The REPort - Issue 3

Issue 3 Summer 2018

A very warm welcome to this edition of The REPort The sun is shining and it’s been a great 2018 so far.

We are really looking forward to our upcoming summer events and extremely excited about our Autumn season.

I hope you enjoy reading about our activities on and off stage and hope to welcome you to The REP again very soon.

The Stage is Set For Woyzeck What do you get when you put together The REP’s Artistic Director, an inspirational choreographer, a group of actors, a classic play, and one hundred community performers?

You get the third and final production of our brilliant Furnace project, funded by the Arts Council to create theatre with massive reach and on a grand scale that engages the communities of Birmingham.

Rachel Cranny Head of Fundraising

In 2016, We’re here because we’re here marked the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

In this Issue:

In 2017 it was Stadium, when the thrill of live football met the adrenaline rush of live theatre.

- The Stage is Set For Woyzeck - Interview with Meera Syal - Sparks Fly in the Furnace - REP First - An EVENTful beginning - A Square Meal - HSBC UK Supports Theatre For Elders

Now it’s the turn of Georg Büchner’s timeless classic Woyzeck in Leo Butler’s urgent, contemporary re-telling.

Roxana Silbert is working with award-winner Rosie Kay and a community cast of 100 to bring to life a play sketched out in the 1830s that could have been written yesterday. Furnace is about inclusion and participation, and this production will be a mighty fusion of drama, dance and music created by people from all walks of life. You can tell they’re enjoying it. ‘It makes me want to up my game’, says Thomas; for Amir it’s about meeting new people and having fun.

No one knows how Büchner ended the play; there are various alternatives. So you’ll just have to come and find out for yourselves in what is sure to be a gripping, uplifting event. It’s about the way we live now. But most of all it’s about the talent and dedication of the great community cast forged in the white heat of Furnace.

Sparks Fly in the Furnace One artist, three city wards, lashings of tea, masses of stories, and one inspiring performance: the ingredients of just one of the many strands of Round 2 of our Furnace project.

REP artist Rachael Mainwaring is working with women’s groups in Washwood Heath, Alum Rock and Birchfield to get them making, talking, writing and acting. Crafting objects and crafting stories, they will help create a new performance for their communities to enjoy and cherish.

Interview with Meera Syal We are very grateful to our REP First ambassadors for their support. Our Head of Fundraising, Rachel Cranny, recently met up with acclaimed writer and actress, Meera Syal to talk about The REP. When did you first discover The REP? As a child, I loved theatre, but nobody in my circles ever went and I think for a lot of my immigrant generation, theatre wasn’t seen to be ours. The REP wasn’t on our cultural radar, but for me it opened this whole world of possibilities and I discovered this amazing resource less than five miles from my house that I didn’t know existed.

Furnace takes theatre artists out into the city and engages with people whose lives may never have been touched by our work. Round 2 spreads out in all directions.

Sarah Hamilton-Baker will be working in Harborne with FOCUS, the brilliant charity that gives support to people affected by sight loss.

At Welsh House Farm in Quinton, Jacob Crutchley will be creating site-specific events around the carnival route, using key locations on the estate to evoke memory and link past and present.

The ASHIANA Community Project in Sparkbrook sees Manjeet Mann weaving together women’s stories to explore hidden connections. Sometimes, it will be hidden horrors. Libraries in Smethwick and Oldbury will echo to the voice of Graeme Rose as he tells the true tale of his great uncle, Fred Jeffs, a Quinton sweetshop owner who was gruesomely murdered just 60 years ago.

Did you always want to work in theatre?

I didn’t really ever think I’d have a career in it because I didn’t see anybody that looked like me on the telly or in the theatre. Although I did a lot of acting at university , I thought, this is a hobby I’ll just do because I love it, but I’ll never get a job in because it’s not for the likes of me.

Why should theatres engage with their local communities?

I think it’s fundamentally important for everybody in our multi-hued community to see their story reflected somewhere. Art is fundamentally about empathy, sharing each other’s experiences and is how we break down barriers. Theatre can help us understand each other and the world and I think it is at the forefront of healing us as a country and as a people.

A good theatre will feel part of the community and shouldn’t be a sort of hallowed institution.

Why did you want to support REP First?

