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4 news New Wolsey leaders to stand down after 21 years MAtthew Hemley New Wolsey leadership team Sarah Holmes and Peter Rowe are stepping down from the venue after 21 years in charge. Chief executive Holmes and artistic director Rowe will leave at the end of March 2022, stating it is time to “hand this opportunity to a new generation of theatremakers”. In a joint statement, they said: “We have had an exhilarating time in Ipswich making popular, accessible theatre in this unique auditorium for more than 20 years. When we arrived in 2000 the theatre had been closed for 18 months and was in mothballs. We now go into our 2021 autumn season with our new community participation hub NW2, outdoor performance space the Bowl, a remodelled front of house and a refurbished auditorium once again full of life as we welcome audiences back.” They added: “As the New Wolsey returns to full strength, and our industry emerges from the challenges of the pandemic, with arts organisations rightly looking to diversify their leadership, it is time to hand this opportunity on to a new generation of theatremakers.” The theatre’s 2022 programme will highlight Holmes and Rowe’s 21st anniversary in charge with a programme of new plays, a new musical, co-productions and a community play. Holmes and Rowe said their stepping down “provides an appropriate anniversary to bow out and pass on a restored and refreshed organisation to a new team”. Richard Lister, chair of the New Wolsey Theatre’s board of directors, praised them for running the theatre with “tremendous dedication, energy, flair and skill”. He said: “As well as creating many memorable productions, they have created and driven major national initiatives such as Ramps on the Moon, which has inspired an industry-wide change in the employment of deaf and disabled people,” he said. He added that under their leadership the theatre had become “an essential part of the local, regional and national theatre landscape”. “They have given Ipswich a theatre to be proud of – one of national importance. We offer our thanks and look forward to continuing the journey of this organisation with a new generation of leaders,” he said. Anonymous theatre company launched to explore controversial topics Giverny Masso An anonymous theatre company has been launched to provide a platform for writers to explore controversial topics. The company, Whatsitsface, will present its debut show Boy Who Cried Woof at Camden People’s Theatre in London this month. Running as part of the venue’s Sprint Festival, the one-person show explores sex addiction and draws on the writer’s experiences. Whatsitsface plans to work with emerging writers who want to explore controversial, political or challenging social issues while protecting their identity. A company spokesperson said: “We can’t wait to craft out this new space for voices that otherwise wouldn’t be heard, like Boy Who Cried Woof, as well as many more to come. “We were moved to tears during the rehearsal process because the topics explored by this show are something many can relate to, but will never speak about it, and we’re so excited to share it.” The team behind Whatsitsface will also keep their identities secret. A representative said the company had a “diverse team, reflective of the stories [it is] presenting”. They added: “We are developing a piece of work for 2022 that could get us into hot water with a foreign government. From this, a model grew in which an anonymous identity would protect artists involved for all Whatsitsface productions. It provides a platform for writers and artists to speak freely and frankly. As the past few years have shown, freedom of speech is a fragile thing and cancel culture has prevented us from having some important conversations. From what we know, we’re the first people to operate a theatre company in this model, but we’ve been inspired by many anonymous and brilliant artists.” The company’s identity will be at the forefront of all publicity and marketing, meaning the creative teams and actors will not be named. Whatsitsface’s website will share details of other upcoming projects and any future opportunities for submissions. Derelict Hulme Hippodrome given community value status Giverny Masso Campaigners fighting to save the deteriorating Hulme Hippodrome before it becomes “derelict beyond repair” have made a big step forward, after the building was listed as an asset of community value. The status, awarded by Manchester City Council, gives campaign group Save the Hulme Hippodrome the legal right to a sixmonth pause in any sale by the theatre’s current owner to allow the organisation to raise the funds to bid for it. Protecting the theatre for the next five years, the asset of community value status also recognises the cultural and social role of the Hippodrome to the community. Located one mile south of Manchester city centre, the grade II-listed Edwardian theatre includes a main auditorium, which can seat up to 1,900 people, and the adjacent Floral Hall, which can seat another 1,000. These areas are currently disused. They are attached to a separate, smaller twin theatre called the Playhouse, which is run by arts and cultural centre NIAMOS. The Hulme Hippodrome has been on the Theatres Trust’s Theatres at Risk Register since it began in 2006 and Save the Hulme Hippodrome has warned the building “will not last another winter”. Made up of local community members, the organisation is lobbying to obtain