belgrade theatre annual review 2012-2013

12
Belgrade Theatre Review of the Year 2012/2013

Upload: belgrade-theatre-coventry

Post on 12-Mar-2016

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

A review of the year 2012 to 2013 from the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Belgrade Theatre Review of the Year 2012/2013

Page 2: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

I’ve joined the Belgrade

as Chairman this year

bringing with me a great

respect for the work

they do and a wealth of

knowledge about our

local community. I’m

honoured to take on this

role and despite the challenges that the current

economy brings have great confidence in its future.

One of the Belgrade’s many strengths lies in its

ability to adapt to an ever changing environment.

It has successfully maximised its potential income

from sources such as Belgrade Production Services

whose turnover has increased by 50% in the last 12

months. It also boasts the largest Directors’ Club

of its kind in the country building engagement with

the local business community. Although the fine

dining offering from Signatures Restaurant failed

to survive the economic climate, the dining

offering is soon to return, with the strategically

positioned B4 Grill.

The Theatre’s vibrant and wide range of productions

ensures that it really is a theatre that serves the whole

community and its bold run of home produced work

continues to succeed in marking out the Belgrade

from other regional theatres as well as attracting the

attention of the national press. The Communications

team has recognised the opportunities available to

maximise this through digital marketing and continues

to be market leaders in this field.

However it is the Community & Education Company

which really succeeds in making its mark on the local

community. The company that first developed Theatre

in Education (TiE) almost 50 years ago still manages

to “transform lives” and is now generating their own

income to help fund some of these activities.

I’m a firm believer in the economic and social benefits

the arts can bring to a city particularly in times of

stress such as these. Evidence from around the UK

demonstrates conclusively that cities can regenerate

and reinvent themselves through the success of their

cultural institutions. Those institutions not only help

to project the city’s profile nationally, but also serve

the city’s needs locally.

Continued success, however, relies on collaboration

and team work. The continued support of our funders

go hand in hand with the Theatre’s many other

stakeholders towards breaking through these

challenging times; not to mention the commitment of

a highly skilled and hard-working staff team. The road

ahead is clearly not smooth, but with everyone’s

continued support we can ensure the Belgrade will

continue to serve generations to come.

Stewart Fergusson

Chairman

“… cities can regenerate and reinvent themselves through the success of their cultural institutions.”

Pro

du

ctio

n p

ho

tog

rap

hs:

Ro

ber

t D

ay

& P

aul B

lake

mor

e.

O

ther

ph

oto

s: G

eorg

e A

rch

er

The Belgrade Theatre gratefully acknowledges financial support from:

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 2012/13 included:

The Higgs Charity, The J P Getty Charitable Trust, 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust, The Grantham Yorke Trust

and The Norton Foundation. We gratefully acknowledge the commitment of all our supporters.

Board Members:

Mr S Fergusson, Chairman (appointed 14.6.12) Mr R Olivieri (resigned 27.9.13) Mrs C H Barnett BA Hons (resigned 18.4.13) Mr A Bhabra Cllr J Blundell Mr P A W Deeley Mr A C Dent (resigned 7.2.12) Mr P Fenner ACA/FCCA

Mr W H Glen LLB Mrs P Johnstone Mr J McGuigan Ms V E Parylo (appointed 22.11.13 resigned 13.6.13) Mr L Patel (appointed 7.2.13) Ms K J Reid BA Hons Cllr D Welsh (appointed 22.11.12) Mrs D Williams

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

Page 3: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Company Secretary and Executive Director : Ms K J Reid BA Hons

Chief Executive and Artistic Director: Mr W H Glen LLB

Funding Body Representatives entitled to attend Board meetings:

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

Charity registered number 219163

Registered office:

Belgrade Theatre Belgrade Square Coventry West Midlands CV1 1GS

Company registered number 593331

The Belgrade Theatre's vision: To be one of the most dynamic producing houses in the country. 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.

