Theatre

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and football team Tottenham Hotspur will work together to improve theatre engagement in young people in the London Borough of Haringey, it has been announced.

The organisations are launching West End in Tottenham, a series of workshops for young people aged 11-18 years old that plan to “celebrate London’s arts and culture and put the voices of N17 centre stage”.

Workshops range from physicality and movement to beatboxing and hip-hop, with participants also invited to attend a West End stage show.

The sessions will take place at the London Academy of Excellence on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium campus throughout the current school term.

Tottenham Hotspur Executive Director Donna-Maria Cullen said dreams of being on stage can “seem so distant” for young people in the neighbourhood.

“West End In Tottenham can change that and open the eyes of Tottenham teenagers to the world of performing arts through a series of engaging and inspiring workshops, held right here on our stadium campus,” she added.

Sessions are available to book here.

Theatres could face closure if they do not receive support to help with the cost-of-living crisis, the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) has warned.

Giving evidence to a Welsh Government inquiry on the impact of rising costs, ACW interim chief executive Michael Elliott said more than 50% of arts venues that replied to a recent survey claimed they would be reducing their activities due to increasing costs.

Elliott said theatres would have to start looking at "safe, more well-known programming" of shows rather than more "creative and riskier programming" to make sure money is recouped, while touring productions would be seeking guarantees or fixed fees from theatres and venues.

In accompanying written evidence ACW said there has been a 20% to 40% increase in the costs of making productions since last year.

The submission also highlighted that independent arts companies and venues would 'face closure without increased support'.

It warned that ticket prices could be raised in response, with a reduction to the number of 'performances, exhibitions, community activity, touring, hours of operation and workforce levels' if support is not secured.

Eight theatres around Europe are participating in a new project that will create texts on diverse and inclusive topics for young theatre audiences across the continent.

Young Europe IV is the fourth edition of European Theatre Convention’s Young Europe project, which has been running since 2008.

It will see the Belarus Free Theatre, which is currently based at London’s Barbican Centre, work alongside theatres in Germany, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and the Netherlands.

The new, diverse plays will cover issues from mental health to sexuality to the Israel-Palestine conflict and will be performed in school classrooms across Europe.

A separate strand of Young Europe IV, the Forgotten Plays Committee, will select and revive dramatic work by writers from non-dominant backgrounds that have been overlooked, either because of the background of the playwright or theme of the play.

Artistic Lead on Young Europe IV Paulien Geerlings says the European theatre world currently remains the white, heterosexual, male gaze that determines our experiences.

“Women, BIPOC, the LGBTQIA+ community…everyone needs to see themselves represented in the stories that are told. If there is hardly any representation, and the representation that does exist always confirms the same (often problematic) stereotype, as a person or child belonging to a marginalised group you cannot relate to the multitude of possibilities your counterparts are provided with. 

“That is why it is time for a new repertoire – to stop people from being reduced to the ‘single story’ that they have heard all of their lives.”

An online launch event is scheduled for Thursday (6 October) evening.

Organisers of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival have launched a major feedback exercise as part of attempts to address issues with the annual event.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is seeking input from artists, audiences, venues, producers, workers, community groups, arts industry delegates, media and those with access needs in order to make improvements for 2023.

Over the next two weeks the festival will be inviting views on a range of topics, from the recent Fringe experience to accommodation costs, barriers to participation, and the work of the Fringe Society. 

Responses to the collection of surveys will provide data the festival says will help it bring together the right people and partnerships to work towards solutions. 

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “This year’s festival was the first step on the road to recovery and we know the biggest challenge is the next three years. 

"It’s important that we gather evidence and case studies from our Fringe participants so that we can ensure the Society is armed with the facts and best equipped to make the case for where improvements can be made in advance of Fringe 2023. 

"We encourage everyone to take time to complete the survey specific to them and to provide as much information as they can.”

The National Theatre is extending its Theatre Nation Partnership (TNP) network to include every region in England.

Theatres in Leicester, North Devon, Peterborough, Stoke-on-Trent and Trowbridge are joining the network, taking the total number of TNP partner organisations to 14.

TNP was founded in 2017 in a bid to grow nationwide engagement with theatre and is estimated to have engaged with over 222,000 participants, audiences and artists since its inception.

The National Theatre says its 14 partner organisations will now "engage over half a million people over three years, more than doubling the existing reach of the network."

Plans include taking three productions into schools and showcasing Roy Williams’ Sucker Punch nationally across nine TNP organisations.

TNP has been supported by a £1.25m award from Arts Council England, with the National Theatre tripling this investment through fundraising and commercial activity. Almost 90% of total spend will be aimed at partner areas.

“Theatre Nation Partnerships has shown how effectively a network of theatres can work together to inspire new audiences for theatre, deepen roots within communities and create more opportunities for the next generation to engage in the arts,” National Theatre Director Rufus Norris said.

Supporters of a planned redevelopment of a theatre in Lancashire have vowed to push ahead with the project after Arts Council England rejected an application for £5m in funding.

The Blackpool Gazette reports that the money was intended to redevelop and modernise Lowther Pavilion Theatre in Lytham as well as its surrounding gardens

Fylde Council has pledged its continued support for the theatre after receiving notification that the bid to round three of Arts Council England’s Cultural Development Fund has been unsuccessful.

Officials at the theatre have said that fundraising efforts will continue.

Most shows in central London will be closing on 19 September for the Queen's funeral, the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre (SOLT) has said.

The organisation said that more than 20 shows have confirmed that performances scheduled for the day will no longer be going ahead due to the scheduling of the funeral and out of respect for all who are mourning.

It said ticketholders will receive an email from their point of purchase with details regarding exchanges and refunds. 

"Throughout the period of national mourning, performances will go ahead as planned but we would advise audiences coming into central London to allow more time for their journeys to and from the theatre from Wednesday when the Queen will be lying in State," a statement said. 
 
It added that in regards to the national one minute silence at 8pm on Sunday 18 September, shows that are playing on that evening will mark it prior to curtain up.

Her Majesty’s Theatre will be renamed to His Majesty’s Theatre following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

A spokesperson for LW Theatres, which owns the West End theatre, told The Stage the name change will come at “an appropriate time”.

First opened in 1705, the theatre sits on land on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate.

It has historically changed its name to coincide with the country’s monarch and was last called His Majesty’s Theatre during the reign of King Edward VII. 

Andrew Lloyd-Webber, who owns LW Theatres, confirmed the renaming. He told the BBC the venue "will now of course be His Majesty's Theatre" but did not specify a date for the change.