As we reflect on the past year at the Belgrade Theatre, we are filled with pride for the journey we have taken and gratitude for everyone who has been involved.
We welcomed audiences of 142,000 and provided participation and talent development opportunities for over 10,000 people. Our commitment to cocreate theatre with, by and for Coventry’s communities, ensuring their voices, experiences and talents shape the work on our stages has been at the heart of our work. And this has been exemplified through our produced shows. For example:
• Swim, Aunty, Swim! by local writer Siana Bangura was a profound, poetic story of friendship, loss, sisterhood, motherhood, ageing, starting again, and the sublime power of water. It went on to win Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards, and best playwright at the Black British Theatre Awards,
• A family drama about three generations of Black men, Revealed included significant community engagement including a photography exhibition at local libraries,
• Our beloved annual Pantomime provided opportunities for a local ensemble and employment of 69 people beyond the core team (winning an award for Best Ugly Sisters for 2023/4),
• The making of Romeo and Juliet engaged 150 people across and beyond Coventry in a partnership between That’s A Rap and Coventry Academy.
We opened some phenomenal new co-productions right here in Coventry including Play On! with Talawa Theatre Company ahead of its national tour; and with our associates Paines Plough we produced My Mother’s Funeral ahead of Edinburgh, London and New York transfers as part of our See It First Festival. Additionally we brought the magic and wonder of live theatre to Coventry welcoming 72 touring shows. Our participatory and talent development programmes provided opportunities for local residents to grow skills, confidence, and career pathways, alongside enriching health and wellbeing. These included:
• Belgrade Hubs: weekly drama workshops improving confidence for 200 participants aged 5 - 100,
• Artist Network: now with over 200 members, this is a free space for regional creatives currently working or pursuing a career in the arts,
• Belgrade Ensemble: our free training programme for early career performance artists looking to develop their craft alongside our creative leadership team,
• Springboard: Three new companies (Blindspot Theatre, Dauntless Evolution, and That’s A Rap) joined Team Belgrade as we support them to grow and develop,
• Digital Media Academy: we relaunched our free programme for creators over-18 with an interest in film/video, learning how to create, shoot, and edit,
• Next Steps: a theatre skills and career development programme for those with learning disabilities, ran in partnership with Open Theatre,
• Tour The Writer: a Writers’ Development Programme, with our new resident company, Paines Plough.
• Schools’ Programme: our extensive schools’ programme, working with over 60 local schools, and 23,000 pupils; providing career insight days, workshops, performances and our flagship project ‘Big School’.
Sharing Coventry’s Stories Since 1958
We never forget that at the heart of our charitable cause, we were built as a space for hope, peace and community, following the devastation of the Second World War. Today, we continue this legacy as a people-first theatre invested in community-led co-creation. We simply couldn’t achieve what we do without the amazing continued support of our core funders Arts Council England and Coventry City Council; alongside Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn, Heart of England Foundation, Coventry Building Society and all our wonderful individual donors and corporate supporters.
This new, boundary-pushing production is a visually impactful, thought-provoking treat - it’s certainly Romeo and Juliet as never experienced before.
WHATSONLIVE
Best thing I’ve seen in ages. Went with my baby boomer mum and my teenage sonwe were all captivated right to the tragic end. We loved the music and dance elements which really lifted and brought it to life. Great night, thanks Belgrade and the amazingly talented cast and production.
This progressive production’s fervour and originality make it one to catch.
A people-first theatre, where diversity powers storytelling.
As a ‘Stage for Coventry’, we create theatre with, by and for the city and region, and share it with the world. Through a co-created, community-led approach, we deliver:
• TRANSFORMATION: We provide safe spaces and creative opportunities for people to enrich their health, wellbeing and education,
• DIVERSE STORIES: We produce and present work that reflects and celebrates Coventry’s diverse communities,
• LEARNING: We invest in the talent of our city and region, providing skills development and pathways for creative careers.
• ACTING TOGETHER: We believe by collaborating and co-creating, we’ll be greater than the sum of our parts, working collectively to the power of Coventry’s people,
• COME AS YOU ARE: We believe in providing an inclusive experience to ensure everyone who encounters us can do so as themselves, and that lived experience empowers the LIVE experience,
• ALWAYS EVOLVING: We believe in learning and ambition. Each step we take propels the next, and every exit can become a new entrance.
Engagement Programme for 10,000+ PARTICIPANTS
Performances for 142,000 AUDIENCES
Flagship productions, co-created with Coventry’s communities, shared with the world. Talent Development for 1,800+ ARTISTS
The most enthralling, dynamic performance of Shakespeare I have ever seen.
ROMEO AND JULIET AUDIENCE MEMBER, FEBRUARY 2025
I have recently been through a bereavement … being part of the Over 50s HUB has helped me through, providing structure and friendship.
OVER 50S HUB MEMBER JULY 2024
The Ensemble has been wholly instrumental to my development as a creative and allowed me to challenge, explore and innovate my practice alongside likeminded creatives.
BELGRADE ENSEMBLE MEMBER SEPTEMBER 2024
audiences came from every ward and neighbourhood in Coventry.
142k audiences attended 113 different events with a total of 425 performances.
48k (34%) of tickets were issued to audiences in Coventry, so the Belgrade welcomed 94k visitors from outside of the city.
participants reported improved wellbeing, happiness, confidence and improved sense of feeling more in control after taking part in the Belgrade’s programmes.
10k+
participants in learning and engagement, including 4.3k school children from one third of all schools in Coventry.
£12.5k
net social value generated working with older residents, through reducing loneliness and improving wellbeing.
8% of tickets issued to Coventry residents living in the most deprived neighbourhoods.
65% of the Belgrade’s staff live in the city.
