Author: FairyPoweredProductions

PAPATANGO THEATRE COMPANY LAUNCHES SERIES OF INITIATIVES IN RESPONSE TO THEATRE CLOSURES

Papatango Theatre Company announces a series of initiatives to encourage creativity and facilitate the enjoyment of new writing in the face of theatre closures across the country. These initiatives include open commissions for monologues through Isolated But Open Commissions, the free circulation of 60 new play texts via the Paptango Mobile Library, and free advice on Arts Council applications.

The initiatives come while the future of Papatango’s West End premiere, the transfer of their acclaimed 2019 production of Samuel Bailey’s Shook to Trafalgar Studios which is scheduled to run from 8 April – 9 May, is uncertain. Despite this, Artistic Director George Turvey and Executive Director Chris Foxon today said, “Papatango’s motto is All You Need Is A Story. That is true now more than ever, and we feel an obligation to put all the resources we can into supporting artists and audiences who may be facing even more challenging circumstances. We are working on more initiatives to be announced in the coming days. We know how hard it is to be creative when things are so uncertain and so stressful. These informal, open commissions, alongside the Mobile Library scheme, are intended to inspire people to tell their stories and enable everyone to enjoy fresh new writing, even if getting to a theatre is no longer possible. We can’t wait to read, cast and watch them.”

Isolated But Open Commissions will commission ten five minute monologues, and then cast ten actors to self-film those monologues – each playwright and actor will be paid £100. Papatango will then share these films online for free, so that everyone, wherever they may be, can enjoy new writing. The deadline for submissions is 31 March at midnight. To share a monologue, please visit www.papatango.co.uk/submit-a-monologue

To continue the work of their physical bookshop, which in normal circumstances helps fund their free playwriting workshops in state schools, Papatango have introduced the free Papatango Mobile Library. Using the hashtag #PTLibrary, twenty people were chosen on a first-come-first-served basis to receive a package of three plays on the understanding that once these have been read, the recipients will use the hashtag to find a new person to send them on to, and so on. This puts 60 plays into circulation for free. If anyone has any issues meeting the costs of the P&P required to post the books on, Papatango will help.

Papatango also reiterate their commitment to offering free advice to creatives, with their fortnightly 1:1 advice service continuing as usual. The confidential one-to-one live chats take place every other Thursday (10am-12pm) at papatango.co.uk/career-facilitation-service. Executive Director Chris Foxon also announced an open offer to help advise on Arts Council applications, for those who are seeking the support and refocused grant programmes that ACE are offering.

Update on future events at Royal & Derngate and Northampton Filmhouse

Following the most current government advice, issued on Monday 16 March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to suspend all public performances, screenings and community activities at Royal & Derngate and Northampton Filmhouse until Sunday 10 May. Our building will not be open to the public during this time.

Our team are working incredibly hard with visiting promoters, producing partners and stakeholders to understand the impact on our programme and the many individuals and organisations we work with. It is a complex and fast moving situation, as you can imagine, but the safety of our audiences and the people we work with is our number one priority.

We will be in contact with all ticket holders directly to explain the position regarding their tickets.

Where possible we will try to reschedule postponed Royal & Derngate shows for later in the year and all tickets will automatically be valid for these future performances.

Customers who have tickets for a performance or Northampton Filmhouse screening that we are unable to reschedule will automatically be issued with a credit note/gift voucher to the value of the tickets purchased.

If customers are unable to attend on a rescheduled date or prefer a full refund, our Box Office will make the necessary arrangements. We will be regularly updating a newly created Coronavirus page on our website with details of all shows that fall into this time of closure.

Please do bear with us. Our Box Office team is brilliant and are working in very challenging circumstances. They have to go about this process systematically and as such it will potentially take a considerable amount of time to contact hundreds of customers.

We can’t tell you how grateful we are for all the support we’ve received from those who have reached out personally or shared messages of solidarity online in the last few days.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 will have a significant impact on Royal & Derngate and our industry more broadly. We are working tirelessly to minimise this impact, but the full path ahead is uncertain. If you are in a position to consider doing so, we are inviting customers to make a small donation or donate the value of their purchased tickets to the theatre, to help us through this difficult period. More than 85% of our income comes from ticket and bar sales and so securing this kind of support is an extremely important part of our ability, as a charity, to plan for the future. Customers can donate online or can advise a member of the Box Office team to change their credit to a donation when they are contacted about their tickets. We don’t underestimate the significant impact the current situation is having on all our customers so are grateful for all and any support received.

