Belgrade TheatreBelgrade TheatreBelgrade TheatreBelgrade Theatre Review of the Year 2010/2011Review of the Year 2010/2011Review of the Year 2010/2011Review of the Year 2010/2011

Picture: Exterior from B2 entrance

This is my final year as Chairman of the Belgrade and I feel like I have been on a wonderful adventure with this daring and exciting organisation and will be very sad to be stepping down. The organisation I’m leaving is a very different one to the one I joined almost 10 years ago, but one I feel is well equipped to face the challenges that no doubt lay ahead.

I really feel that the Belgrade is the cultural and entertainment heartbeat of the City and a tremendous facility for Coventry and Warwickshire. One of my proudest moments was Sir Trevor Nunn telling me “this is what a top regional theatre should be like”.

I’m delighted that despite the pressures of an unsta-ble economy, over the past year the Theatre has succeeded in presenting eight of its own productions and has really managed to engage local audiences. The trilogy of new Coven-try plays; We Love You City, Too Much Pressure and The Usual Auntijies, alongside the revival of One Night in November, really gave local audiences a sense of ownership and pride in their local theatre as well as introducing them to innovative new writing.

Alongside these I’m also hugely proud of the superb productions of Uncle Vanya and The Three Musketeers, which not

only toured the Coventry name around the country but also won several awards. I also have to mention the Belgrade’s famous Panto Cinderella, which despite the recession broke all recent Panto sales, and the fantastic work from the Community & Education Company including the newly established Young Company.

It’s almost impossible to choose from the diverse range of excellent touring productions but the innovative A Play, a Pie and a Pint has to be my most memorable experience. It was fantastic to see people choosing to spend their lunch breaks (or end of working days) watching short but exciting new pieces of drama, with a pie and a pint in hand.

2010/11 also saw the theatre survive the Arts Council’s funding shake up, which really highlighted how well run and efficient the Belgrade is and how much has been done by the Belgrade itself to ensure its financial stability. The Theatre is such an important part of the life blood of the City and the commitment of the staff and management are key to the success of both the Belgrade and in turn the regeneration of Coventry. I know I’m leaving this exceptional organisation in the best of hands and it will continue to be one of Coventry’s most precious assets.

David Shortland FRICS, Hon DBA

“… one of Coventry’s most precious assets”

Belgrade Theatre Trust (Coventry) Limited (A company limited by guarantee)

Board Members:

Mr D J Shortland FRICS, Hon DBA, Chair Mr B C Beck BSc, C.Eng, MICE, Vice Chair Ms C M Hamilton, Vice Chair Mrs C H Barnett BA Hons Cllr J Blundell Mr A C Dent Mr P Fenner FCCA Mr W H Glen LLB Ms C Malcolmson BA Hons (resigned 23/09/10) Mr N K Rambhai MA Hons Ms K J Reid BA Hons Ms L P Shields (resigned 28/01/2011) Cllr A Skipper BA MA PGCE DipM MCIM Cllr D Welsh (appointed 20/05/2010) Mrs D Williams (appointed 24/03/2011)

Funding Body Representatives entitled to attend Board meetings:

Arts Council England West Midlands Ms R Robbins (Regional Director West Midlands) Arts Council England West Midlands Mr M Addison (Theatre Officer) Coventry City Council Mr D Cockcroft (Assistant Director, City Centre & Development Services)

Company Secretary and Executive Director Ms K J Reid BA Hons

Chief Executive and Artistic Director Mr W H Glen LLB

Company registered number 593331

Charity registered number 219163

Registered office: Belgrade Theatre Belgrade Square Coventry West Midlands CV1 1GS

The Belgrade Theatre gratefully acknowledges financial support from:

Production photographs: Robert Day & Paul Blakemore. Cover photo: George Archer.

The Belgrade Theatre is reliant on a number of organisations who support its work in the community. These generous supporters make it possible

for us to undertake our exciting and innovative programme of work. Supporters in 2010/11 included: FC Stokes Trust, Coventry Youth Opportunity Fund, J P Getty Jr Charitable Trust, Awards for Bridging Cultures and The Higgs Charity. We gratefully acknowledge the commitment of all our supporters.

David Shortland

Printed on FSC paper

The Belgrade Theatre's vision: The Belgrade Theatre's vision: The Belgrade Theatre's vision: The Belgrade Theatre's vision: To be one of the most dynamic producing houses in the country. Mission: Mission: Mission: Mission: Our role is to provide a comprehensive performing arts service of the highest possible quality for Coventry and the surrounding regions and to act as an ambassador for Coventry & The West Midlands when touring.

