Cultural entitlement is what informs Derby Playhouse?s access programme. Fiona Wallace reveals how this fresh approach to increasing access to theatre has seen the number of attendances at the community programme increase from 500 in 2001 to over 6,500 in 2004.
In March 2003, Derby Playhouse ran a pilot project to test the feasibility of a scheme to provide wider access to the theatre for local people. We called the scheme ?Hot Tickets? and by November 2004 we were celebrating Hot Tickets? first birthday with some of the 130 community groups that had participated during the first year. Hot Tickets began life in the Playhouse?s Development Department as a scheme to address cultural entitlement for the communities that Derby Playhouse serves, particularly in Derbyshire where we are the county?s only dedicated producing theatre. The programme sought to provide access to the theatre for people of all ages and backgrounds. At the heart of Hot Tickets was a commitment to ensuring that no one was excluded.
Playhouse Development Director, Geoff Sweeney explains, ?Our strategic framework for the scheme came through consultation with community partners, which provided us with a comprehensive overview of the groups we wanted to engage, their geographic location and some of the key issues to be aware of when working with these communities.?
The key objectives that this programme of cultural entitlement was founded upon were:
? sustainability
? reaching a large number of people
? effective targeting
? providing access to high-quality theatrical experiences
? embedding the scheme throughout the organisation
? ensuring the scheme was cost effective.
The pilot project identified two further features vital to the success of Hot Tickets ? a full-time post to manage the scheme and talk directly to the people we wanted to engage, and a cross- organisational approach to ensure everyone at the theatre could contribute to cultural entitlement.
We employed an appropriately qualified full-time Community Liaison Officer. Her brief was to go out and talk to people we had identified as not ordinarily having the opportunity to attend the theatre, including young people, elderly people, people with disabilities, minority-ethnic communities, homeless people and those living in hostels or social housing. From there, offering the opportunity to see high-quality work and to deepen an involvement and understanding of theatre through a range of other activities was just the start of the process. Community Liaison Officer Janthi Mills confirms, ?Once I had spoken to people in their own environment it was much easier to invite them to the theatre or to participate in a drama workshop. I accompany groups to the theatre, show them where the facilities are, chat to them at the interval or even meet them for their first workshop experience.?
To date, Hot Tickets has:
? funded 9,234 tickets for first-time or previously excluded attenders
? delivered 90 workshops for 447 participants
? conducted 141 backstage tours
? trained 9 community volunteers to work as arts ambassadors in the community
? developed a cross-organisational working group to manage the scheme.
We are still learning and developing Hot Tickets but with regular review of service delivery, huge community support and all areas of the theatre working together, Hot Tickets is our springboard for continued successes.
Fiona Wallace is Communications Director, Derby Playhouse. e: fwallace@derbyplayhouse.co.uk