GO LIVE THEATRE ANNOUNCES NEW PATRONS
Go Live Theatre today announce that Paapa Essiedu, Julie Hesmondhalgh, James Graham, Beverley Knight, Adrian Lester, Ricardo P Lloyd, Rob Madge, Suzie Miller, Gracie McGonigal, Georgina Onuorah, Elaine Paige, Jonathan Pryce, Jonathan Sayer, Mark Strong, Meera Syal, Sam West and Roy Williams have joined the charity as Patrons to support the company’s core initiatives and act as industry ambassadors.
Chief Executive of Go Live Theatre Sita McIntosh said today, “It is a huge honour to add the names and faces of such prestigious talent to our organisation. Every single patron believes as passionately as we do that access to live theatre for our children and young people should not be seen as a privilege but a prerogative. The benefits are numerous, profound and can quite literally be life-changing but also as an industry, theatre has an obligation to cultivate the audiences of tomorrow and where better to start than with our young people.”
Beverley Knight: “I remember my first experience of theatre as a child. It never left me. It shaped the performer I am today, because I saw my dream right in front of me. Visualisation of your aspirations is essential, and I want to help young people see a path to their stage ambitions; I’m proud to come onboard as a patron of Go Live.”
Mark Strong: “Access to theatre is essential – the benefit of live performance and the shared experience has time and again proven to not just culturally enrich young people’s lives, but to also support mental health and help develop emotional intelligence. I feel strongly that every child and young person should have the opportunity to access theatre, and it’s this that sits at the very core of what Go Live Theatre do – I’m proud to work with them.”
Meera Syal: “I didn’t know what theatre was until I attended a local pantomime at the age of 6, and by the end of the show, my world and how I saw the world changed forever. The joys of live theatre and the potential it unlocks in young minds should be available to everyone and I am thrilled to be part of that journey with Go Live.”
James Graham: “Inspiring and helping young people to engage with the arts is just about the most important activity anyone in our industry can be championing right now – especially given the collapse of creativity in schools. I’m so grateful for the work we’ll be doing with Go Live on PUNCH in the West End, and to supporting them beyond.”
Since its inception as Mousetrap Theatre Projects in 1997, Go Live Theatre, has enabled more than 250,000 children and young people to experience the joy of live theatre, with that number growing exponentially. The charity work with those from disadvantaged and/or vulnerable backgrounds for whom a trip to the theatre is out of reach because of economic or physical reasons or quite simply, relevance. Working on a wide variety of programmes with producers and venues, Go Live Theatre exist to change that.
One of the cornerstones of the charity’s work is their subsidised all-Education Matinees for state schools and pupil referral units, especially those with a high percentage of pupils on free school meals. In some instances, over 80% of the students that attend, set foot inside a theatre for the first time. To enable greater access to these performances, Go Live Theatre launched Play It Forward to raise vital funds to make these performances entirely free – for every £10 donated a child goes free.
In addition to the all-Education matinees, through their Family First Nights programme they extend that experience to families from low-income backgrounds enabling parents and guardians to treat their children to a night out at the theatre which for many is a pipe-dream. By enabling parents and guardians to access theatre, it allows them also to experience the transformative power of live performance, and therefore to bring in further into their children’s lives.
Inclusive Family Days are their programmes aimed at children and young people who are blind or visually impaired and D/deaf. They prepare them with pre-show touch tours of the set and workshops to explain and enhance everything from the music in the show, to the characters and plot. Then they experience performances that are audio described, captioned or BSL interpreted so their disability is not a barrier to enjoying theatre.
Go Live Theatre pioneered Relaxed Performances for young people with sensory, learning and physical disabilities who find mainstream shows too overwhelming. These are now practically standard up and down the country but were a Mousetrap Theatre Projects first.
These are some of the many initiatives spearheaded by the charity to increase access to theatre. The charity are committed to cultivating the next generation of audiences or creative talent by igniting a passion for theatre from an early age through trips to the theatres, impactful programmes and inspiring workshops.