2009/10 and 2010/11 saw the Theatre operating at what it considers to be the optimum in terms of balance between produced work, presented work, programming in two auditoria and lively Community & Education activity. Each year saw seven or eight in-house shows, strands of programming to appeal to and grow the variety of audiences in the city and region, and both Main Stage and B2 operational for most of the year. The Theatre recognised that this level of activity was a golden moment, one that is unsustainable in the long term because it is funded by Sustain Funding and was built on a certain level of public funding which is now in decline. The impressive increase in earning from new sources (commercial set building, BPS, Events and Conferencing, Trusts and Sponsorship) is not sufficient to manage all of the increased running costs of the organisation and allow it to produce an adequate number of shows, keep B2 open and protect its Community & Education programme. The results from 2010/11 for BPS, Events & Conferencing and Trusts and Sponsorship, all of which showed a decline on the previous year, show that all these sources of income are fragile in the face of the country’s economic problems. The reality of declining levels of public funding is a further threat to the Theatre’s business model. However staff continue to work hard to minimise costs and improve existing income generation and to find new sources in order to enable the Theatre to fulfil its mission. The Arts Council’s Sustain Award combined with the Board’s decision to back the operating model meant that in 2010/11 the organisation delivered an ambitious programme of work that gave a reasonable balance between

in-house and Visiting Company work that appealed to a wide range of audiences. However the general economic climate did mean that the Theatre had to cut back on the number of performances it could present and there was a resulting drop in audience numbers. The Theatre gave 414 performances (10% drop on the previous year) of 71 different productions a (24% drop on previous year), playing to an audience of just over 150,000 (a drop of 14% on the previous year). Despite this the Theatre has returned an excellent year’s result. The last quarter of the financial year in particular delivered unexpectedly good box office for the Theatre’s programme of Visiting Company work and the Theatre’s Contingency was not drawn on. Given the health of the Theatre’s reserves combined with the proven ability of the staff and Executive to manage and control costs and maximise income opportunities, and the critical need of the Theatre to maintain a reasonable balance between in-house and presented work even in the face of declining levels of public funding, the Board decided to continue to invest part of the free reserves (created by trading surpluses in recent years) to underpin the Theatre’s revenue activity over the next few years. This will allow the Theatre to produce six in-house shows, programme B2 for some weeks and maintain the Community & Education programmes.

Picture: Uncle Vanya (April 2011)

Ham

ish Glen

Pictures: Top left: Cinderella (Panto 2010), The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain (Oct 2010), The Usual Auntijies (March 2011). Top right: Too Much Pressure (Feb 2011). Bottom right: One Night in November (Nov 2010), Cheeky Chappies Christmas Cracker (Dec 2010). Centre: We L:ove You City (Sept 2010).

It’s been almost four years since the Theatre re-opened its doors and launched an exciting new programme of work. We could not have predicted the many challenges that lay ahead and the sad state of the economy that awaited us; however despite all this the Theatre is surprisingly buoyant and 2010/11 has been another rewarding year.

The ambition of the artistic policy and the quality of the Theatre’s work over recent years has led to a transformation of its reputation in the Profession, enabling the Belgrade to attract co-producing partners including English Touring Theatre, The Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Arcola Theatre London and Talking Birds.

Despite the economic pressure forcing us to offer a slightly reduced number of performances and productions overall the Theatre’s bold in-house programme was as strong as ever. The year opened with We Love You City, followed by The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain, a Main Stage version revival of One Night in November, another record breaking Pantomime Cinderella, The Cheeky Chappie’s Christmas Cracker, Too Much Pressure, The Usual Auntijies and completed the financial year with Uncle Vanya.

2010/11 also saw the Theatre nominated for no less than 12 awards and winning two CATS Awards for The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain, with eight Off West End Awards for Uncle Vanya, winners yet to be announced.

In March 2011, the Theatre successfully secured National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status from Arts Council England which confirmed funding 2012/13 to 2014/15, however this means an overall cut of 15% during this period. ACE funding for 2011/12 has been cut by 6.9% for all Arts Council clients throughout England and Coventry City Council’s cut was restricted to 3%, an excellent result given the levels of Local Authority cuts suffered by arts organisations elsewhere in the country.

Looking forward the Theatre’s major challenge will be maintaining the balance of presented and in-house work, enabling a programme of work in B2 and maintaining its Community & Education programme. We are committed to overcoming these challenges and to continuing to offer the people of Coventry, and its surrounding areas, a varied and life enhancing programme of artistic work.

The Theatre is proud to be supported by such a dedicated staff whose commitment to seeing the organisation operate as efficiently as possible, whilst also exploiting our commercial potential, is one of the keys to the Belgrade’s resilience in these challenging times. The Belgrade is a vital part in the regeneration of this fantastic city and one which we know is valued greatly by the thousands who use it.

