Our New Home by Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

OUR NEW HOME

We are delighted to share this report detailing Mountview’s campaign to establish a permanent home. Like all building projects there were plenty of challenges along the way, but we are incredibly proud of our ‘on time and on budget’ build. Everyone who enters Mountview loves it - from our students, to resident arts organisations, to rehearsing professional theatre-makers, to the local community. Watching this cross section of society share our spaces in order to learn and create, and also challenge and inspire each other, makes us feel very proud. Mountview’s new home ensures dramatic training is available to talented students whatever their background, whether for full-time training, a summer school, or an evening class. Our new home has enabled the expansion of our degree programmes, resulting in a 19% increase in student numbers and new programmes including MA Site-Specific Theatre and MA Theatre for Community and Education. We have found an inspiring, welcoming and passionate local community in Peckham, and we are working closely with local schools, community groups and partner organisations to ensure everyone has access to creative opportunities. Our flagship young people’s programme Generation N*xt welcomes around 300 young people every week from the local area (50% supported by bursaries) and thousands of people benefit annually from outreach projects in schools and community settings. Meanwhile our public theatres, professional rehearsal facilities and onsite bars and restaurants enliven our building from sunrise to sunset, making Mountview a cultural destination which Peckham can be proud of. We set out to become a new model drama school, supporting the very best training, providing space for professional creative organisations and a new cultural hub for the local community. Together we have realised this vision, with a home that more than equals our peers and that matches the extraordinary talent of our students. We can never thank you enough for believing in this project, which will allow generations of theatre-makers to realise their potential and ignite the creative spark for young people throughout Peckham and beyond.

OUR HISTORY For over 75 years, Mountview has been one of the UK’s most innovative and inclusive drama schools. Mountview started life on a military base in Sri Lanka in 1945. When founder Peter Coxhead was denied entry to the Officers’ theatre club, he set up his own egalitarian version, open to all. Upon moving home to London after the war, Peter continued to make theatre and train hopeful actors, and when he decided to name his club after the local telephone exchange in Crouch End, Mountview was born. Since then, we have nurtured generations of talented performers, production artists, directors, musical directors and creative producers, with today’s graduates joining a constellation of alumni making their mark throughout theatre, TV, film and beyond.

“I came to Mountview an 18-year old black kid from Hertfordshire who’d never seen a play in London. Mountview’s ethos of not moulding students but encouraging, enabling and producing actors was ideal for me and for many of my peers. While other schools may have said ‘this is the kind of actor we produce’, Mountview said ‘we produce actors, in all forms, from all backgrounds, and of all colours.” GILES TERERA MBE

Olivier Award-winning Actor, Mountview alumnus and Deputy Chair 4

OUR NEED FOR A NEW HOME For nearly 25 years, Mountview’s facilities were located in temporary buildings in Wood Green, North London. These premises were not fit for purpose, and unlike peer drama schools, we did not have our own theatre, so performance spaces had to be rented for more than 20 productions each year, at a cost of over £250,000 per annum. The campus was spread over five sites, had sub-standard facilities, was not fully accessible and lacked the space required to expand our outreach work with young people and the community. With no security of tenure and rents rising to £1 million in 2017/18 − having been half that amount in 2014 − the situation became untenable.

OUR VISION FOR A NEW MOUNTVIEW In 2013, Dame Vikki Heywood became the new Chair of Mountview’s Board. Her appointment instigated a renewed focus on securing the future of the organisation. Her leadership brought together expertise including a new Principal & Artistic Director Stephen Jameson and Executive Director Sarah Preece. This leadership structure, well known in the theatre world, was unusual for a drama school but had the potential to bring together complementary skills to create transformative change at Mountview. Securing the future of the school required creative thinking both artistically and financially. Key to the success was an exploration of Mountview’s core values. This focused our vision on three core tenets: vocational training, community engagement and a resource for the theatre industry, through which our values of access, excellence and innovation would be championed. A radical new financial model was needed to support the realisation of this vision. The new model hinged on diversifying our income, through utilising what would become our biggest asset – the new building. Trustees Andrew Parker (Bursar of Somerville College, Oxford and previously Director of Finance & Administration at the Royal Shakespeare Company), Paul Roberts (Chair, Performance & Audit Committee and Chair, Remuneration Committee Arts Council England, previously member of the Warwick Commission on Cultural Value), and Vincent Wang (previously Senior Director of Stanhope Properties which oversaw capital projects at the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Opera House), led the sub-committees that put the legal and practical structures in place to support this plan. This structure included new income streams of hires, commercial tenants and enhanced fundraising capacity, which would support our transformation into an outward facing organisation. With a revitalised vision and business plan, and having exhausted options to develop existing buildings in Haringey where Mountview had been based for 70 years, the Board came to the crucial decision to look elsewhere and to imagine the possibility of building a new home from scratch. This bespoke building would deliver our vision of world-class training facilities and theatres for our students, alongside an enhanced programme of activities for the public.