Although I would wish to concentrate solely on our artistic programme in this foreword, it is difficult to summarise the Belgrade’s recent activity without highlighting the continuing extremely challenging economic circumstances In which it is operating. It should be noted that this context makes the artistic achievements even more impressive. The year saw the Theatre produce and present the variety of work that it wishes to: producing a revival of WE LOVE YOU CITY co-produced with Talking Birds, and celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the FA Cup win and Coventry as host venue for the Olympic football; and a successful co-production with a commercial producer on 20th CENTURY BOY (which is a new co-producing model); alongside a continuing commitment to producing rarely seen classics THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS by William Inge and MARRIAGE by Gogol; as well as the world premiere of local writer Geoff Thompson’s FRAGILE. Audiences, media, business community and funders are responding well to this programming policy that appeals to and serves many different audiences in and around Coventry. Alongside our own produced work we programme visiting company work of different strands to appeal to, and grow, many different audiences. Despite huge audiences for some shows like CALENDAR GIRLS, there were signs of the recession, which is understandable at a time when audiences may feel more insecure about their own futures. Work that was perceived as ‘risky’, as well as returning audiences for work that had previously been presented at the Belgrade, saw declining audiences. The key challenges are to maintain the balance of presented and produced work in both auditoria and articulate a bold artistic policy intended to differentiate the Belgrade in the region, and maintain a full Community & Education

programme, whilst also contributing on a national level to the Arts Council’s strategic plan GREAT ART FOR EVERY-ONE, and respond to a more conservative audience attitude towards new and challenging work. At the same time our main funders, Coventry City Council and Arts Council England, are under pressure to continue to reduce their expenditure and seek efficiencies. Looking forward requires nerve: unprecedented public funding cuts continue to roll in and the level of attack on public funding is deeply concerning on many levels. Despite this erosion of core funding, the Belgrade is continuing to plan to deliver at least six shows in each of the following two years, alongside its programme of Community & Education work, in order to meet its NPO obligations. The Belgrade considers 2013/14 to present particular tests of its abilities: the cumulative effect of public funding cuts, the “in period” funding cuts, the continuing risk aversion of the public, the volatility of box office earnings, the uncertainty about fund raising targets – are they ambitious and achievable or wildly over optimistic – the reduction in staffing (five jobs have been made redundant). At this point we remain confident that the Belgrade is robust and strong and our staff creative, flexible, loyal and passionate about what they do, led by a talented and committed senior management team, and that these characteristics will combine to see us through. Hamish Glen Artistic Director &

Chief Executive

Ph

oto

: Mar

riag

e

Page 4: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Ham

ish G

len

“Darkly Compelling”

The Daily Telegraph

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

Marriage

2012/13 statistics

7 Belgrade produced shows (up from 6)

91 productions (up from 72)

398 performances (up from 384)

146,595 tickets sold (up from 138,600)

60,679 tickets sold to audiences on tour

(up from 47,500)

2012/13 was the first year of the Theatre’s three year contract as an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). It was another difficult year given declining core funding, in period cuts and low public confidence which affects ticket sales. While the Theatre continues to do very well to increase its earnings from new sources (commercial set building BPS, events and conferencing, trusts and sponsorship and a Non Voluntary Contribution that forms part of the ticket price) it has not proved possible to replace entirely the loss of income from statutory and box office sources. However 2012/13 saw the Theatre return a small trading surplus in the year and thus able to boost its general reserves which at a time of economic uncertainty is to be welcomed. Throughout 2012/13 the Theatre continued to reap the benefits of the strategy that was launched with the successful re‑opening of the building in September 2007. The ambition and excitement of the artistic policy and the quality of the Theatre’s work sustains the transformation of its reputation in the profession allowing the Belgrade to attract increasing numbers of co‑producing partners. 2012/13 saw the fruits of a partnership with a commercial producer on 20th CENTURY BOY. Co-productions enable the Theatre to sustain a

reasonable number of in-house productions and extend its reach, but also restricts opportunities for the Belgrade to express its own distinctive artistic vision. The Theatre returned another excellent year’s result despite some very high variances in some areas of income and expenditure. The last quarter of the financial year in particular delivered unexpectedly good box office for the Theatre’s programme of Visiting Company work. To make a contribution towards reserves in such difficult economic times is an excellent result and allows the Theatre to proceed with some confidence. 2013/14 will be a particularly challenging year with a 10% cut from CCC (after 5% in the previous year) and Arts Council NPO funding, already reduced, suffering in-period cuts. In preparation for this a small number of posts were made redundant, reducing some costs. The Theatre still aims to produce at least six shows, programme B2 for some weeks and maintain the Community & Education programmes in each of the remaining two years of its funding. Joanna Reid

Executive Director

“What a good night out. Have been a few times and have enjoyed every one”

Comment on Trip Advisor

Page 5: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

“Atmospherically the production, with its wind chimes and sense of the vast Oklahoma landscape, is hard to fault”

The Guardian

“The Belgrade have got their Autumn season off to a flying start and they are really putting their theatre on the map”

What’s On Stage

“A superb show, worth a bucket of stars”

The Stage

“Take a well deserved break down memory lane and I guarantee you will come out of the other end smiling”

The Coventry Observer

“Continually the Belgrade shows a commitment to bring the best theatre to the Midlands - lively and interesting programming”

Marriage Survey Response

Fragile

We Love You City

Photo

: 20th

Centu

ry B

oy

Sleeping Beauty

Crackers

Page 6: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Big School

The Belgrade Community & Education Company

(C&E) 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. C&E are also committed to supporting its

participants to develop skills and understanding that

enables them to develop careers in the performing

arts and other industries, so increasing the diversity of

the arts workforce.

