Theatre

Camden People’s Theatre in London has been awarded £261,000 to help artists make "radical theatre from scratch".

Awarded by The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the fund aims to increase the diversity of people with access to artistic work and help them develop their creative practice over the next three years.

Upcoming programmes include 10-week long development scheme Starting Blocks and Camden People's Theatre’s seed commissions 2022, currently open for applications.

The 2022 edition will support artists from marginalised backgrounds, with nine £1,000 grants available alongside one week of rehearsals, a performance slot at the theatre, and ongoing development support.

Executive Director Nicola Clements says the funding offers “real certainty” for the coming years.

"We can now commit to a regular calendar of commissions over the next three years, expressly supporting early career artists from marginalised backgrounds, making radical theatre from scratch."
 

Two touts who amassed millions reselling tickets have had appeals against their convictions dismissed.

BBZ Limited’s Peter Hunter and David Thomas Smith were jailed in February 2020 following the first successful prosecution of a company over fraudulent ticket resales. 

The pair will now serve their full sentences - four years and to-and-a-half years respectively. 

They used at least 97 different names, 88 postal addresses and more than 290 email addresses to evade ticketing platform restrictions for events including Ed Sheeran concerts and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre performances.

Upon upholding the conviction, The Court of Appeal noted: "[The] ticketing market is one which appears to be characterised by a high degree of criminal fraud.”

National Trading Standards Director Wendy Martin called the ruling a “major milestone” in efforts to combat unscrupulous secondary ticket sales.

West End theatres dimmed their lights for two minutes on Monday evening (29 November) in memory of theatre composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

Renowned as one of musical theatre’s greatest composers, Sondheim died on Friday (26 November) aged 91.

Over a 60 year career, Sondheim won eight Grammys, nine Tonys, an Academy Award and Pultizer Prize. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre Chief Executive Julian Bird said the theatre world is a smaller place following Sondheim’s passing. 

“His legacy of extraordinary shows and songs will live on for many generations to come - but now, we pay tribute to his outstanding contribution to our theatres and celebrate his talent.”
 

In a milestone for the industry, London's Prince of Wales Theatre and Playhouse Theatre became the final West End theatres to reopen on Monday (15 November).

All 37 West End theatres have now recommenced live shows, 609 days after Covid restrictions were first enforced.

The Theatre Support Fund, established to support the industry through the pandemic, called it “a doubly special night”.

Prince of Wales Theatre is hosting Book of Mormon and Playhouse Theatre has reconfigured as the Kit Kat Club for musical Cabaret.

Cabaret's audience members, including those fully vaccinated, are being asked to present a negative lateral flow or PCR test from the last 48 hours to enter.

The Senedd has voted to make Covid vaccine passports a condition of entry to theatres and cinemas in Wales from Monday (November 15).

Labour ministers first called for the extension, which gained support from Plaid Cymru, passing 39 votes to 15 on Tuesday evening (November 5).

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said the party will “support evidence-based actions that can help to limit transmission and keep the people of Wales safe”.

The decision has divided opinion. The Wales Millennium Centre says it welcomes any move that allows it to remain open, but Picturedrome Cinemas Director Steve Reynolds said theatres and cinemas are being “picked on”.

Civil liberties campaign Big Brother Watch said it would start legal proceedings against the Welsh Government following the results, calling Covid passes "authoritarian, invasive and unevidenced".

Passes for entry to nightclubs and larger events in Wales became mandatory last month following a narrow 28-27 vote. 

The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) is making its first round of acting auditions free.

The school is also making all first round auditions self-taped, having moved auditions online during Covid-19. 

“We found that asking for a self-tape submission last year enabled us to meet a number of individuals we wouldn’t otherwise have connected with, and I think that’s reflected in the makeup of this year’s first years,” said Head of Acting Will Hammond.

Fees for second round in-person auditions and in-person dance auditions are being reduced from £40 to £30.

LIPA says the changes are reflect efforts to increase access and diversity. 

It will continue to offer audition fee waivers and travel grants to applicants who come from areas of the country with lower rates of higher education uptake.

There are ambitions for a new youth theatre in West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire’s new Culture, Arts and Creative Industries Committee convened for the first time last week (November 4) to discuss the region’s cultural recovery.

Led by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, the cultural board discussed plans for a “theatre without walls” to include a Yorkshire Youth Theatre.

“We might not be able to have a national theatre, but we can have a Yorkshire Theatre that would be made up of Yorkshire voices, Yorkshire stories, Yorkshire writers and Yorkshire talent," Brabin said.

The committee also considered a Town of Culture competition, previously suggested by former Shadow Culture Secretary Brabin.

Its next meeting is scheduled for January.

London’s Old Vic has decided not to stage a new production of Into The Woods, due to the involvement of co-director Terry Gilliam.

The theatre told The Stage its staff and freelancers had shown dissatisfaction at Gillam’s involvement since the production was announced in May

A number of public statements made by Gilliam on trans rights, the MeToo movement and race have made the Monty Python actor a controversial figure.

It is understood that the theatre’s management held a meeting with the play’s producers after younger staff members raised concerns over hosting Gillam’s productions, saying his comments contradict the values of the theatre.

Members of Old Vic 12, a group of young producers and directors, have since taken to Twitter to say the production should have been cancelled "a long time ago".

“Good. It should have been cancelled over a year ago. And the leadership at the Old Vic owe many of us an apology for the awful, awful way this was handled,” said Penny Babakhani.