The REP is an important beacon for the community.

It’s the major theatre in the region and it’s a region that has lots of issues to discuss and be aired and I think it’s really important that there is a theatrical hub for that part of the world.

Associate Director Tessa Walker sums it up: ‘Furnace is about shared creativity. It inspires theatre artists to work in new and ambitious ways, by embracing and engaging communities to tell their stories. It gives communities a sense of ownership over the work and the opportunity to make work that is with, by and for them.’

REP First As we reach the end of year 1 of our REP First campaign, we have so far raised over £350,000 and are well on our way towards our £1million target!

We are immensely grateful to everyone who has supported the campaign so far and we would like to say thank you on behalf of all REP staff, audiences, artists and participants.

Below are some of our highlights to date.

Our Telephone Appeal in June 2017 launched the REP First campaign and raised an incredible, £45,538! Donors shared wonderful stories about their first experiences of The REP.

Alongside The Hundred And One Dalmatians our 101 Businesses Appeal was a great success.

108 businesses pledged their support and together raised £34,725. Their generous support enabled us to share the magic of theatre over Christmas by offering over 1300 tickets to local disadvantaged children and families.

An EVENTful beginning We can’t believe it has already been 8 months since we launched our new events business, Unique Venues Birmingham (UVB).

Well they do say time flies when you’re having fun!

Since launching in October, UVB has hosted over 600 events and quickly established itself as one of the regions most popular venues.

From gala dinners and birthday parties to weddings and national conferences, UVB has used their theatrical flair to turn mundane events in to the extraordinary.

In April 2017, ‘fashionistas’ and theatre lovers alike flocked to our Grand Costume Sale on the main stage. This very special event raised £10,000 and gave attendees a rare chance to take home their own piece of REP history.

In the last year we received two generous legacies that have left a lasting impact.

We are extremely grateful and these gifts supported two very important areas of our work, the first enabling us to purchase vital captioning equipment, that made it possible for the entire run of our Christmas production to be fully accessible. The second provided much needed support for our artistic programme and recent production of Brief Encounter.

In recognition of their success, UVB was recently announced UK Winner of the 2017 Event & Conference Top 50 by Corporate Vision Magazine.

This prestigious award recognises excellence and exceptional quality offered at venues and companies across the globe.

We were also shortlisted for Venue Launch of the Year and Unique Venue of the Year.

In the current funding climate, UVB represents our proactive and versatile approach and is helping to secure the future of The REP. To find out more or book an event visit www. uniquevenuesbirmingham.com or call 0121 245 2066.

HSBC UK Supports Theatre For Elders In an exciting partnership between The REP and HSBC UK, a new project with residential care homes across the city will benefit those living with dementia.

A Square Meal Following Bitters ‘n’ Twisted making a decision to rationalise their assets, The REP will take control of the running of its own restaurant, currently called Marmalade, from July 2018.

Interactive theatre workshops will take place in nine care settings and will explore memories and emotions and will be linked to shows at The REP.

This presents an exciting opportunity to inject it with The REP’s own personality. We will keep you posted of our ideas for developing the brand, style and offering we decide on but aim to make the most of the new Centenary Square development, which is destined to become a destination meeting, dwelling and events space in the city.

The project also includes theatre visits, backstage tours, storytelling sessions and a chance to meet the actors.

The square is currently a work in progress following a public design competition won last year by Edinburgh-based Graeme Massie Architects.

Arts-based activities can have a profound impact on dementia patients, helping them to thrive and communicate, contribute and in turn feel valued.

The scheme includes a new shallow water feature with fountains, 25-metre high lighting columns throughout and rows of beautiful trees.

The project has been made possible thanks to HSBC UK.

REP Events

The Theatre for Elders project aims to enable those living with dementia to socialise in order to decrease their sense of isolation.

15th - 23rd June - Woyzeck Rachel Cranny; Head of Fundraising said: “We are extremely grateful to HSBC UK for their support and delighted to be working with them ahead of their becoming our neighbours later this year. We passionately believe in the potential of this project to make a real impact on the elders that take part.”

21st June - Supporters Summer BBQ 30th July - 3rd August - For, With, By European Festival of Youth Theatre 1st November - In Conversation With Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones 3rd July - 4th August - Furnace Hub Performances

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