Accessible - Affordable - Sustainable
We believe that theatre should be for everyone, both on and off stage. Many organisations have tried to find ways to encourage new audiences or support young people with training and new opportunities. But in isolation, these efforts are not sustainable.
The sheer overheads involved make it really difficult to keep prices low. But by taking a radical new step we can place theatre back in the heart of our communities, raise awareness and make it part of our everyday life.
We're not talking about 'community-theatre' in the traditional sense - but rather a theatre that serves its community. A theatre that becomes part of the everyday - not the once in a blue moon.
In order to do this, we have thought holistically. Identified where we can reduce overheads, increase exposure and provide both quality training and long term careers. The key is selecting the right location and getting the right balance between training institution and professional producing theatre.
Our three core strands are:
Our Mission
TheatRE
We aim to provide theatre training for post-16 students that is rooted in learning real skills under real performance conditions.
We are looking to work with leading theatre institutions to create a curriculum that is grounded on 'doing' not 'reporting'. Our students will learn all aspects of performance from marketing, to teaching, performing and finding funding. We want to find the future leaders of TheatREPublic and that process starts far earlier than you might expect.
Our post-16 learners will be involved in Saturday schools, TIE workshops and outreach as part of their training. This will provide them with real life experience of careers beyond the stage but also prepare them for a future with us as one of our Proformers.
With feeder clubs and special performances for local schools, we are dedicated to providing accessible routes into theatre for children from all backgrounds. Even our audition process has been designed to ensure no child has an unfair advantage.
REP
We want to give performers the chance to not only share their expertise but to continue to do what they love without the uncertainty of living pay cheque to pay cheque.
Our structure enables them to share time between training the next generation and creating and performing in new original pieces. This allows them to live their dream whilst supporting young people to chase theirs. Part professor, part performer - welcome to the Proformer.
We even have a career pathway that provides them with the skills and experience they need to progress from ensemble to creative director. The ultimate goal is for them to open and manage their own TheatREPublic centre in a neighbouring region so we can place the theatre back in the heart of even more communities.
Public
None of this 'dynamic pricing' malarkey, or forcing the audience to sit according to their income. That's just wrong. It sends out the message 'theatre isn't for you' - but it is. It's for everyone.
Our 'Date-night' Pricing aims to put theatre back on the map. No longer the reserve of the elite, anniversaries or birthdays - we want theatre to be a social experience, like a trip to the cinema, a cheap meal out or a night bowling with friends.
We have a number of clever ways of reducing the overheads associated with live performance whilst also reaching the widest possible audience and making the theatre more accessible than ever. Indeed, it is this strategy that changes the landscape completely and makes TheatREPublic truly unique. It's our 'secret recipe' as it were.