For information, beyond Northampton, all touring performances of our Made in Northampton co-productions of Alone in Berlin, The Last of the Pelican Daughters, Holes and Wuthering Heights will also cease until further notice. 

Thanks for bearing with us. We can’t wait to throw open these doors again and start welcoming you all back to Royal & Derngate as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, do follow us online or via our social media platforms for updates. 

Jo Gordon, Chief Executive & James Dacre, Artistic Director

Royal & Derngate

Norfolk & Norwich Festival announces cancellation of 2020’s Festival due to take place Friday 8 to Sunday 24 May.

Today Norfolk & Norwich Festival has announced the cancellation of the 2020 Festival. Following Government advice on Monday 16 March and to protect the safety of audiences, artists and workforce the Norfolk & Norwich Festival Trust has decided not to proceed with the Festival.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival, which is approaching its 250th year in 2022, was scheduled to take place from 8-24 May. It usually attracts more than 85,000 visitors to theatres, venues and galleries around Norwich and across Norfolk, with a wide programme of free and ticketed events.

The Festival’s Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Daniel Brine said “It is with great sadness and disappointment that we will not proceed with this year’s Norwich & Norfolk Festival. We have listened to advice from the government and consulted with stakeholders, partners, colleagues and staff before taking this deeply regrettable but inevitable decision.

We wholeheartedly thank all staff, artists and volunteers for the hard work already put in to this year’s Festival. We deeply value our place in both the local and artistic communities and during this difficult period, we will unreservedly play our part in supporting the artistic sector. Over the coming days and weeks we will look at how we, as an Arts Council funded organisation, do the right thing by staff, artists and freelance workers.

If you have bought a ticket for a cancelled event, you are entitled to a refund, but please bear with us during this unprecedented and difficult time – we will contact you as soon as we can. We will keep audiences as up to date as possible via the Festival website, social media and email.

As a charitable organisation, we are immensely grateful for the support of our audiences, funders and sponsors. Ticket revenue, grants, sponsorship and donations are vital, and the impact of cancellation is financially significant to us. We ask that all those who value the Festival continue their support for us and work with us to ensure we are well placed to present future festivals.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival also manages Norfolk Open Studios which sees around 400 artists across the country open their studios to the public during May and June. The Festival is reviewing this initiative in light of current advice and investigating the viability of postponement until a later date.

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SOLT and UK Theatre bring together leading theatrical charities as part of pan-industry coronavirus support effort​

On Monday, SOLT and UK Theatre held an urgent meeting of leading theatrical charities to discuss ways to provide support for members of the theatre workforce – both on and offstage – affected by the unprecedented coronavirus situation.

A microsite, theatresupport.info, has been created as a result of the meeting, as a place to collate information and signpost useful resources. The site goes live today (Wednesday 18 March), and will continue to be updated with resources and advice, as work is on-going to help the many thousands of institutions and people affected in the industry.

The site has key information on welfare support for all in the theatre industry, including on the various 24 hour helplines that are available.

The charities involved include:

• Acting for Others
• Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF)
• Actors’ Children’s Trust (ACT)
• The Actors’ Church
• Dance Professionals Fund
• Equity Charitable Trust
• Funds for Freelancers
• Grand Order of Water Rats
• Help Musicians
• Make A Difference Trust (MAD)
• Royal Opera House Benevolent Fund
• Royal Theatrical Fund
• Stage One New Producers
• Theatre Chaplaincy UK
• Until the Curtain Rises
• UK Theatre

Monday’s government announcement and subsequent theatre closures left the UK theatre industry in great uncertainty, with many of its 290,000-strong workforce fearing for their jobs.  

SOLT and UK Theatre continue to lobby government for additional financial support for theatre and its workforce – which other European governments have provided – to enable the sector to get through this crisis.

In these challenging times, the theatre industry is committed to providing vital financial, mental health and wellbeing support for those facing career uncertainty, and ensuring funding is distributed as widely as possible, reaching those most in need.

