review of youth theatre in scotland 2012
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REVIEW OF YOUTH THEATRE IN SCOTLAND 2012TRANSCRIPT
Company limited byGuaranteeNoSC269952.RegisteredScottishCharityNoSC035765 page 1
> Review of Youth Theatrein Scotland 2012
ContentsPromoteYT (Scotland)Membership List 1
Introduction 2
Findings 3
Conclusion 10
PROMOTE YT (SCOTLAND) MEMBERSHIP LIST 2012
AssociatedOrganisations
1. Citizens Theatre YOUNGCO.
2. Federation ofScottish Theatre
3. National Theatre ofScotland
4. North Lanarkshire Council
5. Scottish Borders Council
6. Rock Academy Performing Arts
7. Royal Conservatoire ofScotland
8. TheMoray Council
9. Tron Theatre
10. West Dunbartonshire Council
YouthTheatres
1. Aberdour Players Youth Theatre
2. Act 2
3. Acting Out UK
4. Aberdeen Performing ArtsYouth Theatre
5. Beacon Youth Theatre
6. Borders Youth Theatre
7. Brunton Youth Theatre
8. Carnegie College Stage School
9. Central Scotland Youth Drama
10. Creative Electric
11. Cumbernauld Youth Theatre
12. DeafYouth Theatre
13. Dundee Rep Youth Theatre
14. Eastwood Park Youth Theatre
15. Eden Court Creative
16. Edinburgh Acting School
17. Explosive Arts
18. Falkirk Children’sand Youth Theatre
19. Firefly Arts
20. Horsecross Arts
21. KAP(KircudbrightAcademyProductions)
22. KidzAct
23. Kinetic
24. Largs Youth Theatre
25. Love Drama
26. LyceumYouth Theatre
27. Macrobert
28. Mitchell School ofDrama
29. Monifieth Amateur DramaticsYouth Theatre
30. Phoenix Youth Theatre
31. Platform(Glasgow East Arts Company)
32. Project Theatre
33. Rusty Boat
34. Scottish Youth Theatre
35. Shetland Youth Theatre
36. Strange Town
37. The Drama Studio
38. The Dramatics!
39. Theatre Create
40. Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre
41. YouthMusic Theatre UK
In addition PromoteYTcurrentlysupports 31 freelancemembers.
> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
PromoteYT is committed to supporting and developing a thriving creative future for Scotland’syouth theatre sector in recognition of the invaluable investmentmade by organisations acrossScotland in the cultural and social development of our nation’s young people.
As part of this commitment, since 2004 we have undertaken an annual REVIEWOF YOUTHTHEATRE IN SCOTLAND in order to gain a sound understanding of how our youth theatresector is evolving.
It is the only research of its kind carried out in Scotland and presents a clear, detailed andaccurate picture of the current youth theatre landscape fromwhich Promote YT can focusour development work.
The following Review has been compiled using data collected from our YOUTH THEATRE SECTORSURVEY 2012,mapping sector activity fromApril 2011–March 2012.
Promote YT’s 51 member youth theatres and associated organisations were invited tocomplete the NATIONAL YOUTH THEATRE SECTOR SURVEY 2012, along with any other group,company, association or body which engages children and young people as active participantsin youth theatre activity, where their participation is central to themotivation of thecreative process.
42 valid responses were submitted which represents an increase of 62% on 2011. 38 of theseresponses were submitted by Promote YTmember organisations.
The findings detailed in this Review relate directly to Creative Scotland’s strategic priorityareas of:
1 Place
2 Participation,AccessandAudienceDevelopment
3 Talent
4 Cultural Economy
Introduction
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> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
The followingmap shows the number of youth theatres currently operating in each local authorityarea. Darker colours represent a higher number of youth theatres based in that area:
1 Place
Howthese youth theatres are structured:
Independent organisations 39%
Affiliated to theatre company 24%
Coordinated by local authority 11%
Affiliated to school/education body 9%
Other* 17%
* Other structureswere identified as:> Affiliated to arts venue> Sister group ofamateur dramatic club> Affiliated to arts development agency
Over 2011-2012,3 youth theatreswere newly established in Scotland. page3
1 AberdeenCity 32 Aberdeenshire 43 Angus 14 Argyll &Bute 15 Clackmannanshire 16 Dumfries&Galloway 27 DundeeCity 18 EastAyrshire 19 EastDunbartonshire 110 East Lothian 111 EastRenfrewshire 112 EdinburghCity 913 EileanSiar (Western Isles) 014 Falkirk 615 Fife 516 GlasgowCity 1017 Highland 418 Inverclyde 119 Midlothian 120 Moray 221 NorthAyrshire 122 North Lanarkshire 223 Orkney Islands 024 Perth&Kinross 325 Renfrewshire 226 ScottishBorders 127 Shetland Islands 128 SouthAyrshire 029 South Lanarkshire 030 Stirling 131 WestDumbartonshire 132 West Lothian 1
> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
Over 2011-2012 youth theatres engaged a total of 15,864 young people (an average of353per youth theatre).