30% of tickets issued to Coventry residents in lower socioeconomic groups.
23% of expenditure is to freelancers, organisations and businesses based in Coventry and Warwickshire.
£890k
ancillary spend in Coventry’s restaurants, shops, bars, and hotels.
3 in 10
tickets issued to Coventry residents went to areas of low engagement with publicly funded culture.
23k+
tickets went to school children. 65% of those schools had a higherthan-average number of students on free school meals.
£1.50 of social value generated against every £1 budgeted through the Belgrade’s Next Steps programme.
43% of participants in the Belgrade’s wraparound activity identify as D/deaf and/or D/disabled.
artists engaged from across Coventry and the region, and from around the world.
Every £1 = £3.20
Coventry City Council investment leads to further investment reliant on core funding from the City Council.
£6.60 gross box office revenue generated for every £1 of City Council investment.
24%
freelancers from the city and region who engaged with the Belgrade’s Ensemble and Media Academy feel more connected to their industries, leading to future employment.
1,818 artists supported through our Talent Development Programme.
Three years ago, we set out to make theatre in a new way; to co-create work of scale authentically with Coventry’s communities and share it with the world. Romeo and Juliet, our flagship coproduction, exemplifies our commitment to being a people-first theatre where diversity powers storytelling. The production involved over 150 people across and beyond Coventry in its making and enabled us to work at the intersection of education, talent development, community and artistic innovation. The idea to create Romeo and Juliet infused with rap, R&B and gospel was developed in collaboration with That’s A Rap, a local company on our Springboard talent development programme. Springboard provides training opportunities, organisational development and assistance in developing productions for the stage for emerging and local artists who are focused on social change. We paired That’s a Rap with Coventry Academy (an alternative to mainstream education for 11 to 16 year olds) and worked with seven young people excluded from mainstream education over the course of two years to develop the show’s central themes, music and direction.
8,120 tickets were issued for the Belgrade run, with 41% newcomers.
33% of audiences were Coventry-based, so Romeo and Juliet welcomed nearly 5.5k visitors from outside the city.
15% of Coventry tickets were issued to those from most deprived neighbourhoods, and 47% of tickets for residents in lower socioeconomic groups - significantly higher than Belgrade averages.
2,606 tickets (32%) were issued to Coventry school children.
Over 9,000 tickets sold so far on the Hackney and Bristol legs of the UK tour.
17
local residents from our Belgrade Ensemble (free theatre training for 18-30s) and our Hubs (weekly drama workshops for 14-19 year-olds) performed in Romeo and Juliet alongside a community choir.
12,000
YouTube views for Belgrade Media Academy students’ short film to accompany the production, ‘Turn and Draw’, now being used by schools across the country as a learning resource.
40+
regional developing artists from Coventry and the wider region employed including our Creative Associates, and three work experience placements.
Over 80%
of the cast had their Shakespeare debut, with Kyle Ndukuba making his professional stage debut in the lead role of Romeo.
Participants came from the following Coventry wards:
1. Bablake 2. Holbrooks 3. Foleshill
Radford
Sherbourne
St Michaels
Lower Stoke
Henley
Wyken
Binley and Willenhall
Wainbody
Westwood
Woodlands
Three words to describe being part of R&J: opportunity, growth … AWESOME!!
We’ve seen improved school attendance and a significant increase in levels of engagement from the students involved in the production, and we are now predicting our best ever outcomes in GCSE English. We have also reintroduced English Literature for the first time in three years. To be involved in a project with the Belgrade Theatre is such a great thing on so many levels. Being able to say this to future employers and colleges is so powerful, especially as all of the students involved will be leaving us in the summer after their GCSE exams.
Everyone front of house, behind the scenes, and of course on the stage, made the experience truly enjoyable, and I thank everyone for their hard work which has gone into making this possible. The production, choreography, and the incorporation of Rap and R&B was creative and innovative, as were the methods of co-production with the community. Everyone should be very proud as a result of making Shakespeare more accessible, and I look forward to coming back to the Belgrade to watch more shows soon.
Being part of the show has taught me that no matter who you are, if you are the lead or a Hub member like us you have just as much value in your role as everyone else.
Aligning the Belgrade’s key outcomes to the One Coventry Plan
Here at the Belgrade, we’re proud to contribute towards the priority impact areas of the City Council’s ‘One Coventry’ plan.
One Coventry - Working together to improve our city and the lives of those who live, work and study here.
Delivery Priorities:
How the Belgrade improves outcomes and tackles inequalities within our communities:
• Programming engages audiences from all electoral wards in Coventry, reflecting and representing the city’s diverse population,
• Participation in access programmes fosters inclusivity, creativity, and enhances wellbeing,
• Our participatory work is targeted to lesser heard and seen communities; 48% of participants identifying with a protected characteristic,
• Participants demonstrate skill development and personal growth.
Investment in Belgrade from CCC enables us to attract a further £1.6m in funding which we spend on activity for the city and region:
• Attracting visitors to the city stimulates local economic growth, generating revenue, and creating jobs,
• The Belgrade’s productions and examples of best practice gain coverage and tour nationally and internationally,
• National and International partnerships boost the theatre’s financial sustainability.
Tackling the causes and consequences of climate change:
• The Belgrade’s carbon footprint will be reduced through sustainable practices supporting the City’s environmental goals identified in the One Coventry plan.
Enabling Priorities:
Continued financial sustainability of the Council:
• Co-ordinated cultural development led by the Belgrade ensures a sustainable and resilient cultural sector in Coventry,
• Streamlined business operations provide value for money across economy, efficiency and effectiveness,
• Continued retention of audiences with improved satisfaction levels,
• Increase in self and co-produced work.
belgrade.co.uk
