Annual Report 2009 - 2010

Belgrade Theatre Review of the Year 2009/2010

Picture: Patrons enjoying the completed Belgrade Square during an interval.

Belgrade Theatre Trust (Coventry) Limited

David Shortland

“It’s hard to be anything but proud”

My second year as Chairman of the Belgrade has to be the most satisfying yet. Having spent the last eight years supporting and observing the enormous transition the Theatre has gone through and shared in its inspiring new artistic vision, it has been hugely gratifying to see the new building operating to its full potential and being used and loved by the people it was created for.

The past year has been so ripe with achievements it’s hard to choose any one thing to highlight. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to present seven of our own stand out productions and B2 and the Main Stage have also welcomed a varied programme of touring shows, as well of course playing host to the impressive work of the Community & Education Company.

Looking back there are moments that have really stood out; watching the audiences’ surprise and enjoyment of the pre-show singing in the foyer for The Miser, or seeing unexpected spaces in the new building being used to perform in The Mysteries – In Our Own Words as several groups were transported around different locations of the

building to see the work of 150 local participants interpreting stories from the Qur’an and the Bible.

Then there’s Lenny Henry as Othello bringing in a whole new audience to the theatre for Shakespeare.

The ongoing dedication and enthusiasm of the Theatre’s staff and management is no doubt integral to the Theatre’s success especially in these economically challenging times. The fortunes of the Belgrade lie hand in hand with those of the City and of course the Belgrade Plaza development which we have seen blossom over the past year. It’s hard to be anything but proud of this part of the City’s regeneration and the Theatre’s role in helping it happen.

The future holds further challenges, but I’m hopeful that the Theatre can continue successfully to exploit its commercial capacities and build on its box office income to weather the storm ahead.

(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 Cllr A S Khan (appointed 24/09/2009) Mr N K Rambhai MA Hons Ms K J Reid BA Hons Ms L P Shields Cllr A Skipper BA MA PGCE DipM MCIM (resigned 11/06/2009 & re-appointed 24/09/2009) 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 Ms A Gagen (Theatre Officer) Coventry City Council Ms Alice Davey (Head of Culture and Leisure) Company Secretary and Executive Director Ms K J Reid BA Hons Chief Executive andArtistic 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:

David Shortland FRICS, Hon DBA Chairman.

Production photographs: Robert Day. 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 2009/10 included: Coventry Youth Opportunity Fund, The Bewley Charitable Trust, The Higgs Charity and The Norton Foundation. 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 has been an important year for the Theatre. It is the first full year of operation where it has been able to offer a full programme of produced work, following the re-opening of the building in September 2007. The 2008/09 programme was curtailed by planning for the unknowns of substantially increased costs of running a larger building combined with the world economic crisis.

2009/10 however has seen the Theatre begin to reap the benefits of its new strategy aimed at re-establishing the Theatre as a major producing house. The ambition and excitement of the artistic policy and the quality of the Theatre’s work has led to a transformation of its reputation in the profession and allowed the Belgrade to attract co-producing partners. This, combined with prudent fiscal management, allowed the Theatre to increase considerably the number and variety of our own produced work and to programme B2 for longer periods in the year.

The recent award of “Sustain Funding” from the Arts Council was a very welcome support for the Belgrade’s new way of working and has ensured that these plans are not de-railed by the current economic crisis.

At the same time the Theatre staff, motivated by this success, has worked hard to ensure maximum income generation to support the Theatre’s artistic vision. Box Office and Front of House income are supported with essential revenues from Belgrade Production Services (commercial set building) and Events & Conferencing; the two businesses that run through the Theatre’s wholly owned trading Subsidiary, Belgrade Theatre Enterprises. Both these businesses return sizable contributions to the Theatre’s operating budget and continue to provide employment opportunities for staff working on flexible contracts.

2009/10 therefore 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. The year saw seven in house shows with several co-productions, strands of programming to appeal to and grow the variety of audiences in the city and region. We pride ourselves in being accessible and down to earth and appealing to as wide a demographic of audiences as possible and this year 40% of our tickets were purchased by audience members eligible for a range of different concessions, and our participation in the Arts Council A Night Less Ordinary scheme enabled just under 3000 young people to experience for themselves what the Belgrade has to offer.

The Theatre’s strong position enabled the year to be completed with the hugely controversial BEHUD, a co-production with Soho Theatre London. The challenges of producing a performance that had the potential to fall victim to the controversy of its predecessor BEZHTI and still make audiences and staff feel safe, were both costly and time consuming. The result however was a successful staging of a hugely important world premiere and the Theatre and staff feel justly proud in this achievement.

Sustain Funding, earned income and the Theatre’s reserves put us in a healthy position to plan cautiously for 2010/11, however the forecast beyond is not a bright one; with core funding from Coventry City Council and Arts Council both under serious pressure and the Theatre’s earning ability reduced by the continued economic downturn.

Picture: Behud, (March/April 2010)

Hamish Glen

It’s been a busy but massively rewarding year for us despite the challenges the economy and political climate have presented. We have been determined not to lose sight of our aim to re-establish the vision, radicalism and internationalism that marked the opening of the Belgrade in 1958.

