Theatre

Catford’s Broadway Theatre will reopen in February following a £7m refurbishment project.

The works have included upgraded seating, a new bar area, improved access and facilities for those with restricted mobility and new digital signage.

The refurbishment, funded by Lewisham Council’s capital programme, began last January and was undertaken to “safeguard the history and future” of the theatre, according to Lewisham Council Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure James-J Walsh.

“Our investment ensures that new generations benefit from the institution and opportunity it brings,” Walsh said.

“Our improvements will deliver a more inclusive and enjoyable theatre experience for both our fantastic audiences and visiting productions. The theatre will be a place where people from all communities feel welcome to share the joys of live performance, culture and arts.”

Broadway Theatre was closed throughout Lewisham’s tenure as London Borough of Culture but plans to place a central role in future legacy projects, with a focus on championing Black and Global Majority theatre and opportunities for young people.

Theatre group Nouveau Riche have been announced as the theatre’s newest Associate Artists.

“What we want to do is inspire a whole new generation of theatre artists and make the artform accessible to a whole new audience,” Nouveau Riche Artistic Director Ryan Calais Cameron said.

A new bursary scheme has been launched to support and develop the career of a first-generation migrant theatre producer.

PROJEKT EUROPA and Chris Grady Org (CGO) will award one aspiring producer a fully funded place on the CGO Diploma in Creative Producing and a 16-week paid work placement with PROJEKT EUROPA.

“The world needs more producers, especially producers who reflect the communities that artists wish to serve, and the stories that need to be told,” said Chris Grady, Director of CGO.

He added that CGO aims “to make connections for, and develop the skills of, those who will change the world one show at a time”.

Maria Aberg, Artistic Director of PROJEKT EUROPA, said the theatre company “is committed to internationalising the UK theatre industry by championing  and platforming migrant talent, creating a more diverse and international sector”.

The diploma course runs from February to June 2023 and the placement will run from April onwards.

Candidates can be based anywhere in the UK. Applications close on 18 January.

READ College in Reading has been saved from closure after raising £40,000 to help pay for the building’s running costs.

The funds were raised by a crowdfunding campaign after the college, based in a Grade II listed Victorian church building, was unable to keep pace with increasing costs, including rising energy prices. 

READ’s Artistic Director Clara Vaughan, said that the risk of closure was prompted by the cost-of-living crisis, the pandemic and a loss of ability to host international students.

“It was extremely difficult for us to put out the call for help. It felt so scary and vulnerable to have to say we're in this position,” she told the BBC. “I don't think any of us were expecting quite the amount of support that we received.”

The money gifted by donors, several of whom work in the performing arts sector, will enable the college to continue offering classes in January. Its recovery plan includes two further phases.

“We have challenges ahead of us but we're a really strong team and we have a lot of energy and desire to solve those challenges,” Vaughan said.

There is a large discrepancy in the gender balance of composers, lyricists and playwrights credited for main stage theatre productions in the UK, according to new research.

Data compiled by writers Kate Marlais, Meg McGrady and Sarah Middleton, with the support of Mercury Musical Developments (MMD), analysed 500 productions with runs of two weeks or more, across 132 UK venues with a capacity of 200 or more. 

They found within musical theatre across the UK, 83% of composers were male, as well as 78% of lyricists and 65% of librettists. It also found that during 2022, 60 male, 24 female and three non-binary musical theatre writers were commissioned to create new shows. 

The gender imbalance was largest in London, with males credited for 77% of productions based in the capital, compared with 69% outside the capital.

In the West End specifically, composers were 91% male, lyricists were 90% male and playwrights/librettists were 77% male. 

MMD, the UK’s membership organisation for musical theatre writers, has committed to five years of initiatives to support and champion female and non-binary writers, funded by the Jane Goodman Charitable Trust. 

In 2023, it will host a free five-day residential to support a group of female-identifying MMD members and writers. It also plans to launch the Jane Goodman Writing Fund in January, which will fund female-identifying and non-binary MMD members by covering costs for writing time, equipment, assistance or career-enhancing opportunities.

West Berkshire Council is planning to lobby MPs in its area after a local theatre lost its National Portfolio status.

Newbury’s Watermill Theatre is set to lose its annual Arts Council England (ACE) funding when the next National Portfolio round begins next year.

In a council meeting held last week, councillors agreed to lobby local MPs, including Conservatives Alok Sharma and John Redwood, to pressure ACE to change its mind.

Conservative Council Leader Lynne Doherty said the area was “lucky to have this venue”.

“A 14% funding cut is a huge amount for them to recover. We can all agree this is the right thing for us to be doing,” she added.

Conservative MP for Newbury Laura Farris has already said she is “extremely disappointed that ACE has refused funding to this local jewel of a theatre, despite its exceptional creative offering, and value to our local community”. 

“I’ve been working closely with [Culture Secretary] Michelle Donelan and am hoping in the coming days we can ask them to urgently reconsider their priorities and recognise that rural theatres of this quality are exceptionally rare and just as deserving as theatres in the North of England,” Farris added.

Drama texts by white playwrights account for the vast majority of plays taught in secondary schools across England and Wales, a study has found.

Research conducted by Bloomsbury Publishing found that 90% of drama texts taught at GCSE and 96% at A-Level English Literature were by white playwrights. 

The study also found that there are currently just two drama set texts by Global Majority writers available at A-Level English Literature.

The lack of diversity in drama texts contrasts with 93% of teachers saying they would like to see a more ethnically diverse range of writers offered by exam boards. 

Meanwhile 65% of teachers said there was a demand from their students to study more ethnically diverse writers.

"Our research shows that there is real appetite for change and that publishers, theatre makers, examiners and teachers need to work together to deliver change to the curriculum," Margaret Bartley, Editorial Director for Literary Drama at Bloomsbury Publishing, said.

"If we empower teachers to switch texts with confidence, students can continue to benefit from the positive impact and influence of studying plays. 

"In the future, those plays will better reflect the student cohort and ensure students see themselves represented in the texts they study. 

"Bloomsbury is committed to playing our part in delivering this change through our proactive programme of new play text publishing, supported by the resources teachers and students need to study and enjoy them."