Statement regarding closure of venues in response to
Government advice on coronavirus

We would like to reassure our customers that we are closely monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation

All performances scheduled to take place at Bradford Theatres’ venues up to and including Monday 13 April 2020 will unfortunately be cancelled or rescheduled. Ticket holders for performances during this closure period will be contacted directly by the Box Office team either by phone, email or letter with details on that specific event. Customers will be offered a full refund on their tickets where appropriate. Due to the number of performances involved it may take some time to process these refund transactions, or to respond to other enquiries, so we ask our customers to bear with us at this busy time.

From Wednesday 18 March 2020 the Bradford Theatres’ Box Office will be open daily (except Sundays) from 9am to 8pm for telephone enquiries only. In line with Government guidance we will not be opening the public Box Office counters at the Alhambra Theatre or St George’s Hall during this period of closure. Restaurant 1914 at the Alhambra Theatre and St George’s Hall Café will also be closed.

Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said:
“The safety and health of our customers, visiting companies and staff is our top priority. We will continue to follow any recommendations from the relevant authorities and implement all appropriate instructions accordingly. The team at Bradford Theatres is exceedingly busy at the moment so please bear with us as we work through things at this challenging time. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and understanding and hope to be able to welcome
audiences back to all our venues in the near future.”

Please keep checking the Bradford Theatres’ website and social media channels for further updates over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your support and understanding during this difficult and uncertain time. We hope you will continue to support Bradford Theatres and revisit us in the not too distant future.

ALAN BENNETT’S

THE HABIT OF ART

TO BE  FILMED AT

A CLOSED PERFORMANCE ON

WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH 2020

TO BE AVAILABLE ON DOWNLOADIn light of the most recent government advice due to COVID-19, The Original Theatre Company’s production of Alan Bennett’s THE HABIT OF ART, which was due to open at Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on Wednesday 18 March 2020, will now perform a closed filmed performance on Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 2pm.

Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne has made the decision to close the theatre to the public, however the company of THE HABIT OF ART, having rehearsed for three weeks, still wanted to perform. The performance will be filmed and the hope is that it will be made available to audiences in due course to download.

Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of The Original Theatre Company said, “We are so sad that our much loved production of The Habit of Art is being forced off the road in these exceptional circumstances. We all have some testing times ahead and I hope that this filmed recording will provide our audiences now at home with some welcome inspiration, entertainment and remind us all of the vital importance of art and all those who make it.”

Matthew Kelly, who plays W.H.Auden/Fitz, said, “We are all devastated by the developments and the cancellation of our show, but very happy that people will now be able to see the show…without a sanitiser.”
THE HABIT OF ART is directed by Philip Franks and stars Matthew Kelly as Fitz (W. H. Auden), David Yelland as Henry (Benjamin Britten), Veronica Roberts (Kay, the stage manager), Robert Moutnford (Neil, the author), John Wark (Donald/Humphrey Carpenter), Jessica Dennis (George, the assistant stage manager) and Benjamin Chandler (Tim/Stuart).

THE HABIT OF ART explores friendship, rivalry and heartache, the joy, pain and emotional cost of creativity.  It is centred on a fictional meeting between poet W. H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten.  Bennett wrote it as a play-within-a-play – actors Fitz, Henry, Tim and Donald are rehearsing a play called Caliban’s Day under the direction of stage manager, Kay, and in the presence of the playwright, Neil. In Caliban’s Day, a fictitious meeting occurs in 1973 in Auden’s (Fitz) rooms at Oxford not long before he dies.  Britten (Henry) has been auditioning boys nearby for his opera Death in Venice, and arrives unexpectedly – their first meeting in 25 years after falling out over the failure of their opera Paul Bunyan.

Alan Bennett’s THE HABIT OF ART premiered at the National Theatre in November 2009, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour.  The National then toured the production in Autumn 2010 with a new cast led by Desmond Barrit, Malcolm Sinclair and Selina Caddell.

This production of THE HABIT OF ART has been directed by Philip Franks and designed by Adrian Linford, with lighting by Johanna Town, sound by Max Pappenheim and casting by Joyce Nettles.

We are awaiting further information from the government and theatres about the rest of the tour.

Website:          www.originaltheatre.com
Facebook:       @OriginalTheatre
Twitter:            @OriginalTheatre #HabitOfArt
Instagram:       @OriginalTheatreCompany
Running Time:  2 hours, 20 minutes (including interval)

Suitable for 12+

OLIVIER AWARDS 2020 – CANCELLATION STATEMENT

It is with deep regret that we have to announce the cancellation of the Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard at the Royal Albert Hall on 5 April.

