Belgrade Theatre Review of the Year 2010/2011
Picture: Exterior from B2 entrance
David Shortland
“… one of Coventry’s most precious assets”
This is my final year as Chairman of the Belgrade and I feel like I have been on a wonderful adventure with this daring and exciting organisation and will be very sad to be stepping down. The organisation I’m leaving is a very different one to the one I joined almost 10 years ago, but one I feel is well equipped to face the challenges that no doubt lay ahead. I really feel that the Belgrade is the cultural and entertainment heartbeat of the City and a tremendous facility for Coventry and Warwickshire. One of my proudest moments was Sir Trevor Nunn telling me “this is what a top regional theatre should be like”. I’m delighted that despite the pressures of an unstable economy, over the past year the Theatre has succeeded in presenting eight of its own productions and has really managed to engage local audiences. The trilogy of new Coventry plays; We Love You City, Too Much Pressure and The Usual Auntijies, alongside the revival of One Night in November, really gave local audiences a sense of ownership and pride in their local theatre as well as introducing them to innovative new writing. Alongside these I’m also hugely proud of the superb productions of Uncle Vanya and The Three Musketeers, which not
only toured the Coventry name around the country but also won several awards. I also have to mention the Belgrade’s famous Panto Cinderella, which despite the recession broke all recent Panto sales, and the fantastic work from the Community & Education Company including the newly established Young Company. It’s almost impossible to choose from the diverse range of excellent touring productions but the innovative A Play, a Pie and a Pint has to be my most memorable experience. It was fantastic to see people choosing to spend their lunch breaks (or end of working days) watching short but exciting new pieces of drama, with a pie and a pint in hand. 2010/11 also saw the theatre survive the Arts Council’s funding shake up, which really highlighted how well run and efficient the Belgrade is and how much has been done by the Belgrade itself to ensure its financial stability. The Theatre is such an important part of the life blood of the City and the commitment of the staff and management are key to the success of both the Belgrade and in turn the regeneration of Coventry. I know I’m leaving this exceptional organisation in the best of hands and it will continue to be one of Coventry’s most precious assets.
Belgrade Theatre Trust (Coventry) Limited (A company limited by guarantee)
Board Members: Mr D J Shortland FRICS, Hon DBA, Chair Mr B C Beck BSc, C.Eng, MICE, Vice Chair Ms C M Hamilton, Vice Chair Mrs C H Barnett BA Hons Cllr J Blundell Mr A C Dent Mr P Fenner FCCA Mr W H Glen LLB Ms C Malcolmson BA Hons (resigned 23/09/10) Mr N K Rambhai MA Hons Ms K J Reid BA Hons Ms L P Shields (resigned 28/01/2011) Cllr A Skipper BA MA PGCE DipM MCIM Cllr D Welsh (appointed 20/05/2010) Mrs D Williams (appointed 24/03/2011) Funding Body Representatives entitled to attend Board meetings: Arts Council England West Midlands Ms R Robbins (Regional Director West Midlands) Arts Council England West Midlands Mr M Addison (Theatre Officer) Coventry City Council Mr D Cockcroft (Assistant Director, City Centre & Development Services) Company Secretary and Executive Director Ms K J Reid BA Hons Chief Executive and Artistic Director Mr W H Glen LLB Company registered number 593331 Charity registered number 219163 Registered office: Belgrade Theatre Belgrade Square Coventry West Midlands CV1 1GS The Belgrade Theatre gratefully acknowledges financial support from:
Printed on FSC paper
David Shortland FRICS, Hon DBA
Production photographs: Robert Day & Paul Blakemore. Cover photo: George Archer.
The Belgrade Theatre is reliant on a number of organisations who support its work in the community. These generous supporters make it possible for us to undertake our exciting and innovative programme of work. Supporters in 2010/11 included: FC Stokes Trust, Coventry Youth Opportunity Fund, J P Getty Jr Charitable Trust, Awards for Bridging Cultures and The Higgs Charity. We gratefully acknowledge the commitment of all our supporters.