Hamish Glen Artistic Director & Chief Executive.

“The Belgrade is a vital part in the regeneration of this fantastic city”

“Putting the city’s cup heroes centre stage seems a further example of sky blue thinking”

“The production is extremely ambitious”

“ A lucid and ultimately affecting production of a great play”

“ It’s an explosive shock and a near excitement, some thing close to the bone, which provokes nervy laughter as well as gasps”

The Belgrade Community & Education Company aims

first and foremost to make pieces of work that bear

witness to voices marginalised in the mainstream. It

believes that these voices are best heard if presented

in original and high quality pieces of work that people

want to watch and listen to. The Company is also

committed to supporting its participants to develop skills

and understanding that will enable them to develop

careers in the performing arts, and so increasing the

diversity of the arts workforce.

In 2010/11 the Community & Education (C&E)

Company produced nine new stage productions of

original work and three film shorts made by and for

young people.

In July 2010 the Company produced their third

Community Festival In Our Own Words III, made up of

six brand new short plays written by participants of the

Critical Mass programme (see below), exploring the

themes of immigration and performed by a diverse cast

of over 40 young people. Over the course of the year,

the Company delivered 92 workshops as part of The

New Black programme of work, targeting Black and

Minority Ethic communities across the region. This

included the Critical Mass writing programme aimed at

establishing a ‘critical mass’ of black playwrights, which

culminated in the New Black Showcase presented in

B2 in February 2011. In recognition of their successes

in this area, the C&E company was shortlisted for a

Coventry Partnership & Coventry Ethnic Minority Action

Partnership Community Cohesion Award, and

commended in the national ABC Awards for

Intercultural Dialogue.

Another major initiative for 2010 was the Young

Company, which was established to provide

opportunities for participants who show particular

ability. They performed their first especially

commissioned production, all the moves by Chris

O’Connell, in November 2010.

The C&E company also created From Banana Flats

to Tin Town, an outreach production that brought

together two rival communities in the regeneration

areas of the city; ImPerfect, a production about body

Picture: The New Black Show

case

Community & Education Company

Picture: In Our Own Words III

“He has learnt so much, matured and has gained so much experience ” Parent referring to son’s experience in Youth Theatre performance

“Wish it wasn’t over yet, I loved it. Wish we could do it again” April Sharing Participant

image, and the insecurities of young people about the way they look;

three short films on the theme of forgiveness with multi-faith groups as

part of the city-wide Coventry Mysteries 2010; and Promise, a Theatre

In Education (TiE) production on transition from primary to secondary

school, which toured 36 schools across Coventry.

The C&E company continued to run eight regular youth theatre groups:

two in-house groups, two outreach groups in regeneration areas of the

city, one Black Youth Theatre group, and three groups from the

Acting Out / Up projects, targeting ‘at-risk’ young people. This was

carried out alongside project work with three additional multi-faith

groups over the course of a term. It also delivered two programmes

providing young people with the opportunity to broaden their aware-

ness of the range of careers available within the theatre.

2010/11 stats2010/11 stats2010/11 stats2010/11 stats 518 Workshops 8715 participation opportunities 36 performances in schools 78 different Community Groups supported 32 BTEC certificates achieved 38% of participants from priority Postcodes areas

Picture: In Our Own Words III

Picture: Education Officer, April Sharing

Picture: all the moves

Picture: April Sharing

“It was really interesting and I found out a lot” Open Doors Participant

Picture: In Our Own Words III

2010/11 quick facts Where did our audience come from?

52% of visitors come from outside of the Coventry city area.

What did our income consist of ?

In 2010/11 we earned

48% of our income through ticket sales and other revenues.

* Belgrade Enterprises Ltd incorporates income earned by Belgrade Production Services, Conferencing & Events and ices/merchandising.

3840 from North Warwickshire region

12417 from City

6391 from South Warwickshire region

3222 from other areas

25,870 bookers in total

Number of bookers by area***

***Note: number of bookers figure is the number of individuals making the booking, not the number of tickets purchased.

51% of our tickets were sold to people eligible for a concession**

** Concessions comprise: Unemployed, Students, Children, Disabled, OAPs and Passport to Leisure. Other discounts include 20% and other offers.

What type of tickets were purchased?

North

City

South

Ci t y

Nor t h

Sout h

Other

We provide a range of benefits for all members of the public, including: • Promoting an appreciation of the arts • Providing facilities for leisure and recreation

Did you know the Belgrade Theatre is a Registered Charity?

We enable access to these benefits via: • Concessionary ticket schemes for paid activity • Free access for community activity • Wheelchair access to all public areas of the building • Access performances for those with hearing or sight impairment