Annual Report 10

Perform to Your Potential!

2010

ABOUT PROJECT THEATRE Project Theatre is a voluntary run community theatre which aims to promote community youth involvement in drama, theatre and the creative arts across the Falkirk area through workshops, productions, working with other groups and arts organisations and supporting community initiatives.

OUR AIMS The aims of our group are:  To provide a supportive and safe environment for young people to engage in drama and theatre related activities on a regular basis.  To encourage and facilitate the development of skills related to theatre and drama.  To provide opportunities for all members to take part in regular Youth productions on any Theatre stage.  To give members the opportunity to take part in additional workshops and events.  To provide a place for people with an interest in theatre and drama to meet, make friends and have fun.

To further these aims and objectives we:  Provide theatre workshops and classes and host productions  Encourage representatives of other organisations to exchange information and to work on joint projects and productions.  Take part in other activities that promote good practice in youth theatre and for the benefit of the community

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INTRODUCTION The past year has seen great growth of our group in all areas: our committee, project quality and quantity, membership and public performances which in turn grew audience numbers, awareness in the community and raised vital finance.

2010 although being the first year of our constituted group, Project Theatre has ran since 2008. Since that time we have seen a steady number of members stay with us for our workshops and productions.

Particular highlights for me this year and I’m sure for many others was the Summer Showcase where we had our first live ticketed stage performance which was a sell-out. This production was important as it was our first big experience of having rehearsals for over 8 weeks and planning such a big project.

Other highlights were the volunteer training events we started one in Aberdeen with the SCDA and other in-house training meetings focussing on child protection, working with young people skills and 2011 planning. Also allowing our volunteers to host their own workshops was new which actually started with Moray Finley, our music artist and Cathryn Evans, our choreographer, managing their own

performances at the Grangemouth community music fest in May and June last year.

In terms of improvements that could have been made last year I would say that communication could have been better at points from myself and others but time was often against us as plans were being made quickly and this won’t be the case this year.

Membership is constantly something that I am looking at and we will always for a while I’m sure be very happy to welcome new members to the group either as young participants, volunteers or committee members. At the end of this year we have seen a lot of financial improvements from funding applications and grants which Caroline will go into in more detail. We hope to rely on more this year rather than annual and other membership or participation fees.

Other improvements can be made in terms of promoting event if all volunteers and members can spread the word about the group and activities and make better use of publicity.

Jamie O’Rourke Artistic Director, Chair

Summer Showcase Rehearsals

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WORKSHOPS Workshops are fundamental to Project Theatre. These sessions are informal, fun and creative and are designed to promote social life skills and nurture the skills needed for productions. Our Workshops are tailor made and can be based on less traditional themes such as mime or outdoor theatre as well as the classics; acting, singing and dancing

January Workshops – Masks, Mime and Music This series of workshops over 3 weeks focused on combining the discipline of mime through wearing mask and adding music using the themes of comedy and tradegy. Lead by Jamie O’Rourke. Participants were also given the opportunity to display their work to parents which included 3 small group mimes, 3 whole group mimes and a group musical mime number.

Easter Workshops Performance, Acting, Singing and Dancing Running over two days during the Easter Holidays these 4 workshops gave a wide variety of the traditional areas of performance.

With professional vocal coach Chris Judge taking a singing master class, Dance student Lorraine McIntyre holding a musical theatre dancing workshop and Jamie O’Rourke teaching performance methods and acting skills.

Easter Workshops

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PRODUCTIONS / PERFORMANCES January– Masks, MASKS, Mime and Music MIMEDisplay AND MUSIC JANUARY

DISPLAY The performance was put on in our rehearsal venue Talbot House and was shown to members parents, family and friends. The performances included 3 small group mimes and 3 whole group mimes on the theme of comedy and tragedy and a whole group musical mime number.

MAY / JUNE

GRANGEMOUTH MUSIC FEST

The Music Fest project consisted of three workshop areas: drumming, singing and dancing which lead to the work being displayed at the Grangemouth Music Fest which is an outdoor community music and arts festival in the local town centre.

We ran our performance three times which was made up a musical number, the drumming routine and masks dance routine to music. This was a great opportunity to promote our group in the community and experience live outdoor performance.

Music Fest Drumming Rehearsals

Music Fest Drumming Performance

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JUNE – AUGUST

SUMMER SCHOOL SHOWCASE

The summer school showcase took place from June to August.

As our biggest project to date, encompassing workshops, rehearsals, a play, masks and songs and dances there was a lot of planning and preparation done during the 8 short weeks leading up to what was a very successful stage production in the Barony Theatre Bo’ness..

