The REPort - Issue - Autumn 2019

Issue 8: Autumn 2019

New Team, New Season

As the nights start to draw in and vibrant colours set the stage for a new season, hello and welcome to this Autumn edition of The REPort It’s been a busy summer as ever at The REP and we are now thoroughly enjoying a jam packed season of shows, festivals and activities. I hope you enjoy reading all about it.

Rachel Cranny Head of Fundraising

In this Issue: -

New Team, New Season Absolute Bedlam Lyrically Speaking Rebel Music Challenge Accepted A Very Merry Marmalade The Business of Fundraising - REP First Update

February 2020 sees the first shows programmed by our new artistic team, and what a programme it is! Vibrant new writing sits alongside updated classics, side-splitting comedy shares the stage with lyrical tragedy, and community shows stand proudly among the finest professional work. You’re sure to be moved and provoked.

Never more so than at our first show: a searing adaptation of Louise O’Neill’s novel, Asking For It. With the #MeToo movement in the headlines, Asking For It confronts issues of consent and trial by social media with an honesty that will excite and persuade. So will our new commissions: a debut play by Temi Wilkey, The High Table, and Debris Stevenson’s Poet in Da Corner, inspired by the music of Dizzee Rascal.

We’ve also got classics with fresh faces like the RSC’s Anil Gupta/Richard Pinto version of Molière’s hilarious Tartuffe, in which a fake imam wreaks havoc in Sparkbrook. The latest Ramps on the Moon production sees a diverse cast take on Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Oliver Twist, while our community actors play out gang warfare in Romeo and Juliet. And if you’ve ever wondered why it’s always a bloke who drops into hell at the end of the fifth act, see Chris Bush’s brilliant Faustus: That Damned Woman.

Two shows blend hilarity with a tinge of sadness. The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel is Told By an Idiot’s homage to two comic greats and Birmingham regulars. Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s A Bunch of Amateurs tells the story of a fading Hollywood star who turns up in Stratford to play King Lear, except it’s the wrong Stratford and the rest of the cast aren’t exactly pros…

Here’s how new Artistic Director Sean Foley describes the new season: Across our three stages, we present a real diversity of voices and stories. In an era when the very idea of ‘the other’ - an outsider - comes with extraordinary social tension, many of these plays - even the comedies - take a look at the conflict that can come from standing up, being different, or defiantly not fitting in. In a city of great diversity, and at a time of tremendous national debate around identity, these plays create great and essential evenings at the theatre.

Absolute Bedlam There’s never been a time when we’ve been more conscious of mental health or more aware of what the arts can do to help.

In the words of The REP’s Associate Director, Steve Ball, ‘Studies have shown that the arts play a major role in our mental wellbeing, helping to overcome stigma, enriching lives, connecting communities and creating dialogue.’ That’s why we were proud to present the fourth BEDLAM Arts and Mental Health festival, running 1-12 October in venues across the city.

Like so much of what we do, BEDLAM is a great big partnership. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Midlands Arts Centre, SAMPAD South Asian Arts and Birmingham-based Geese Theatre Company all worked with us, while practitioners, patients and survivors contributed their experience to an amazing showcase of art forms.

With World Mental Health Day (October 10th) focusing on suicide, we presented the world premiere of The Thing in conjunction with Oliviernominated Les Enfants Terribles. On the day itself, Dr Erin Turner led a workshop on how the arts can help prevent suicide.

BEDLAM drew on a much wider range of mental health issues. Olivia Winteringham’s No bond so strong for SAMPAD explored the experiences of women during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Geese Theatre Company dramatized the history of mothers in prison, based on workshops at HMP Peterborough. Koko Brown’s solo show, White, dwelt on race and mental health, while Stuart Waters’ new dance piece, Rockbottom, was a moving self-portrait of one man’s struggle with depression and addiction.

It was not all theatre. StereoHype saw three of the Midlands’ most exciting young R’n’B and HipHop artists – Call Me Unique, Lady Sanity and Trademark Blud – foreground black experiences of mental health. And BEDLAM has a legacy: an art commission which has Jenna Naylor turning the mac’s Community Gallery into a menagerie of strange creatures drawn on the walls. Up to November 17th you can join in: it’s part of this year’s THE BIG DRAW (‘Drawn to Life: Creativity and Wellbeing’) which aims to encourage conversations about drawing as a life-enhancing tool.