On average, a young person paid £112annually to participate in youth theatre activity.
62% of youth theatres provided financial support to participants with 5% being free at the pointof access.22% of youth theatres either directly operated in areas of social deprivation or activelyengaged socially disadvantaged young people.
Of total youth theatre participation over 2011-2012:
2 Participation, Accessand Audience Development
The age rangewas:
The gendermake-upwas:
Male 34%
Female 66%
Ethnic originwas:
White 86%Black 2%Asian 3%MixedRace 3%Undisclosed 6%
0
0
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0
0
0100
80
60
40
20
00–4 4–8 8–10 10–13 13–16 16–18 18–24 24+
11% 51% 60% 80% 96% 84% 58% 18%%/years
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> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
Predominately providing a balance ofweekly sessions and project/performance work,creative delivery for youth theatres over the last year:
20% of youth theatres had their performance work reviewed in the national press.
Audience support for youth theatrework:
Increased from2010-2011 64%
Decreased from2010-2011 9%
Did not change from2010-2011 27%
Increased from2010-2011 58%
Remained the same ` 42%
Decreased from2010-2011 0%
Less than 2%of youth theatres considered themselves specialists in working with young peoplewith additional support needs.
25%ofyouth theatre participantswere identified as having additional support needs,brokendownas follows:
No additional support needs 75%
Learning disabilities 7%
Deafor hard ofhearing 6%
Learning difficulties 6%
Physically impaired 4%
Visually impaired 2%
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> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
International engagement included exchange and performance work with Germany and Sweden.
14 youth theatres provided the opportunity for young people to use Traditional Scots languageand 1 youth theatre delivered activity in Gaelic Scots.
165 participants of youth theatre went on to study the creative industries in further or highereducation (an average of5 per youth theatre) with97% remaining in Scotland to study.
3 TalentThe rangeofcreative skills/experiences deliveredby youth theatres over 2011-2012was:
And theoutput ofyouth theatreswas:
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100
80
60
40
20
0
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80
60
40
20
0
%
96% 96% 87% 73% 58% 56% 51% 38% 33% 33%
Devising Improvisation ScriptedWork
PhysicalTheatre/Movement
Technical/BackStage
Video/MultiMedia
Writing MusicalTheatre
Dance ContemporaryTheatrePractice
%
96% 60% 56% 47% 24% 4%
Publicperformance
Schoolholidayprojects
Privateperformance
Festivalparticipation
Touringperformance
Internationalprojects
> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
Over 2011–2012 75% of youth theatres provided professional development opportunitiesfor staff in the following areas:
This training was:
Predominantly outsourced 40%
Predominantly delivered in-house 31%
Equally delivered in-house and outsourced 29%
Barriers to attending professional development over 2011–2012 were identified as follows:
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80
60
40
20
0
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
82% 48% 48% 48% 25%
CreativeDelivery
Policy/Procedure
ChildProtection
RiskAssessment/
Health&Safety
Access/Equality
%
77% 54% 44% 37% 16%
Cost Location Timeofyear
Relevance Length ofevent
> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
4 Cultural EconomyThe size ofcore staffteams (creative and non-creative) running youth theatres over 2011-2012was:
Loneworker 12%
2–5 65%
5–10 12%
10–15 9%
15–20 0%
20+ 2%
Themake-upofthese core staffteamswas:
Predominantly full time 23%
Predominantly part time 21%
Equally full and part time 5%
Predominantly freelance 33%
Predominantly voluntary 18%
Thenumber ofvolunteers or (paid or unpaid) interns used in support ofcore activitywas:
0 12%
1–3 38%
3–5 24%
5–10 19%
10+ 7%
Annual turnovers for youth theatres have:
Increased from2010-2011 37%
Decreased from2010-2011 21%
Not changed from2010-2011 42%
The average annual turnover for youth theatres over 2011–2012 was £58,056with the highest being £600,000 and the lowest £0.