In 2012/13, 678 workshops were delivered and over

671 audience members watched 65 performances

and 25 sharings. This included three shows focusing

on health and well-being under the festival title

Creative Gymnasium. Truth or Dare? was devised

from young people’s own experiences of mental

ill-health, Shine On was created by the theatre’s new

50+ group sharing everyday stories from the lives of

Coventry’s older generations and Close to Home was

devised by the Black Youth Theatre telling the story of

people living in Coventry and Africa with HIV and Aids.

Summer School Sharing

Close to Home

Community & Education Company

Page 7: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

An associated Arts and Health project aimed to improve

health and well-being in Coventry, through two strands:

Sexual Health which created three short films (Under

Pressure) made by young parents for use in schools alongside

a scheme of work for use in PSHE (Personal, Social & Health

Education); and the 50+ programme offering arts taster

programmes and a core group who presented Shine On.

The programme was funded by the Esmée Fairbairn

Foundation and Awards for All in partnership with Age UK,

Valley House Association, Coventry City Council and

Coventry University and evaluated by Coventry University.

Youth Theatre projects included the creation of short

guerrilla films by our Middle Youth Theatre and work

centred on the Olympics and football from our Outreach

Youth Theatre in Canley. The new rhythm of following a

festival year with skills building enabled members of the

five youth theatre groups to start work on their Arts

Award at the beginning of the academic year.

Other strands of work included rehearsed readings in New

Black Showcase by writers from our third Critical Mass

programme and Becoming Me a new play as part of our Big

School TiE project for young people moving from primary

to secondary school. Sandwell Council commissioned the

Theatre to deliver a programme of work to raise

aspirations, and three arts programmes were delivered

alongside the Jobcentre increasing the confidence of those

claiming Jobseeker Allowance.

Our commercial strand of workshops continued to grow

in strength with summer school extended to two weeks

and three terms of Saturday workshops. This resulted in

an additional 77 workshops being delivered and raised

additional funds for future C&E projects.

“I t’s changed me as a person, it’s brought my real confidence out” Creative Gymnasium participant.

2012/13 stats 678 workshops

9964 participation opportunities

38 performances in schools

392 targeted workshops

22 BTEC certificates Achieved, 177 since 2007

30% of participants from priority Postcode areas Truth or Dare?

“Coventry has some very talented young people, I especially enjoyed the storyline, accents the actors used, the use of props and space. The storyline was as good as any professional theatre performances that I have seen” Close to Home audience member

Shine On

Page 8: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

THE BELGRADE THEATRE:

Is a National leader in education work ...

“I really enjoyed it and it made me feel more confident about secondary school”

Pupil comment on 2012 Big School Production.

The Belgrade Theatre invented TiE (Theatre in Education) in 1965.

61% in Coventry’s primary schools saw the Theatre in Education play, Big School,

in partnership with the Education Authority.

50 schools were visited by the Big School tour directly benefitting ...

2167 pupils aged 10 and 11.

62 schools workshops were given.

177 BTEC certificates awarded since 2007 to students at risk from exclusion from school.

14,399 schools tickets sold.

Picture: Big School Picture: Playlist

Page 9: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

37% of our tickets

were sold to people eligible for a concession**

Pic

ture

: Y

ou

ng

Com

pan

y’s

Pla

ylis

t

We enable access to the arts via:

• Concessionary ticket schemes for paid activity

• Wheelchair access to all public areas of the Building

• Free access for community activity

• Access performances for those with hearing or sight impairment

The Belgrade is a vibrant place offering a wide range of shows that appeal to a variety of audiences.

It does extensive and sustained work with the city’s communities within priority post code areas and

attracts people who have never been to the Theatre before.

435 free tickets

were given to under 26s

Promotes community cohesion …

Aids employability … The Belgrade provides participative arts activity free at the point of delivery ensuring access

to those who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend. These activities enable the

development of confidence, transference of skills and the creation of high quality work by and

for local people.