EXECUTIVE TEAM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO

Abigail Morris

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeremy Smeeth

ACADEMIC PRINCIPAL Sally Ann Gritton

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Matthew Turnbull

VENUE & ESTATES DIRECTOR Andy Franks

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Charlotte Castle

PRINCIPAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR (until December 2021) Stephen Jameson

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

(until December 2021) Sarah Preece

CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR (until May 2020) Nicky Jones

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Dame Rosemary Squire DBE, Chairman Giles Terera MBE, Deputy Chair Sir Brendan Barber Helen Enright Laura Gander-Howe John Reiss Johnson Situ Amy Trigg

PREVIOUS BOARD MEMBERS DURING THE CAPITAL PROJECT Dame Vikki Heywood DBE, Chairman Dame Colette Bowe Lady Susan Chinn CBE Trevor Jackson Benjamin Lafayette Arian Nik Andrew Parker André Ptaszynski Paul Roberts Indhu Rubasingham MBE Patrick Spottiswoode Ben Sumner Vincent Wang Hamble Wallace Mark Williams

OUR NEW HOME AND BUSINESS MODEL WOULD: •

Provide our students with world-class facilities with spaces accessible to those with different access needs

•

Increase enrolment capacity on courses and broaden our international reach, growing revenue from fees

•

Create new commercial income by delivering a professional rehearsal space and facilities to hire to the creative industries

•

Build two new theatres for our students, audiences and visiting creatives to enjoy

•

Contribute to Southwark’s health and wellbeing agenda by establishing a programme of affordable creative and fitness classes for the public

•

Expand our outreach programmes, ensuring creative classes are accessible to more young people and removing financial barriers to taking part

•

Bring an estimated £13.7m economic inflow into the local area each year

ARCHITECTURAL GROUND PLAN OF MOUNTVIEW, PECKHAM 8

CONNECTING WITH A NEW COMMUNITY Our vision was for an outward-looking drama school embedded in the local community. A great deal of time and care was taken to connect with people in Peckham before building began to understand what they wanted from a new cultural centre. Community associations, Ward Councillors, tenant groups and local arts organisations knew about the plans for Mountview and could share their thoughts on a new cultural hub for their community. Through building these face-to-face relationships, local opinion was integrated into activity planning, creating engagement opportunities which were responsive to local needs, and encouraging our new community to see the building and activities within it for them.

“I can’t think of a better place for a theatre school that’s meant to represent all people, than this wonderful place Peckham.” OLIVIA COLMAN OBE

Academy Award-winning Actor, Campaign Ambassador

BUILDING A NEW HOME With project costs of just over £30 million and limited organisational reserves, it was vital to work in partnership to realise our new home. In 2015, we were introduced to Southwark Council and a relationship began that would unlock the financing of the project. Within five months of the initial meeting, a suitable plot of land was identified, and Heads of Terms were agreed for a finance facility supporting c.80% of the project costs. Annual repayments would not exceed projected rent costs at our old Haringey home and over the years, repayments would fall dramatically, leaving Mountview unencumbered by debt at the end of the facility’s term. Southwark Council recognised the value Mountview would bring to Peckham as a key new cultural provider, offering the perfect balance of a going concern that required no ongoing financial support from the Council, with a business model and facility that could offer benefits to the local community and underpin local regeneration. As well as transforming a brownfield site in the heart of Peckham, the mixed-use building brought two new theatres, community programmes, improvements in public realm, office space for creative organisations, café/bars and employment opportunities to the area. Fundraising for the £6.5 million needed to complete our home began in earnest in 2016. The championship of our supporters, together with the experience of Mountview Trustees Dame Vikki Heywood, Lady Susan Chinn and André Ptaszynski ensured Mountview’s first ever comprehensive fundraising campaign was a success, culminating in a £1 million closing gift from the Mackintosh Foundation in May 2019.