Following the government’s new advice on social distancing yesterday, and the subsequent closing of many theatres and public venues, we no longer feel that it is feasible to host the ceremony that we had planned to deliver.

As the Royal Albert Hall has announced closure until further notice, we have taken the difficult decision that the event will not be going ahead.

The Society of London Theatre would like to thank all nominees, shows, producers, theatres, sponsors, suppliers and creatives for their ongoing support.

We are working through plans on how to properly honour and announce this year’s winners, and will release further information soon.

All tickets will be refunded, and the Royal Albert Hall will be in touch with ticketholders, who are asked to be patient during this process.

A message from Kathy Bourne and Daniel Evans

These are unprecedented times. The welfare of our audiences, artists and staff is paramount, and we also want to support the valiant efforts of our health service. So, we are taking action in line with Government advice and postponing the opening productions of Festival 2020: Brecht’s The Life of Galileo (which was due to run in the Festival Theatre, 24 April – 16 May), Stoppard’s The Real Thing (Minerva Theatre, 7 May – 6 June), Jay Presson Allen’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Festival Theatre, 29 May – 20 June) and Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike (Minerva Theatre, 12 June – 4 July).

All other events during this period are also cancelled and the Theatre building, including the Café, will be closed to the public after today (Tuesday 17 March).

The Life of Galileo and The Real Thing will be rescheduled for the autumn (new dates will be announced in due course), and we hope to mount the other two productions at some point in the future. We currently plan to go ahead with South Pacific (6 July – 29 August), The Unfriend (17 July – 22 August) and all the Festival 2020 productions thereafter. We may be able to re-open the building earlier.

Ticket holders will be contacted as soon as possible about ticket exchange, credit, donation or refund options. As you can imagine, the next few days will be very busy for our Box Office team, so we appreciate your patience at this time.

We are deeply sorry for the disappointment this will cause. Chichester Festival Theatre has been at the heart of West Sussex for almost 60 years, and we look forward to opening our doors and welcoming our audiences back as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we’ll be considering how we might be able to help our community during this challenging time; and send our supporters, audiences and colleagues our encouragement, support and best wishes for their health and wellbeing.

Kathy Bourne, Executive Director

Daniel Evans, Artistic Director

THE SHOW MUST GO ONLINE LAUNCHED –

A LIVESTREAMED SERIES OF PERFORMED READINGS OF

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE

Robert Myles today announces The Show Must Go Online, an online group that will read the complete plays of William Shakespeare in the order they were written, livestreamed on YouTube. Bringing actors and audiences together to collectively enjoy and experience Shakespeare at a time when connecting in a traditional theatre space isn’t possible. The first livestream will be of The Two Gentleman of Verona, introduced by Ben Crystal, on Thursday 16 March, 7pm GMT.

It’s all over Twitter right now that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while quarantined by the plague – if he carried on, we can too. 

The Show Must Go Online readings are a fun, sociable way for actors and theatre makers to stay connected and creative during these unprecedented times, and also provide audiences with something that’s live, that’s raw, that feels spontaneous and exciting – replicating the theatre experience for those who need to self-isolate.

Robert Myles today said, “The response to The Show Must Go Online has been overwhelming – so many professional actors and experienced amateurs were willing to donate their time to entertain each other, and an audience. The mix of people, the mix of experience, many of whom will be meeting each other for the first time, some of whom are from America and Europe – but all brought together by their love of Shakespeare – these are sights you’d never normally see in a regular production.”

The watch the YouTube live readings, please visit – https://youtu.be/KOAHj4ANGKw

To join the readings, please visit https://forms.gle/ZXCHb2x1Z2RsES

#ShowMustGoOnline

#ConnectedAndCreative

Robert Myles is a classical actor and director, writer and freelance creative lead. He is the creator of The Shakespeare Deck, and has workshops available for actors interested in getting more from Shakespeare’s incredible text. As an actor, he has toured the UK playing leading roles in Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays.

Homepage

@robmyles

Ben Crystal will be introducing the first reading. He is an actor best known for his work in original pronunciation, and is the author of Shakespeare on Toast, and co-author of The Shakespeare Miscellany, Shakespeare’s Words and The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary.