The Theatre employs up to 200 people at the height of its season and during 2012/13

supported the equivalent of 72 full time posts.

Belgrade Production Services continues to go from strength to strength and has seen an increase

in turnover of 50% on last year. It was developed not only to provide a new income stream for

the Theatre but also to retain a pool of skilled workers in the city. During 2012/13 we provided

almost 12,600 hours of work for freelance/casual carpenters, welders, props makers, scenic artists

and wardrobe technicians, in addition to the Belgrade’s core staffing.

The Theatre was highly commended in the West Midlands Apprenticeship Awards (having won the

Creative Apprentice Employer of the Year Award in 2012) and was the only arts organisation

named in The Guardian’s top 100 apprentice employers.

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

2,923 hours of

work placements were provided.

Page 10: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Is key to the City’s regeneration …

49% of visitors come from

outside of the Coventry city area.

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

THE BELGRADE THEATRE:

Evidence from around the UK demonstrates conclusively that cities can regenerate and reinvent

themselves through the success of their cultural institutions because those institutions not only

help to project the city’s profile nationally but also serve the city’s needs locally.

The Belgrade’s 1958 listed building was refurbished and extended in 2007 with a £14m capital

project. The Theatre is now pivotal to the city’s economic regeneration, attracting increasing

numbers of people from outside areas and is at the heart of the city’s night time economy. In

2012/13 the Theatre’s activities generated £4.5m in the local economy. The £150m Belgrade

Plaza Development was attracted to its location because of the Theatre.

The Belgrade offers a wide range of shows that appeal to a variety of audiences. It is well known

and loved in the City and makes a significant contribution to the well-being of local people

contributing towards making Coventry a good place to work and live.

5,835 from North Warwickshire region (up from 5,021)

15,419 from City (up from 13,453)

3,224 from South Warwickshire region (up from 3,119)

5,950 from other areas (up from 4,298)

30, 428 bookers in total (up from 25,891)

Number of bookers by area***

North

South

“Love coming here! In fact do so regularly...shows that entertain, make you think and great ones for children… long may they continue!”

Comment on Trip Advisor

Page 11: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

The Theatre now earns

56% of its income, up from 30% five years ago.

The Theatre works hard to develop and diversify its income streams, creating Belgrade Production

Services (BPS), commercial workshop programmes for children and young people and also

developing Events & Conferencing.

These additional sources of commercial income earned £499,400 turnover in 2012/13

and £1.49m since 2007. £805,000 has been raised from fundraising and business sponsorship since reopening in 2007 to support revenue activity.

During 2012/13 each £1 of CCC funding was matched by £2.80 of earned income

which rises to £3.80 with Arts Council funding.

Helping ourselves and others ...

“The Belgrade is a great local theatre that provides a variety of entertainment in its two theatres. As Coventry is being re-generated it’s becoming a place to visit in the evenings”

Comment on Trip Advisor

Page 12: Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013

Pri

nte

d o

n F

SC

pap

er

We worked with over

88 artists from the UK’s

talent pool in the

creative industries

91 shows were presented on

our stages

146,600 people experienced

a live performance at

the Belgrade Theatre

Our average ticket

price of £14.91 meant our tickets

were affordable &

accessible

9,964 Children and young people

participated in workshops, and

54,487

people attended performances for

families and young people

£4.6m worth of local

economic impact

We

attracted over

£81,162 in philanthropic

support

£2.4m Spent on gross

payroll, creating full or part time

employment for over 200 people

£1,064k Coventry City Council grant

leveraging £935k Arts Council grant

& £160k Project grants &

£5m turnover

Coventry’s vibrant producing & presenting theatre

THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC INVESTMENT 2012-13

The Belgrade Theatre is a charity. Public funding received from Coventry City

Council, Arts Council England; fund-raising from various Trusts and Foundations;

and Charitable and Business Sponsorship, enables us to leverage considerably

more from earned income generated through ticket and other sales.

Economic Impact Cultural & Social Impact

£3.80 GENERATED FOR EVERY

£1 OF COVENTRY CITY

COUNCIL FUNDING

BROADENING CULTURAL

ENGAGEMENT & SOCIAL

COHESION

£8.7m equivalent value of

press coverage

We earn

56% of our income, up from 30%

5 years ago

4 apprenticeship posts

making 12 since 2009 &

2923 work placement

hours

+

£507k Was paid in

Tax and NI

£123k Was paid in

net VAT

payments

= £631k directly paid to

Government