CONSTRUCTION AND OPENING We broke ground in Peckham on 24th April 2017 and, after an intense build period, Mountview staff moved onto the site on 3rd September 2018. Despite challenges with redesigning the external cladding following the Grenfell Tower disaster, Mountview was open for business 17 months after work started on site, just over three years after our first meeting with Southwark Council.

JUL 2016

SEP 2016

APR 2017

SEP 2018

NOV 2018

DEC 2018

Heads of Terms agreed with Southwark Council

Planning permission granted

Breaking ground on site

Practical completion

Preview season opens in The Backstage Theatre

Full fit-out of 200-seat The Mack begins

Students start their training in the new building Bridge Project launched with three local schools

THE BUILD TEAM

“We know that Mountview has brought a lot to the area already, you only need to go past on the weekend to see how buzzing it is with families learning. Mountview plays a pivotal role right in the heart of Peckham.”

ARCHITECT

Turner Works (previously Carl Turner Architects)

BUILDER

Gilbert-Ash

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS Eckersley O’Callaghan

JOHNSON SITU

Previously Southwark Council Cabinet Member and Mountview Trustee

MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL CONSULTANTS Skelly & Couch

THEATRE CONSULTANT Charcoal Blue

PROJECT DIRECTOR

Anna Collins Projects

PROJECT MANAGERS

Baqus Construction Consultancy

QUANTITY SURVEYORS Rex Proctor Partners

JAN 2019

FEB 2019

APR 2019

JUN 2019

AUG 2021

Generation N*xt community programme launches

Official opening of The Backstage Theatre

Adult evening class pilot programme begins

Postgraduate Final fit-out test season held completed in in The Mack The Mack

OCT 2021

NOV 2021

Tom Piper’s foyer design and ‘The Angel’ installed

Official opening of The Mack

“I have been a supporter of Mountview for several decades, so I was delighted when this much-loved drama school took the adventurous step to expand its ambitions and move from Wood Green to create an exciting new home in multicultural Peckham. When I was approached by Dame Vikki Heywood and the much-missed André Ptaszynski to see if I would fund the completion of Mountview’s major performance space, I quickly became convinced to do so by the discovery of the sheer diversity of the student intake from every social background.” SIR CAMERON MACKINTOSH 14

TWO THEATRES TO CALL OUR OWN Moving from an itinerate theatre model to on-site auditoriums was an essential part of our need for a new home. Not only has this saved the costs of hiring external venues, both financial and time, it has created a greater sense of cohesion and belonging amongst students, and become a landmark cultural offer for our local community. We are thrilled that both spaces are presenting a range of productions, from classic Shakespearean plays to devised contemporary pieces, restoration comedies to glittering musicals.

THE BACKSTAGE THEATRE The Backstage Theatre was made possible by the generosity of Lady Susie Sainsbury and the Backstage Trust and is named in honour of their founding gift in support of Mountview’s new home. The 80-seat flexible black box theatre was the first of our auditorium to open, with a preview season in November 2018. This highly versatile space has led creative teams to design auditorium layouts and sets which challenge our students to work in different ways and to engage audiences with a diverse variety of productions.

THE MACK The Mack is named in recognition of an extraordinary campaign closing gift from Sir Cameron Mackintosh and the Mackintosh Foundation. The 200-seat auditorium was the last piece in our home to be completed. Pilot seasons in 2019 enabled essential testing of equipment and for new theatre management teams to develop processes. In 2021, the delayed final fit-out of the theatre commenced and we were delighted to officially open in November with the first fulllength student production of the iconic musical Les Misérables. All elements of The Mack have been designed with student training at their heart. The stage is unusually large for the auditorium size, allowing us to programme large ensemble productions without overwhelming performance students with thousands of audience members when they are still developing their craft. Backstage, the theatre is fitted out with equipment which production arts students will find in theatres across the country, equipping them with the skills to work in any setting – from Victorian opera house to state-of-the-art stages.