“Morag & Maggie” - Showcase Hosts

The 8 weeks leading upto the August showcase focused on workshops and rehearsals for the production. We worked on mime and mask works for the UV scenes, acting and musical theatre and dancing.

The showcase was our first live public ticketed stage performance which was a sell-out. This production was important as it was our first big experience of having rehearsals for over 8 weeks and planning such a big project. The production consisted of our specially written play “Magica” with songs and dance dance routines and UV masks display.

Summer Showcase Dance Rehearsals

Summer Showcase Rehearsals

This show was a sell out with all seats being full and Member Feedback was also positive with 100% of members surveyed saying they enjoyed the rehearsals. 75% said they liked the venue we and 70% of overall ratings of the whole project were 7/10 and above with 1 being worst and 10 best.

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KEY ACHIEVEMENTS  Establishing the company’s constitution and committee with new volunteers  Joining Falkirk District Arts and Civic Council, Promote YT and Scottish Community Drama Association.  Holding first set of Easter Workshops during Easter Holidays with singing and dancing workshops.  Staging our largest public ticketed production to date, “Summer Showcase” in purpose built theatre venue (The Barony Theatre) attracting largest audience to date.

Easter Workshops

 Our membership doubled at the start of our new year and had then nearly doubled again by the summer.  In the Spring we improved on our previous year’s performance at the Grangemouth Music Fest by showcasing a musical and mime performance with drums and masks.  2010 saw Volunteer training begin with external and internal training events such as the SCDA Directing and Performing courses in Aberdeen and Child Protection and Working with Young People sessions.

FACTS & FIGURES Participants worked with

56

New members joined this year

15

Total registered members

31

Total number of projects

4

Partner organisations worked with

5

Volunteers

Audience members (approx.)

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175

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FINANCE INCOME for 2010 Total Income: £2161.57 Summer Showcase £1074.80 Workshops / Events Fees £711 Membership Fees £138 T-Shirts £96.00 Donations £71.77 Trips / Outings £70

Expenditure for 2010 Total Expenditure: £1369.37

Materials/Equipment £567.41 Other Expenses £156.90 Venue Hire £139 Volunteer Training £135.40 T-Shirts £132 Website £73.67 Trips/Outings £70 Organisation Memberships £45 Stationery £29.99 Auditor Statement: I have examined the Project Theatre Statements of Income & Expenditure and Summary of Balances as at 30th January together with Books & Vouchers and certify that the same to be in accordance therewith. Joseph Gallacher, Independent Examiner.

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FUNDRAISING Our fundraising efforts started in earnest at our Music Fest performance when we received donations from the public.

We then had a raffle at our Summer Production.

The Virtual Theatre scheme was then set up on our website whereby anyone can pick a seat in our balcony or stalls area for a one off fee to display their name on it. This scheme runs as an honorary patron scheme where the donor becomes an Honorary Member of the company with their payment.

Other online fundraising set up is our account on EasyFundraising.org.uk and EasySearch.org.uk where users of these sites can automatically give us a free donation when they use certain links and the search engine Later in the year we received a kind donation from the Grangemouth Rotary Club as part of the seasonal Christmas community and charity group contributions the organisation makes.

COMPANY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE As Chair of the company it has been my responsibility to preside over the 7 meetings we had last year after becoming a fully constituted group in January. Policies put through last year included the Child Protection policies as well as constitution amendments, the new company code of conduct and parental agreement and extra activity policy.

Achievements included joining the Falkirk District Arts and Civic Council, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Promote YT (Scotland) and the Scottish Community Drama Association. Membership of the committee has also steadily risen from around 5 to begin with to now around 11 active members.

On behalf of the whole company and myself I would like to thank each member of the committee for their time and input at these meetings and thankyou in advance for the great work you will do in the future. I would especially like to thank our Secretary Linda and Treasurer Caroline who have put a huge effort and commitment in and taken a lot out of their time.

In 2012 there will be elections for office bearers in January and the office of Chair upon approval from the committee may be up as well.

Jamie O’Rourke Chair

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VOLUNTEERS Since January our number of volunteers grew from a few to start our committee and increased with volunteers wishing to work as workshop and rehearsal leaders/assistants starting at our Easter Workshops.

Volunteers increased further at our Summer Showcase production with the roles of Assistant Director and Technical Director being formalised.

The role of Choreographer had previously been allocated. Other roles for volunteers at the Summer Showcase were make-up, backstage and front of house volunteers.

Volunteer Training started full with our trip to Aberdeen for the SCDA Performance & Directing Masterclass which 3 of the main workshop leaders/production team members attended.

