see Les Mis and it was an amazing opportunity to be able to go. It was made even more wonderful by the stall seats we were given! Thank you very much! (Mother, Les MisÊrables) My family had a fantastic time. We don't get out that much so thank you so much Mousetrap. I really appreciate everything. (Mother, Thriller Live) It was an amazing experience, kids had a lovely time. Thank you for this project. It gives families an opportunity to enjoy theatre. (Mother, Lord of The Dance) We were allocated fantastic seats and had expected to be in 'cheaper' seats! This really enhanced our experience. The show itself was amazing and we both loved it! (Mother, Wicked) The experience was amazing! I am truly grateful to have experienced this with my daughter. Truly spectacular. (Mother, The Phantom of The Opera) It was a magic night out. My son who is 15 never wants to go out with the family. However this time he agreed and was so pleased and impressed. And for my daughter, 10, it was a wonderful event. She loves dancing and music so much. For me it was like being in a different world. Thanks again. Everything was organized perfectly. Detailed information about the event, travelling, etc. Thank you! (Mother, Lord of the Dance) Suggestions from Participants If you're going to give tickets that are high up, you should inform us, as my mother is afraid of heights. (Mother, Wicked) We had a fantastic time! Would have liked to buy kids a programme but they are expensive - maybe a half price voucher to spend on programmes/ refreshments would be well received. (Mother, Wicked) It could be nice to meet the characters before or after the show, for the children to talk and ask questions to them / take pictures with them. It could be great to include other popular plays like The Lion King. Also you could do the program during the year and for Christmas as well - not only during the summer. Thanks! (Mother, Wicked) Children enjoyed the show - it was really efficient how tickets were distributed. Would just suggest thinking about seat allocation for smaller children- being in the stalls meant youngest had to stand or be on lap to see. Otherwise fantastic opportunity getting youngsters interested in theatre. (Mother, Thriller Live)
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Comments from Family First Nights Participants WORKSHOPS General Comments from Practitioners and Participants The space was adequate, the necessary equipment was provided, the costumes that were provided were exceptional, there was so much effort put into making this a great experience for the group there it was easy for me to come and teach. Totally enjoyed working with Mousetrap! (Practitioner, Memphis) It was fun, and nice to get positive feedback from the father of the two younger kids who were very shy at the start and got involved later on. One lady said she hated noise, then really enjoyed the session, and played a significant part in leading her rhythm section. That was good! I’d like more of this work! (Practitioner, Stomp!) The leader was very funny, and has a good rapport with participants. (Participant, Stomp!) Such friendly and understanding staff. Will hopefully get the opportunity to do something like this again! Was fun as well as educational. (Participant, Horrible Histories of Barmy Britain) A great show to add a workshop to, a lovely bunch and they really enjoyed the day! (Practitioner, Horrible Histories of Barmy Britain) General Comments Family First Nights Walking Tours Participants The lady delivering it was really interesting, I liked the detail about the theatrical characters and the under the radar London feel to it. Also I liked the Lady in Black part for local reasons. (Participant, Haunted Theatreland Walking Tour) The whole tour was interesting and memorable. Diane spoke with enthusiasm and had good knowledge. I enjoyed taking part in the quiz and thought this was useful for both older and younger attendees. (Participant, Haunted Theatreland Walking Tour)
For additional information, please contact: Family First Nights, Mousetrap Theatre Projects, 33 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7EH Tel. 020 7632 4111 or email ffn@mousetrap.org.uk www.mousetrap.org.uk
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