Memorandum submitted by Pilot Theatre
We are a national touring theatre company with
over 21 years experience of delivering high quality theatre work
to our target audience of young people. We create, develop and
tour pioneering new work for young people, by enabling artists
and audiences from all sections of society to address the challenges
and possibilities of our time.
Pilot create work which is targeted towards
young people and developing these theatre audiences for this new
century. The work aims to be inspirational in terms of its presentation
and production values with an education programme offering aspirational
possibilities.
We offer learning through the arts with our
performance-based work, both to develop our audiences and encourage
their further participation in cultural activities. Using new
technologies and multi media, working with venues and teachers
in relationships developed over 20 years, we have an integrated
approach to arts and education. Through our Education Programme,
young people who take part in workshops are encouraged to discuss
and debate the issues within the piece of work and how these relate
to the world that they find themselves in. Learning about society,
expression of ideas and feelings and the ability to make choices
is the crux of this work.
Our work is not single issued based as young
people do not lead single-issue lives. Pilot recognises this and
has developed an approach to look at the issues that are current
in young people's lives. These are then incorporated into a directly
relevant and communicable medium. We create theatre which is accessible,
powerful and validated.
THE IMPACT
OF THE
THEATRE REVIEW
— Pilot started out as a touring company
visiting schools and creating new work for our target audience
of young people aged 13+. Since receiving our first Barclays Stage
Partners funding back in 1997 we started to work in partnerships
with venues including The Lyric Hammersmith, Leicester Haymarket,
Bolton Octagon, and York Theatre Royal.
— The Theatre Review resulted in a
substantial increase in our funding, both core and touring as
we received one of the Arts Council's new Touring contracts. This
enabled us for the first time to plan and develop a programme
of work over a period of three years and commission new work,
which would fulfil our stated objectives.
— Following the Theatre review we were
able to develop our partnerships with venues a stage further and
actually become resident in a building, (York Theatre Royal),
where we have produced 11 shows in the last three years. We were
able to extend the relationship further with Stage Exchange funding
which enabled us to develop the work for young people with the
Theatre across all departments. This has increased attendances
of young people under the age of 24 by 49% and with a ticket price
of just £3.50 has proved an enormous success.
— As a touring company this not only
gives us a great base of support but also allows us to develop
our work for, by and with young people working with companies
and venues regionally, nationally and internationally. We are
the British representative for a Culture 2000 project involving
a European Network of theatre companies (magic-net.org) and we
have been able to host European meetings and conferences at the
theatre as part of an initiative to look at developing work for
young people across Europe. Having a partner venue of regional
importance to do this was of vital importance.
— It has allowed us to develop work
across different scales and develop a strategic and integrated
approach with Education, Marketing, Production and Artistic teams.
The sharing of resources and being at the heart of a space that
makes work is an enriching and creative experience.
— Significantly it enabled us to increase
our team, attract and retain a high quality of staff to this area
of theatre work and invest in training such people as part of
a longer term investment.
— The increased funding also facilitated
an expansion of our education programme to work with colleagues
in education to deliver a National Education programme, sustaining
and developing partnerships with organisations to deliver opportunities
for curriculum and lifelong learning. It has also been very noticeable
that the increase in funding from the theatre review resulted
in an expansion of work in venues in Education and the collaborative
partnerships we have been able to forge with these departments
has resulted in a real increase in the engagement with theatre
from Young People.
CONCERNS FOR
THE FUTURE
PATTERN OF
PUBLIC SUBSIDY
— A major concern if funding levels
to theatre were to be frozen is the impact on the sustainability
of the work developed over the past three years. As a company
we have invested time and money in the training of staff, permanent
and freelance—artistic, educational and administrative—and
through evaluation recognise an improvement in the relevance and
standards of service.
A freeze, (therefore in real terms
a cut), would jeopardise these developments.
— The planned programme of work would
inevitably be curtailed and the expectations of audiences and
schools, set up in the past two years, would be hard to meet.
— As a Company who works primarily
for young and new audiences we would find it difficult to ensure
that our work remains accessible for all young people as the setting
of low/subsidised ticket prices would be difficult to maintain
with some venues.
— The Company would have to allocate
more of its time and resources to sourcing alternative funding/income
streams in order to keep its work with Young People accessible,
particularly in cost terms.
— Cuts in funding would affect the
support and development of new writing and new artists and thus
ultimately the development of theatre—particularly in relation
to young people.
The last few years have seen a real resurgence
in theatre. As a Company who has benefited from a re-distribution
of funds in line with Arts Council stated priorities for work
with young people we acknowledge the great benefit theatre for
young people received under the Theatre Review. Such work is strategic
and requires long term investment—the developments that
have taken place in the last three years have been both significant
and exciting—the news that it may now be jeopardised by
a reduction of monies is highly disappointing. We hope that such
a decision will be reconsidered.
13 January 2005
|