Les Misérables

Radio mic fitting for Carousel

Deputy Stage Manager on The Wolves

The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol

WIDER PROJECT IMPACT TO DATE Our home now matches the world-leading curriculum we offer. Students have benefitted from the generous studio sizes, increased light and improved air flow. Two theatres on site have vastly improved the teaching experience for both performance and technical students, reflecting the variety of spaces they will encounter in the professional world. We have fulfilled our ambitions to expand our public offer, developing a network of local schools and community collaborations. 300 young people take part in creative classes each week as part of Generation N*xt, our flagship programme for young people aged 6 to 24, with bursaries available to anyone who may find cost a barrier to taking part. Our new adult fitness and wellbeing programme launched with a free month of classes in January 2020, with classes such as Capoeira, Twerk N V!be and Dance Fit creating a different offer to other class providers in the area. With over 25 productions each year, and discounted/free tickets for local residents, we’ve also been able to open up access to high quality theatrical experiences for our local community. Meanwhile, four resident companies - British Youth Music Theatre, English Touring Opera, Candoco Dance Company and Touretteshero - are now in residence, and the foyer provides a snapshot of the diverse work being created in the building, with staff, students, professional rehearsal hires and the public visiting regularly. Whilst the pandemic delayed our work to secure tenants for the three food and beverage units, all three spaces are now open to the public – Westland Coffee & Wine and Loading Bar (a Tokyo-inspired gaming café) on the ground floor, and Skylight (a cocktail bar/restaurant) on the rooftop, with panoramic views of the London skyline.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

19%

31%

INCREASE IN STUDENT NUMBERS WITH THE EXPANSION OF EXISTING COURSES AND NEW MA COURSES

INCREASE IN APPLICATIONS

44%

98%

OF 2020/21 UNDERGRADS / POSTGRADS WERE IN RECEIPT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

OF 2020/21 PERFORMANCE GRADS GAINED AGENT REPRESENTATION

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

1,000

50%

71%

GENERATION N*XT ENROLMENTS EACH YEAR, WITH 300+ YOUNG PEOPLE TAKING PART EACH WEEK

OF GENERATION N*XT PARTICIPANTS RECEIVED A BURSARY TO TAKE PART

OF BURSARY HOLDERS HYPERLOCAL (PECKHAM AND BORDERING WARDS)

FREE

450

£5

FREE TICKETS GIVEN TO SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS

19,000+

TICKETS SOLD FOR STUDENT PRODUCTIONS, STARTING AT JUST £5 PER TICKET

A RESOURCE FOR THE THEATRE INDUSTRY

£890K

GENERATED IN COMMERCIAL INCOME

ARTS COUNCIL-SUPPORTED ORGANISATIONS IN RESIDENCE

360

HIRERS USING OUR SPACES

“Mountview has really changed Peckham and the community and the whole feeling round here.” Parent of Generation N*xt participant 19

ACCOLADES

June 2019 New London Architecture Awards, Education Building Nominated

December 2019 The Stage Awards 2020, Theatre Building of the Year Nominated

March 2020 Special Recognition Olivier Award Winner Former joint CEOs Sarah Preece and Stephen Jameson were recognised for their achievements in moving the school, their dedication to the community and their commitment to improving accessibility and diversity.