ownership of the building and restore it to enable the return of live performance. However, the legal ownership of Hulme Hippodrome is currently in dispute. Built in 1902, the Hippodrome was last used for performance in the 1960s and then for bingo from the mid-1970s until 1986. In 2003, evangelist group Gilbert Deya Ministries purchased the building and was operating from its foyer. In 2017, Manchester City Council served the organisation with a Dangerous Buildings Notice and closed the theatre. According to Save the Hulme Hippodrome, the building was then involved in two attempted sales. The Theatres Trust said: “We have been working with Save the Hulme Hippodrome providing advice and support to its campaign to protect and secure the future of the building for the local community.” September 30 2021 heatres and performance venues in Northern Ireland will be allowed to play to full-capacity audiences from September 30 following a relaxation of social distancing rules. The decision to remove the one-metre distancing requirements that prevented some venues from reopening, and forced others to play to reduced numbers, was taken by the Northern Ireland Executive on September 27. More than 200 people attended a protest calling on Thurrock Council to save the Thameside Theatre from closure, after it was declared “surplus to requirements”. The protest was organised by the Save the Thameside Complex campaign, which is composed of local residents and creative groups. Playwrights’ Studio Scotland has increased its level of grants and bursaries as well as adding funding for mentorships, as it aims to bolster support for creatives following the pandemic. ALSO ONLINE appointments A planning application has been submitted to revive the former Assembly Hall in Framlingham, which has since housed an antiques dealership, as a 90-seat theatre. According to architects Paper House, the aim “is to achieve socially responsible and neighbourly development, with lasting social value”. Megan Swann, aged 28, has become the first woman and youngest person to be elected president of the Magic Circle in its 116-year history. Playwright Shahid Iqbal Khan has been appointed to a year-long writing attachment with the Royal Court in London and theatre company Graeae. Blayne George and Alison Holder are to lead creative training organisation the Mono Box, as founders Polly Bennett and Joan Iyiola step down. Shoreditch Town Hall has appointed Ellie Browning, who was previously at interactive theatre company Coney, as head of cultural programme. Journalist and writer Rosie Millard has been announced as chair of the board for London International Festival of Theatre.
page 5
September 30 2021 5 thestage.co.uk/news thestage.co.uk/news Equity vows to stamp out sexual harassment MAtthew Hemley Equity has vowed to put an end to the “seedy culture of misogyny and predatory workplace behaviour” in the industry. Speaking at this year’s Special Representative Conference, general secretary Paul W Fleming outlined the work the union’s members had been doing to tackle “a pernicious plague, as old only as the scourge of low pay”. “Again this year the scandal of sexual harassment reared its head in our industries. Whether allegations are current or historic, from current students or longstanding professionals, the time must now be up for seedy cultures of misogyny and predatory workplace behaviour,” he said. He added that in 2017, the union had struggled to get its voice heard. “Instead, we were drowned out by the bosses – those responsible for safe Paul W Fleming workplaces. This time that hasn’t happened – we were the first port of call for journalists, and our unique role of securing not just guidelines, but enforceable collective agreements is acknowledged by the campaign groups leading this charge,” he said. “Only a union can truly protect members from unsafe workplaces. And only our president, Maureen Beattie, has put Equity in its rightful place at the forefront of the fight against sexual harassment. Madam President, for the Safe Spaces round table and its work, thank you,” he added. In his speech, Fleming also vowed to fight for “bold new claims” for performer and stage management members in theatre. “The time is long overdue for five-day rehearsal weeks and touring accommodation befitting of a dignified, talented workforce,” he said. He also said the union would be focusing more on variety artists, and in particular, circus performers, where he said there had been a growth in women members. “We need to think about the resource we provide to our variety members, and how we can amplify the all too often marginalised voice of those women. Conference, extra support for variety members, and putting the needs of working women members at the heart of our industrial agenda remains my absolute priority,” he said. He added the union would also launch a “national campaign to deal with the poor terms, and de-professionalisation” of members working in care homes. Maureen Beattie: ‘The government is whittling away our industry’ Matthew Hemley Maureen Beattie has taken aim at the government for “whittling away” the arts and for perpetuating the divide between the wealthy and the poor. In an address to this year’s Special Representative Conference, held in London, the Equity president said the “divide between rich and poor, the haves and have-nots” was getting wider, and this had to be prevented. “We have a government at the moment that seems hell-bent on whittling away at our industry – this is about a very specific thing that is happening at the moment. I am not suggesting governments in the past have been particularly keen on us,” she said, adding that the government was “frightened” of the arts. She said this was because the arts can “speak truth to power” in a way that others cannot. “We make it into something creative and make people laugh and think in a completely different way about the troubles of the world, and point out where wrong is being done,” she said, adding: “And wrong is being done to our industry.” She said the industry brought in “vast amounts of money” to the UK economy, which was not valued by the government. She went on to highlight how the prime minister and others in his cabinet went to Eton College, a school she said had a “fully functioning proscenium-arch theatre with an artistic director”. She added the school would help any of its students excel in the arts, but that she J e n s e n i d D a v Maureen Beattie wanted this opportunity to be available to all schoolchildren. “Does your child want to learn how to play a 16th-century crumhorn? No problem – we will get a 16th-century crumhorn and somebody in to teach your child. And that is fantastic, but I want every single child in the world to be able to play a 16th-century crumhorn,” she said. Beattie added: “As always the folk at the top, who have their hands on the purse strings, know the importance of the arts and the importance of our industry, but they want to keep it to themselves and we have to be careful about not letting that happen.” Pandemic offers narrow window to transform arts education, experts warn Georgia Snow Arts education experts have warned that the UK has a limited time post-pandemic to change and enhance the way children engage with culture at school, or risk entrenching existing inequalities. Leading voices including Royal Shakespeare Company director of education Jacqui O’Hanlon, children’s author Piers Torday and education specialist Alison Peacock have called for more holistic approaches to arts education, to nurture the children and young people who have been affected by the pandemic and the loss of in-person teaching. Torday, who has written several novels for children and adapted John Masefield’s The Box of Delights for Wilton’s Music Hall, said the education sector needed to “radically rethink” the platforms given to children to express themselves. “[The pandemic has] created a golden window for change, but that will close as normal life returns. These next few months are really key in how we enable students to be heard and to articulate their anxieties and concerns about the future,” he told a panel discussion on post-pandemic arts and culture for children, hosted by London children’s theatre the Unicorn. He said the arts should be “a podium – not an add-on, not an afterthought, not a luxury, but an essential right for everyone to make art and collaborate in art”. Meanwhile, Peacock warned that without urgent efforts, schools could lose the ground gained from teaching more creatively during lockdown. “I worry that we will very quickly return to the ‘compliance agenda’ if we’re not careful... Where’s the humanity and passion? We have to put that at the forefront,” she said. O’Hanlon, who runs the RSC’s education department – the largest at a theatre in the UK – has previously warned of the potential damage the pandemic could inflict on young people’s access to the arts, arguing that it is incumbent on organisations to be proactive. This is especially important for children who are unable to engage digitally, and for young people whose only access to culture is at school, she told the panel. “I want arts subjects to have parity with other subjects, and if arts subjects have parity with other subjects, every school in the country would be arts-rich. That is what every school in the country should be,” she said. Her comments were echoed by Afsana Begum, who has worked in arts education for more than a decade and runs an all-female theatre company associated with the Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets. “When schools closed down, it was the lack of space for practical skills that we lost. Not having that space for live performances was one of the big impacts in school, especially if you live in a place where it’s impossible to develop your practical skills, like you would in school. For most of our students, the only access to the arts is at school, so if we are unable to provide that for students then they miss out completely,” she said. O’Hanlon said the problems were particularly acute at secondary schools, where issues such as the lack of arts in the English Baccalaureate, and reforms to further education, remained sources of concern within the cultural sector. “There is so much wonderful work that happens in primary, and it goes badly wrong with secondary. That’s become clear during this pandemic period,” O’Hanlon added, suggesting that the secondary education system needed an overhaul. “How is it going to enable young people to take their place in the world? It is not an exam factory, it doesn’t work,” she said. The panel discussion was held at the Unicorn Theatre in central London, where artistic director Justin Audibert said the experience of lockdown had forced the theatre company to work in new ways. Through a collaboration with a London primary school, the theatre had “moved the co-creation process into the heart of how we will make all of our engagement moving forward”, he said.