The Belgrade Theatre's vision: To be one of the most dynamic producing houses in the country. Mission: Our role is to provide a comprehensive performing arts service of the highest possible quality for Coventry and the surrounding regions and to act as an ambassador for Coventry & The West Midlands when touring. 2009/10 and 2010/11 saw the Theatre operating at what it considers to be the optimum in terms of balance between produced work, presented work, programming in two auditoria and lively Community & Education activity. Each year saw seven or eight in-house shows, strands of programming to appeal to and grow the variety of audiences in the city and region, and both Main Stage and B2 operational for most of the year. The Theatre recognised that this level of activity was a golden moment, one that is unsustainable in the long term because it is funded by Sustain Funding and was built on a certain level of public funding which is now in decline. The impressive increase in earning from new sources (commercial set building, BPS, Events and Conferencing, Trusts and Sponsorship) is not sufficient to manage all of the increased running costs of the organisation and allow it to produce an adequate number of shows, keep B2 open and protect its Community & Education programme. The results from 2010/11 for BPS, Events & Conferencing and Trusts and Sponsorship, all of which showed a decline on the previous year, show that all these sources of income are fragile in the face of the country’s economic problems. The reality of declining levels of public funding is a further threat to the Theatre’s business model. However staff continue to work hard to minimise costs and improve existing income generation and to find new sources in order to enable the Theatre to fulfil its mission. The Arts Council’s Sustain Award combined with the Board’s decision to back the operating model meant that in 2010/11 the organisation delivered an ambitious programme of work that gave a reasonable balance between
Picture: Uncle Vanya (April 2011)
in-house and Visiting Company work that appealed to a wide range of audiences. However the general economic climate did mean that the Theatre had to cut back on the number of performances it could present and there was a resulting drop in audience numbers. The Theatre gave 414 performances (10% drop on the previous year) of 71 different productions a (24% drop on previous year), playing to an audience of just over 150,000 (a drop of 14% on the previous year). Despite this the Theatre has returned an excellent year’s result. The last quarter of the financial year in particular delivered unexpectedly good box office for the Theatre’s programme of Visiting Company work and the Theatre’s Contingency was not drawn on. Given the health of the Theatre’s reserves combined with the proven ability of the staff and Executive to manage and control costs and maximise income opportunities, and the critical need of the Theatre to maintain a reasonable balance between in-house and presented work even in the face of declining levels of public funding, the Board decided to continue to invest part of the free reserves (created by trading surpluses in recent years) to underpin the Theatre’s revenue activity over the next few years. This will allow the Theatre to produce six in-house shows, programme B2 for some weeks and maintain the Community & Education programmes.
Hamish Glen
It’s been almost four years since the Theatre re-opened its doors and launched an exciting new programme of work. We could not have predicted the many challenges that lay ahead and the sad state of the economy that awaited us; however despite all this the Theatre is surprisingly buoyant and 2010/11 has been another rewarding year. The ambition of the artistic policy and the quality of the Theatre’s work over recent years has led to a transformation of its reputation in the Profession, enabling the Belgrade to attract co-producing partners including English Touring Theatre, The Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Arcola Theatre London and Talking Birds. Despite the economic pressure forcing us to offer a slightly reduced number of performances and productions overall the Theatre’s bold inhouse programme was as strong as ever. The year opened with We Love You City, followed by The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain, a Main Stage version revival of One Night in November, another record breaking Pantomime Cinderella, The Cheeky Chappie’s Christmas Cracker, Too Much Pressure, The Usual Auntijies and completed the financial year with Uncle Vanya. 2010/11 also saw the Theatre nominated for no less than 12 awards and winning two CATS Awards for The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain, with eight Off West End Awards for Uncle Vanya, winners yet to be announced.
“The Belgrade is a vital part in the regeneration of this fantastic city” In March 2011, the Theatre successfully secured National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status from Arts Council England which confirmed funding 2012/13 to 2014/15, however this means an overall cut of 15% during this period. ACE funding for 2011/12 has been cut by 6.9% for all Arts Council clients throughout England and Coventry City Council’s cut was restricted to 3%, an excellent result given the levels of Local Authority cuts suffered by arts organisations elsewhere in the country. Looking forward the Theatre’s major challenge will be maintaining the balance of presented and in-house work, enabling a programme of work in B2 and maintaining its Community & Education programme. We are committed to overcoming these challenges and to continuing to offer the people of Coventry, and its surrounding areas, a varied and life enhancing programme of artistic work. The Theatre is proud to be supported by such a dedicated staff whose commitment to seeing the organisation operate as efficiently as possible, whilst also exploiting our commercial potential, is one of the keys to the Belgrade’s resilience in these challenging times. The Belgrade is a vital part in the regeneration of this fantastic city and one which we know is valued greatly by the thousands who use it.
Hamish Glen Artistic Director & Chief Executive.