Lyrically Speaking For many people, the thought of teaching Maths to a group of teenagers is pretty daunting. They’ll let you know straight away if they’re bored; they might find other things to interest them, or even start to pick up on your appearance. So imagine how much more daunting the whole thing is if you stammer.

One brilliant Birmingham Maths teacher is undaunted. He’s the Times Education Supplement New Teacher of the Year for 2019; he’s been featured in an episode of the BBC’s Amazing Humans series; he’s been given the award of Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater, Birmingham City University. He is Abed Ahmed, and he’s inspired hundreds of fellow professionals with his brave, bold insights into how stammering can make you better at what you do.

Recently Abed brought a group of pupils from his own Washwood Heath Academy to talk to the cast of the Rifco Theatre Company’s Mushy – Lyrically Speaking. Pravesh Kumar’s new play is based on the real-life story of Musharaf Asghar: a young man with a stammer finds himself at the centre of a TV documentary; music helps him find his rhythm. It’s a miracle cure, but the journey to find his voice has only just begun.

The cast showed Abed and his Washwood Heath party the best of REP hospitality, with a tour of the set and some invaluable insights into the life of a man who beat the odds.

Rebel Music A sweltering summer, economic instability and far-right politics on the march: 2019 through the lens of 1976. That was the year of Rock Against Racism, when white punk bands and black reggae bands shared platforms, determined to defeat the National Front. Robin French’s new play, Rebel Play, generously supported by the Barry Jackson Trust, tells this compelling and vitally optimistic story.

Three teenage music fans, Denise, Trudi and Andrew, join the fight for the soul of working class Britain.

They navigate racial politics and social upheaval in Birmingham, but can their friendship survive?

Commissioned by The REP and presented in association with award-winning gig theatre specialists, Middle Child, this raucous story of people-power features a soundtrack of Punk, Reggae and 2Tone.

For Robin French, a QEH baby of Barbadian and English parents, and now an award-winning playwright with successes at the NT, RSC, and Almeida, the story has strong personal overtones: ‘As a teenager, I was obsessed with bands - the North-West was celebrated for its music, producing The Smiths, Joy Division and The Stone Roses. But what about the Midlands? I wanted to write something celebrating the wealth of music we produced in the late-Seventies - The Specials, Steel Pulse, The Beat, Dexys, The Selecter, UB40. I already loved how multicultural that musical legacy was.’

The spur for Rock Against Racism was an infamous Birmingham moment. Eric Clapton outraged people by using a concert to promote the views of Enoch

Powell (some were quick to point out that Clapton was, ironically, a keen adopter of reggae). Robin drew on interviews with Brummies who were around then and lived through the period’s music; and music, he emphasizes, can change the world. As Director Alex Brown says, ‘We live in complex and divided times, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the positive power of music and how it can bring people together. Rebel Music will celebrate the cultural pioneers who used punk, reggae and 2tone to try and get everybody dancing to the same beat.’

The show has toured to 15 venues as part of The REP’s community tour. Every year The REP takes a new piece of work to community settings – mostly non-performance venues, more settings where communities gather. The tour has taken in libraries, community centres, church halls and charities such as SIFA Fireside, Birmingham Settlement and Kingstanding Food Community. By the end of the tour hundreds of people will have benefitted from seeing theatre within their own communities.

A Very Merry Marmalade As the longer, darker, chillier evenings return in the run up to the festive season, we’re already in the mood for gift-giving. We selected a number of large neighbouring businesses to receive a ‘welcome to Marmalade’ orange crate hamper filled with goodies.

Inside were branded coffee cup sleeves which, when brought in to Marmalade, would entitle the customer to a free coffee, branded takeaway lunch boxes for free lunches and a marmalade jar (with handle) to receive a free cocktail taster.

All we asked in return was that the businesses in question display a poster or distribute a few postcards internally amongst staff to remind them of all we have to offer.

Challenge Accepted As Christmas appears on the horizon, we are once again gearing up to take part in the national ‘Big Give Christmas Challenge’ from the 3rd to the 10th December.