Aware of the challenges ahead, during the major capital project closure the Theatre created an organisational culture of involvement, development and continuous performance improvement.

This, along with financial success from both our box office and commercial enterprises has enabled us to restore the level of producing work back up to seven shows and make full use of both the Main Stage and B2.

This year’s bold produced programme; The Beggars Opera, Babylone, The Miser, The Dark Side Of Buffoon, Beauty And The Beast which attracted the biggest audience numbers for any of our recent pantomimes, The Cheeky Chappies’ Christmas Cracker and Behud an important play that championed the cause of Freedom of Speech, ran alongside a vibrant programme of visiting and community work informed

Main Picture: The Miser (Jan 2010)

“I know that the people of Coventry take pride in The Belgrade as its creative heart”

“Once again I was struck by what a superb space B2 is for staging small-scale drama”

by our ambitious artistic policy.

Our ambition also shows in the increased number of performances on offer to 463; a 37.4% increase representing 93 different productions (52.5% up) and attracting just under 175,000 audience members, again an increase of 35.7% on last year.

I’m extremely proud of everything we’ve achieved on our journey so far and I know that the people of Coventry take pride in The Belgrade as its creative heart. The level of commitment and professionalism throughout the building and the continued and much valued support of both our audiences and funders has no doubt been key to our ability to survive these uncertain times. There are certainly more challenges ahead, but with our passion, determination and a sound business strategy you can be sure the Theatre will continue to grow.

Hamish Glen

Artistic Director & Chief Executive.

Pictures: Above: The Beggar’s Opera (Oct 2009). Top to bottom: Babylone (Oct/Nov 2009), Beauty and the Beast (Dec 2009), The Cheeky Chappies’ Christmas Cracker (Dec 2009), The Dark Side of Buffoon (Feb/March 2010).

“… the performance gave palpable pleasure to a well-filled house”

“I would even go as far to say this production is the best I've been along to at the venue in the noughties”

Picture: The Mysteries, In Our Own Words

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 Community & Education Company are also committed to supporting its participants to develop skills and understanding that enables them to develop careers in the performing arts, so increasing the diversity of the arts workforce.

In July 2009 the Community & Education Company produced the community festival The Mysteries In Our Own Words. A team of community artists and over 150 participants aged 9+ created 13 different productions exploring stories from the Qur’an and the Bible. The final festival included scripted plays, spoken word presentations, film and dance performances. The production won a Youth Opportunity Fund award for the project that reached the highest number of young people and was short listed for the Evening Telegraph Pride of Coventry and Warwickshire Community Project of the Year and the Coventry Partnership Community Cohesion Awards.

The Community & Education Company delivered 108 workshops as part of The New Black programme of work, targeting Black and Minority Ethic communities. A showcase of the work created through the Critical Mass writing programme run in collaboration with the Royal Court, London and the Drum, Birmingham was presented in B2 in October 2009. The showcase included the Black Youth Theatre performing

one production in full and a company of actors performing script-in-hand readings of 1 complete show and excerpts from 4 other scripts.

The Community & Education Company continued to run eight regular youth theatre groups and a holiday project for the Junior Youth Theatre. This included running three 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. The annual Open Doors last March event gave almost 70 youngsters the opportunity to discover valuable information about working in the arts.

Picture: The Mysteries, In Our Own Words

Picture: From Banana Flats to Tin Town

In 09/10 The Community & Education Company was approved as a recognized Ed-Excel centre for the delivery of BTEC qualifications. A total of 27 BTEC certificates were awarded in 09/10 as part of the Acting Out programme.

Acting Out presented ImPerfect, a play about body image and the insecurities young people have about the way they look as part of their final year BTEC qualification and the Outreach Youth Theatre groups used stories from their local areas in Tile Hill and Canley as inspiration for their production From Banana Flats to Tin Town aimed at building pride amongst the young people in their local area.

Picture: The New Black Showcase

“Completely fulfilling and amazing and unlike any other experience I have ever had” The New Black Showcase and Critical Mass writer

“The mysteries really opened my eyes to the similarities between Islam and Christianity” Youth Theatre Participant

2009/10 stats 634 Workshops 9964 participation opportunities 43 schools performances 28% of participants from priority Postcodes areas 57 different Community Groups supported

Picture: ImPerfect

2009/10 quick facts Where did our audience come from?

Number of bookers by area*** North

4548 from North Warwickshire region City

12646 from City 6842 from South Warwickshire region

South

4171 from other areas 28,207 bookers* in total, an increase of 15% on 08/09

***Note: number of bookers figure is the number of individuals booking not the number of tickets purchased.

45% of visitors come from outside of the Coventry city area.

What type of tickets were purchased?

40% of our tickets were sold to people eligible for a concession** ** Concessions comprise: Unemployed, Students, Children, Disabled, OAP’s and Passport to Leisure.

What did our income consist of ?

In 2009/10 we earned

51% of our income through ticket sales and other revenues. * Belgrade Enterprises Ltd incorporates income earned by Belgrade Production Services, Conferencing & Events and ices/merchandising.