Fun Palaces 2020 launch The seventh free annual weekend of action celebrating arts, culture, science and creativity in the heart of communities, made by and for communities, is now open for signupsThis year the weekend of action is 3rd and 4th October, across the UK and worldwideThe launch will open Fun Palaces’ new website for signups, share the 2019 evaluation and 2019 film of Fun Palaces Makers across the UK

@funpalaces | #funpalaces | www.funpalaces.co.uk

Sharing skills, connecting communities, creating tiny revolutions

Fun Palaces supports communities to lead their own cultural community events, encouraging people throughout the UK and internationally to create a local Fun Palace, sharing the skills and passions of community members, whether they are experts or enthusiasts.

Since 2014 there have been 1758 Fun Palaces made by over 40,000 local people in 15 nations with over 560,000 people taking part. This October will be the seventh annual weekend and, year-on-year, Fun Palaces has widened the diversity and inclusivity of its events, welcoming a wider demographic to lead and join in local Fun Palaces. Supporting local people to lead by sharing their own skills is key to the campaign, giving neighbours a chance to meet up and learn from each other in relaxed, fun and often chaotic ways, creating tiny revolutions of community connection. 

All Fun Palaces are free to visit and offer activities ranging from arts, crafts and heritage through to science, tech, digital and sports. There are no rules about what venues can or can’t become a Fun Palace. From the tiniest gazebo to the grandest public hall, forests and fields, what matters when it comes to making a Fun Palace is that community is genuinely at the heart of it.

Ambassadors Programme

In 2019, Fun Palaces was awarded National Lottery funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. Over a five-year period, the £1.5m grant will support the work of Fun Palaces Ambassadors in nine locations, working with local partner organisations.

Current Ambassadors continue their work in Cornwall at FEAST and Cornwall Museums Partnership, Sheffield at Sheffield Theatres and Scotland Central Belt at the Scottish Library and Information Council. They are joined by newly-appointed Ambassadors in Northern Ireland at Big Telly Theatre Company, North Wales at National Trust Wales, North of Scotland at Eden Court, Inverness.

In 2021 three new Ambassadors will join the programme in Rotherham at Rotherham Council, Devon at Libraries Unlimited, Gateshead at Sage Gateshead.

Fun Palaces Ambassadors are all local people, already working with their own communities. The funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, supports them to do even more on a local, grassroots basis. It further enables them to share and develop their learning between the cohort of Ambassadors, the individuals and communities with which they work, and more widely with the many other organisations like Fun Palaces, focused on community and cultural equality and inclusivity, who understand that local people are the heart of our campaign towards a cultural and community life that is truly inclusive and welcoming to all.

Quotes from new Fun Palaces partner organisations:

James Mackenzie-Blackman, CEO Eden Court, Inverness

 “We’re thrilled to be a new Fun Palace’s partner enabling the communities of the Highlands, Islands and the North of Scotland to discover and celebrate their creativity, in all its forms. We can’t wait to get started.”

Pamela Tulloch, Chief Executive at the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC):

“Libraries are positioned at the heart of communities across Scotland, offering everyone equal access to an abundance of information and resources for education, cultural and social activities.  Working with Fun Palaces is a perfect partnership to encourage and empower communities and individuals to improve local community life through culture and creativity.”

Frances Porter, General Manager Big Telly Theatre, Northern Ireland:

 “Big Telly has hosted the NI Fun Palaces ambassador for just 4 months and Siobhan has made such great inroads and contacts with so many people here already. It’s a new concept for us here, but people have been so receptive and positive, we think it’s going to be a fantastic first year for new makers and Fun Palaces.”

Justin Albert, Director National Trust Wales:

“We are delighted to be hosting a Fun Palaces Ambassador in North Wales.  In the year when we are celebrating our 125th anniversary this partnership provides a fantastic opportunity for National Trust Wales and our properties to explore cultural democracy and our role in the communities of North Wales.  We are looking forward to collaborating with communities, Fun Palaces and the Ambassador to create something special so people can join up, share skills and have fun together.”

Fun Palaces Website │Twitter │Facebook │Instagram @funpalaces | #funpalaces | www.funpalaces.co.uk

Central Fun Palaces Team

Co-Director: Stella Duffy OBE                            Co-Director: Sarah-Jane Rawlings

Co-ordinator: Ravina Bajwa                               Producer: Kirsty Lothian

Communications: Daniel King