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> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
Theprincipal streamsof income for youth theatres over 2011-2012were identified as:
The following future challenges were identified by youth theatres:
> The growth ofprivate businesses and stage school franchises as competition.> Managing a significant deficit and undertaking large-scale projectswhich could losemoney.> Building andmaintaining participation numbers.> Lack ofspace,not enough trained staff,dwindling public investment in the arts.> Budget cuts at local authority level.> Not being able to keep upwithmembership demand.> Looking to grow as demand increases but not having the physical space to do this.> No genuine interest in theatre from local young people.> Competition.> Councils cutting arts services as they try tomake cuts to budget.> Cost to attend events too high for participants.> Parents not being able to afford fees.> Maintaining the current standardwith the resources available.Member numbers are at amaximumwith our current resources.
> Securing funding.> Doing new and challengingworkwith participants but still retaining a high enough income to balance the books.> Cash flow.
Youth theatres assess their financial statusmoving into 2012-2013 as:
Secure 23%
Acceptable 61%
Precarious 16%
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60
50
40
30
20
10
0 %54% 40% 22% 22% 12% 8% 8% 11%
* Other principal streams of incomewere identified as:> Receiving commissions> Lottery funding> Local fundraising> Retail (selling services, t-shirts,plays etc.)
Participationfees
Localauthority
Budgetissued byparentcompany
Grants/trusts
Box office Sponsorship/donations
CreativeScotland
Other*
ContactdetailsPromote YT (Scotland)Out of the Blue36 Dalmeny StreetEdinburgh EH6 8RG
0131 [email protected]
Promote YT receives investment from
CEO/Director:ColinBradie
Participation & TrainingManager:CarolineDonald
CommunicationsManager: Iain Findlay-Walsh
Development Officer:HelenBain
> Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012
The REVIEWOF YOUTH THEATRE IN SCOTLAND 2012 identifies encouraging developments in our youththeatre sector as well as highlighting gaps in provision and future challenges.
Youth theatre participation numbers continue to grow and despite the challenging economic climate,41 organisations in ourmembership are delivering cultural activity tomore than 15,000 youngpeoplein over 85%ofScotland’s local authority areas.
Youth theatres indicate a 64% increase in delivery from 2010-2011 demonstrating creative ambitionand the development of audiences (58% up on 2010-2011) through projects, performance, touringand international working with a focus on devising and newwriting.
Additionally, new findings highlight that an average of5 youngpeople per youth theatremovedon tostudy in the creative industries proving that the sector plays a crucial role in investing in thefuture ofScotland’s theatre artists and cultural practitioners.
Although obvious fears surrounding the current economic climate are articulated, the survey indicatesthat youth theatres feelmore secure about their future than they did last year (23% compared to4% in 2010-2011). The survey does, however, demonstrate a distinct downturn in subsidy / funding anda stronger reliance on generated income.While this may seem tomake good business sense, it hasworrying implications for the traditional affordability and accessibility of youth theatre.
It is evident that the sector also has someway togo in improving thediversity ofthoseparticipatingin youth theatre activitywith little improvement from 2010-2011.Although keen to identify themselvesas ‘open access’ through this process,only 2%ofyouth theatres consider themselves specialistorganisations in the areas ofaccess and equality suggesting gaps in the skills of practitioners.
As the support and development body for youth theatre in Scotland Promote YT recognises the need tonurture success while, at the same time, tackle head on the gaps in provision and the challenges facingthe sector.
The findings of the REVIEWOF YOUTH THEATRE IN SCOTLAND 2012 will therefore be an invaluable tool insupporting Promote YT to continue to deliver our strategy of improving access, developing audiences,promoting engagement and nurturing creative excellence.
This document provides a summaryof information collected fromtheNATIONALYOUTHTHEATRESECTORSURVEY2012.Formoredetailed information please contactPromoteYTdirectly.
Conclusion
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