“Putting the city’s cup heroes centre stage seems a further example of sky blue thinking”
Pictures: Top left: Cinderella (Panto 2010), The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain (Oct 2010), The Usual Auntijies (March 2011). Top right: Too Much Pressure (Feb 2011). Bottom right: One Night in November (Nov 2010), Cheeky Chappies Christmas Cracker (Dec 2010). Centre: We L:ove You City (Sept 2010).
“ A lucid and ultimately affecting production of a great play”
“The production is extremely ambitious”
“ It’s an explosive shock and a near excitement, some thing close to the bone, which provokes nervy laughter as well as gasps”
Picture: In Our Own Words III
Community & Education Company The Belgrade Community & Education Company aims first and foremost to make pieces of work that bear witness to voices marginalised in the mainstream. It believes that these voices are best heard if presented in original and high quality pieces of work that people want to watch and listen to. The Company is also committed to supporting its participants to develop skills and understanding that will enable them to develop careers in the performing arts, and so increasing the diversity of the arts workforce. In 2010/11 the Community & Education (C&E) Company produced nine new stage productions of original work and three film shorts made by and for young people.
Picture: The New Black Showcase
In July 2010 the Company produced their third Community Festival In Our Own Words III, made up of six brand new short plays written by participants of the Critical Mass programme (see below), exploring the themes of immigration and performed by a diverse cast of over 40 young people. Over the course of the year, the Company delivered 92 workshops as part of The
New Black programme of work, targeting Black and Minority Ethic communities across the region. This included the Critical Mass writing programme aimed at establishing a ‘critical mass’ of black playwrights, which culminated in the New Black Showcase presented in B2 in February 2011. In recognition of their successes in this area, the C&E company was shortlisted for a Coventry Partnership & Coventry Ethnic Minority Action Partnership Community Cohesion Award, and commended in the national ABC Awards for Intercultural Dialogue. Another major initiative for 2010 was the Young Company, which was established to provide opportunities for participants who show particular ability. They performed their first especially commissioned production, all the moves by Chris O’Connell, in November 2010. The C&E company also created From Banana Flats to Tin Town, an outreach production that brought together two rival communities in the regeneration areas of the city; ImPerfect, a production about body
image, and the insecurities of young people about the way they look; three short films on the theme of forgiveness with multi-faith groups as part of the city-wide Coventry Mysteries 2010; and Promise, a Theatre In Education (TiE) production on transition from primary to secondary school, which toured 36 schools across Coventry. The C&E company continued to run eight regular youth theatre groups: two in-house groups, two outreach groups in regeneration areas of the city, one Black Youth Theatre group, and three groups from the Acting Out / Up projects, targeting ‘at-risk’ young people. This was carried out alongside project work with three additional multi-faith groups over the course of a term. It also delivered two programmes providing young people with the opportunity to broaden their awareness of the range of careers available within the theatre.
“He has learnt so much, matured and has gained so much experience ” Parent referring to son’s experience in Youth Theatre performance
Picture: all the moves
Picture: In Our Own Words III
“Wish it wasn’t over yet, I loved it. Wish we could do it again” April Sharing Participant Picture: April Sharing Picture: In Our Own Words III
“It was really interesting and I found out a lot”
Open Doors Participant
2010/11 stats 518 Workshops 8715 participation opportunities 36 performances in schools 78 different Community Groups supported 32 BTEC certificates achieved 38% of participants from priority Postcodes areas
Picture: Education Officer, April Sharing
2010/11 quick facts Where did our audience come from? Number of bookers by area*** 3840 from North Warwickshire region North
12417 from City 6391 from South Warwickshire region
City
3222 from other areas 25,870 bookers in total South
***Note: number of bookers figure is the number of individuals making the booking, not the number of tickets purchased.
Ot he r Ci t y
Sout h Nor t h
52% of visitors come from outside of the Coventry city area.
What type of tickets were purchased?
51% of our tickets were sold to people eligible for a concession** ** Concessions comprise: Unemployed, Students, Children, Disabled, OAPs and Passport to Leisure. Other discounts include 20% and other offers.
What did our income consist of ? In 2010/11 we earned
48% of our income through ticket sales and other revenues. * Belgrade Enterprises Ltd incorporates income earned by Belgrade Production Services, Conferencing & Events and ices/merchandising.
Did you know the Belgrade Theatre is a Registered Charity? We provide a range of benefits for all members of the public, including: • •
Promoting an appreciation of the arts Providing facilities for leisure and recreation
We enable access to these benefits via: • Concessionary ticket schemes for paid activity • Free access for community activity • Wheelchair access to all public areas of the building • Access performances for those with hearing or sight impairment