September 2021 RIBA London Regional Awards Winder

November 2021 2022 Civic Trust Award Regional Finalist

FINANCIAL REPORT EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN Main Build Project

£23,525,659

Theatre Fit Out Project

£1,603,974

Theatre Loose Equipment

£360,000

Close Out/Retrofit Items (Post-Practical Completion)

£297,107

Irrecoverable VAT

Total Expenditure

£4,264,499

£30,051,239

INCOME BREAKDOWN Statutory Grants

£3,348,543

Trusts and Foundations

£3,085,000

Major Donors

£153,000

Lower Level Individual Giving and Step Appeal Campaign

£36,928

Corporate Gifts

£10,000

Total Fundraising Income

£6,633,471

Loan Finance

Total Income

£23,417,768

£30,051,239

FINISHING TOUCHES After delays caused by the pandemic, the final finishing touches to our home were installed during autumn 2021, with a newly designed front of house area and fit-out of The Mack. Theatre designer Tom Piper MBE was commissioned to create a welcoming foyer that reflected our two theatres and the creative work happening around the building. The designs included a new entrance way and welcome desk, day-to-night lighting scheme, comfortable seating and theatre signage. Tom also created a unique sculptural acknowledgement piece in the main foyer to recognise the supporters who made a significant contribution to the campaign. The design was inspired by poet William Blake who, in 1765 at age eight, had his first vision of angels whilst walking on Peckham Rye. Blake later described his vision as ‘a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars’. Tom designed a pair of angelic wings with a 10-foot wingspan, represented by feathers and fashioned with a rusted Corten steel-like effect, on which the names of our capital campaign’s major supporters appear.

“I am so pleased to have worked with Mountview on this final stage of the theatre and front of house fit out. Mountview has created a stunning new home and we worked with the aesthetic of Carl Turner’s bold building design to create new experiences for audiences coming to The Mack and The Backstage Theatre. The challenge was in turning the elegant contemporary minimalist daytime feeling of the drama school into a welcoming, warm place for the evening’s theatre productions. Using materials echoing the exterior’s rusted Corten steel, mesh, warm orange tones and sensitive lighting, we were able to create new layers of texture within the auditorium to bring the room to life and create a vibrant front of house space for audiences and visitors.” TOM PIPER MBE

Olivier Award-winning Designer, Associate Artist

Mountview is a trailblazer. We want t o continue to develop our magnificent new building in Peckham so that it fizzes with energy and pulsates with creativity: a local building with a national profile and a global reach. Mountview is proudly part of Peckham, and we are committed to forging dynamic links with the local community. Our connections with schools, community groups and artists are expanding year-on-year, and we have ambitious plans to deepen our engagement, ensuring everyone has access to the transformative power of the arts. Meanwhile we continue to develop a curriculum which is at the forefront of drama training, one that is representative of all cultures and responsive to the challenges facing young creatives today. Efforts to diversify our student body – supported by the Judi Dench Fund for Access to Drama Training – have had a positive effect in recent years, but there is still more to be done with artists facing increasing financial, social and cultural barriers. I am incredibly excited to have joined Mountview as Artistic Director & CEO. Alongside our new Chairman Dame Rosemary Squire, I want to build on Mountview’s reputation as one the UK’s top drama schools, ensuring inclusivity is at its heart, in a building where excellence and diversity are inextricably linked. We are exceptionally grateful to all those who invested in this building – your support, championship and guidance will serve generations of theatre-makers and artists to come. I can’t wait to welcome you here to see for yourself.

ABIGAIL MORRIS

Artistic Director & CEO

MAJOR DONORS Southwark Council The Mackintosh Foundation The Backstage Trust Ashurst Foyle Foundation The Linbury Trust Mayor of London and LEAP The J P Marland Charitable Trust Sackler Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Mr Peter Williams and Ms Heather Acton Wolfson Foundation Sir Brendan Barber Dame Colette Bowe DBE Sir Trevor and Lady Susan Chinn Judy Craymer CBE The Hobson Charity Angela Hyde-Courtney Sir Clive Jones KCMG CBE and Dame Vikki Heywood DBE Dame Twiggy and Mr Leigh Lawson Alan Leibowitz and Barbara Weiss 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust Peckhamplex André and Judith Ptaszynski John Reiss Patrick Spottiswoode The Constance Travis Charitable Trust Vincent and Maja Wang Jeremy Xie

CAMPAIGN AMBASSADORS Mina Anwar Olivia Colman CBE Lindsey Coulson Judy Craymer CBE Stephen Daldry CBE Dame Judi Dench CH DBE Howard Goodall CBE Douglas Henshall Kit Hesketh-Harvey James McConnel Leigh Lawson Dame Twiggy Lawson DBE Eddie Marsan Michael Pennington Ken Stott Roy Williams OBE

