Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013
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Transcript of Belgrade Theatre Annual Review 2012-2013
Belgrade Theatre Review of the Year 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
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Ro
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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)
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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