The Big Give is the UK’s largest match fundraising campaign and all donations made during the challenge are DOUBLED at no extra cost to the donor. Therefore one gift can have twice the impact!

This year, we are hoping to raise £10,000 towards a fantastic new project called ‘Beginning Backstage’. Working in partnership with youth homelessness charity, St Basils, our ambition is to launch The REP’s first ever ‘Technical Youth Theatre’.

We will offer young people from St Basils the chance to learn about working backstage and develop a diverse range of new skills. The culmination of the project will eventually see these young people taking on the technical roles involved in staging a REP youth theatre production.

In 2018, the West Midlands saw the country’s biggest increase in homelessness. St Basils now works with over 5000 young people each year who would benefit from positive experiences and activities that can help them build a fulfilling future.

With the help of our donors, we hope that this Christmas we can empower and support some of the city’s most vulnerable young people. We are thrilled and extremely grateful to have already received pledges of over £5,000 from local businesses. So please make a note of the date in your diaries and play your part in our Big Give Challenge this December!

The ‘hamper’ also included a hand-made dried orange ornament to hang during the festive season. Speaking of which, Marmalade is also geared up for anyone wishing to celebrate in style with a yummy selection of alternatives to traditional fare.

Our festive menu includes; turkey parcels filled with apricots and sage stuffing wrapped in smoked streaky bacon, fillets of sea bream with a saffron and mussel sauce, heirloom bean bourguignon with celeriac mash and desserts include Vegan chocolate and salted caramel tart with honeycomb – so delicious food for everyone.

Merrymakers bringing 10 plus guests receive 10% off their total bill if they book before 1 November and, as we at Marmalade believe that good food is for life, not just for Christmas, the orgainser also receives 40% off a meal and drinks for two in the new year!

The Business of Fundraising Here at The REP, the support of the business community plays a vital role in enabling us to sustain our activities.

We are therefore delighted to welcome two new Corporate Partners to The REP family.

Close Brothers Asset Management and Bruntwood have both joined our growing group of sponsors and their support will directly contribute to our million pound appeal, REP First.

Bruntwood own, let and manage outstanding buildings and science facilities across the UK but is much more than a property company. Speaking of the partnership, Bruntwood explained, “We are a purpose-led business who partner with ambitious cultural organisations that are looking to make an impact, tell the stories of our cities, and inspire change. That’s why we’re proud to support The REP, and the few remaining producing theatres in all the cities we operate in, as well as The Bruntwood Prize, Europe’s biggest competition for playwriting.”

The REP’s Executive Director, Rachael Thomas said, “It’s brilliant to welcome Bruntwood as a corporate partner and I’m thrilled that they have chosen to support The REP and our REP First appeal. Their support for producing theatres across the country is fantastic and I look forward to seeing our partnership develop and flourish”.

REP Events 6 November Foundry Launch Night for invited guests 7 -16 November Foundry Festival (booking details below) 6 December Artistic Director’s Donor Reception

From the Campaign Trail We are now firmly into the 3rd and final year of our REP First campaign and are thrilled with the continued success of our appeal. To date we have now raised a phenomenal £850,000.

We would like to thank all of our wonderful donors, sponsors and funders who have played their part and helped us reach this point.

As we strive to towards our million pound target we’ve been reflecting on the impact of the campaign so far. The funds raised have made a dramatic difference, enabling us 85 to sustain and grow our activities both on and off stage. As well as directly supporting new work and emerging artists, the impact to date includes; purchasing vital captioning equipment, providing free theatre tickets for over 2500 disadvantaged children, delivering a pioneering ‘theatre for elders’ programme for people living with dementia, providing BSL interpreters for our adult drama group and offering over 25 bursaries for our youth theatre. As a result of the campaign, we have also doubled the number of our regular donors and we are so grateful to be able to include such generous individuals in The REP family.

To find out how you could play your part, please visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/support-us or call our fundraising team on 0121 245 2162.

Date TBC Peter Pan Design Event for REP Friends

Book online birmingham-rep.co.uk | Box Office 0121 236 4455 Birmingham Repertory Theatre Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP /birminghamrep

@birminghamrep

@therepbirmingham

Registered in England 295910 | Charity No.223660