Other training was given internally with a volunteer training session dedicated to child protection, first aid, working with young people skills and conflict resolution.

Also allowing our volunteers to host their own workshops was new this year which actually started with Moray Finley and Cathryn Evans managing their own performances at the Grangemouth Music Fest in May and June last year with Moray hosting a drumming workshop and creating a drumming performance and Cathryn holding dance workshops and creating a dance routine with masks and music.

As a requirement of the law all volunteers in direct contact and in a position of care with children must be Disclosure Checked. Project Theatre complies with this and ensures all volunteers are given an induction and trained and supported in their roles within the company.

Project Theatre is also proud to have introduced Volunteer feedback in 2010 where volunteers were asked to give feedback about their roles and opportunities given, the leadership they were working under and the quality of the company and our activities. This resulted in some significant feedback about delegation skills and working as part of a team and individually.

encouraged

Project Theatre, as a completely voluntary organisation, is open, pro-active and enthusiastic about recruiting volunteers and recognises that although some paperwork and administration is involved in having a significant volunteering presence in the company it is important to ensure the volunteer receives benefits from their commitment as well as the members and are supported and encouraged to develop in their role.

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COMMUNICATION As our first year as a fully established constituted group it has been important that we communicate with our members new and old and build up relationships with members and audiences.

The various forms of communication we use for members, parents, volunteers and audiences are:

By Phone This has proved our most successful for ensuring members are encouraged to attend events and be involved. The personal touch of a voice over the phone is something that should be continued especially for those who do not have other forms of communication such as email or internet.

Website Our website was updated at the beginning and during 2010 to include online booking & contact forms, videos and images. Since its set up in January 2010 our has recorded over 10,000 hits and is listed second on Google search engine when the search terms Project Theatre are browsed. Our website has the latest news and information about us and our activities, booking information, membership benefits, links to other local groups and bodies, contact information and fundraising methods to support us. The website remains a useful tool in promoting the company and representing us on the web. A recent website survey we held revealed 50% of those surveyed visited the website at least a few times a week. Also that 75% rated the website 5/5 in terms of appearance and 40% rated it 4/5 for functionality.

Email This is our most convenient form of communication as publications, posters and flyers can be easily sent to multiple members and prospective members. Email is something we are constantly trying to encourage members, parents and volunteers to make use of as a quick and inexpensive form of communication. Email is sent from and received to the website webmail which is info@projecttheatre.org.uk.

Local Press The Falkirk Herald, Grangemouth Advertiser and Bo’ness Journal have been very helpful in publishing our events in the free district news sections of both papers.

Several enquiries have been generated from these advertisements in 2011 we plan to promote events through bigger articles with photographs in these newspapers.

PTnews As part of membership our members newsletter, which goes out before and after main events, contains all the company news, committee meetings dates and times andinformation for members on various areas ranging from production DVDs collections, company t-shirts, when fees are to be paid and event dates and times along with photos of past productions and workshops. This newsletter is posted out to members and sent by email. Members are asked to contribute to the newsletter through posting comments and articles. There were six PTnews published in 2010.

Notes to parents This is an effective way to communicate with members and parents about news and events running after previous events finish. Notes often being sent out to parents and members after events include feedback forms and consent forms for trips or news about next projects.

Posters/Flyers were used regularly to promote events with most being printed using home printers and Summer Showcase flyers and posters being professionally printed.

Affiliate Arts & Community Organisations often help out with forwarding emails and flyers to their members on our behalf. These organisations include Scottish Community Drama Association, Falkirk District Arts & Civic Council and Promote YT Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter are used safely as closed groups for members to be communicated with and allow them to communicate amongst themselves.

Member Evaluation & Feedback is done through feedback forms, surveys and post event discussions

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THE TEAM Artistic Director / Chair

Jamie O’Rourke

Secretary

Linda Cameron

Treasurer

Caroline Evans

Assistant Director

Shona Nicolson

Technical Director

Moray Finley

Choreographer

Cathryn Evans

Production Assistant

Sarah Short

Volunteers/ Committee Members

Ashley Hutchison Mark Malloy Kirsty Nicolson Hazel Brooks

Auditor

Joseph Gallacher

Karoline Greer Carol White Hayley Whelan Margaret Gallacher

Project Theatre would like to thank the following people and organisations for their help and support in 2010:

Talbot House Grangemouth The Barony Theatre Bo’ness Party Daze Grangemouth Young Portonian Theatre Company Falkirk Herald Falkirk District Arts & Civic Council Promote YT (Scotland) Scottish Community Drama Association Falkirk Council Community Education Susan Wales Homefront Design and Print Members, Volunteers, Parents, Audiences and Friends of the Company

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