STEP APPEAL

Rebecca Jean Gilhooley MA 2015 Glastonbury Festival Stewards David Grindrod Associates Peter Coxhead, Founder & Principal Andrew Haigh Gyearbuor Asante Elizabeth Holden David Aspinall Peter James CBE Harv and Joan Bard for Harris Leigh Lawson Thank you Mum B Abberdan 89 AUST Twiggy Lawson *A Star Is Born Georgia . B* Jeremy Mingqiang Xie PGMT 2009 Siobhan, Joshua and Ellie Biggs Jeremy Mingqiang Xie TNS China Chris Brown Ella Li Chenwei from TNS N. Coleman-Frank & D. Kinrade Li Youquan & Du Yanjun Daniel Edward White Cooper Thomas Lin Junren from TNS Kevin Peter Cooper Amy Chen Hiu Tung from TNS Josh Dallas Ken, Mary, Sandra and Tony University of East Anglia Never Stop Moving – Luigi “Go Forth and Prospero” Freda Matassa Bob Carlton 28

Fallon Alexandra Mondlane P Morgan Mountview Theatre Clb Katy Nicholas Laura Kaye Thomson The Pauline Quirke Academy The Peckham Settlement Plovdiv 2014-2017 Mike Powell-Jones Sarah Mortimer Sue Robertson Iain and Keryle Rutherford Neil Rutherford With Love Natasha Scott-Falber Abigail Amy Strudwicke Lolly Susi – a remarkable woman Though she may be but little Matthew Turnbull

Anton V Woodward OBE Barbara Weiss Alan Leibowitz Rose Williams Don Spencer Winterson’s The Ashall Family Jonny Bailey 2005 – 2008 Josh Bamling Class of 2019 Jayne Barr Ellie Bovingdon Chris Brown Stephanie Callow MT 2016-2019 An Awfully Big Adventure – Esta C Diana Chrisman MACP17 PB DC CJ PK MM JM AS ES Richard Eyre

Sue Birtwistle Andrew Franklin, 2016-2019 Lois Elizabeth Glenister Rosemary & Tony Hadland Kaine Hatukai & Jason Ross For M and S, love Ruth Hogarth Antony Jardine Jo, Pearl and Spike Come to the front Katie darling Adam King George Townsend In memory of Catherine Lamb Marissa Landy Mimi & Lotta Lee, Peckham Lilian & Charles, Pete & Diana David Josiah Mairs – McKenzie Georgia Mason MT 2016-2020

Clare McCulloch June Mitchell Francine and John Monks Jane Moriarty Emma Butler Brady Mould Julia Mucko Novarese G.K.A.J.T. Step Up & On: Tom O’Brien 2019 Deborah Paige Heather Porte Love2 Nan Brenda x Laura Pyatt Liz Scase + Jessie Coller Mark Tims 2018 for Charlie Be Ambitious – J Warren-Basham and those supporters who wish to remain anonymous 29

For further information, please contact Charlotte Castle, Development Director charlottecastle@mountview.org.uk

ILLUSTRATION AND PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS Cover © thisisruler.net p2 © Robert Workman p4 © Keith Fielder, Matthew Murphy p5 © Chris Guy p6 © Tim Crocker p8 © Turner Works p10 © Dillon Bryden, thisisruler.net p11 © Robin Savage p12 © Tim Crocker p14 © Steve Gregson p16 © Marc Brenner, Robin Savage p17 © Robin Savage, Craig Fuller p18 © Cesare De Gilgio p20 © Darren Bell, New London Awards, The Stage Awards, Olivier Awards, RIBA London Awards, Civic Trust Awards p21 © Robert Workman p22 © Steve Gregson p23 © Ellie Kurttz p24 © Katherine Leedale p26 © Cesare De Giglio p28 © Cesare De Giglio p30 © Cesare De Giglio, Tom Harrison, Ellie Ramsden, Olivier Awards, Robin Savage, thisisruler.net

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