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news

New Wolsey leaders to stand down after 21 years

MAtthew Hemley

New Wolsey leadership team Sarah Holmes and Peter Rowe are stepping down from the venue after 21 years in charge.

Chief executive Holmes and artistic director Rowe will leave at the end of March 2022, stating it is time to “hand this opportunity to a new generation of theatremakers”.

In a joint statement, they said: “We have had an exhilarating time in Ipswich making popular, accessible theatre in this unique auditorium for more than 20 years. When we arrived in 2000 the theatre had been closed for 18 months and was in mothballs. We now go into our 2021 autumn season with our new community participation hub NW2, outdoor performance space the Bowl,

a remodelled front of house and a refurbished auditorium once again full of life as we welcome audiences back.”

They added: “As the New Wolsey returns to full strength, and our industry emerges from the challenges of the pandemic, with arts organisations rightly looking to diversify their leadership, it is time to hand this opportunity on to a new generation of theatremakers.”

The theatre’s 2022 programme will highlight Holmes and Rowe’s 21st anniversary in charge with a programme of new plays, a new musical, co-productions and a community play. Holmes and Rowe said their stepping down “provides an appropriate anniversary to bow out and pass on a restored and refreshed organisation to a new team”.

Richard Lister, chair of the New Wolsey Theatre’s board of directors, praised them for running the theatre with “tremendous dedication, energy, flair and skill”.

He said: “As well as creating many memorable productions, they have created and driven major national initiatives such as Ramps on the Moon, which has inspired an industry-wide change in the employment of deaf and disabled people,” he said.

He added that under their leadership the theatre had become “an essential part of the local, regional and national theatre landscape”.

“They have given Ipswich a theatre to be proud of – one of national importance. We offer our thanks and look forward to continuing the journey of this organisation with a new generation of leaders,” he said.

Anonymous theatre company launched to explore controversial topics

Giverny Masso

An anonymous theatre company has been launched to provide a platform for writers to explore controversial topics. The company, Whatsitsface, will present its debut show Boy Who Cried Woof at Camden People’s Theatre in London this month.

Running as part of the venue’s Sprint Festival, the one-person show explores sex addiction and draws on the writer’s experiences.

Whatsitsface plans to work with emerging writers who want to explore controversial, political or challenging social issues while protecting their identity.

A company spokesperson said: “We can’t wait to craft out this new space for voices that otherwise wouldn’t be heard, like Boy Who Cried Woof, as well as many more to come.

“We were moved to tears during the rehearsal process because the topics explored by this show are something many can relate to, but will never speak about it, and we’re so excited to share it.”

The team behind Whatsitsface will also keep their identities secret. A representative said the company had a “diverse team, reflective of the stories [it is] presenting”.

They added: “We are developing a piece of work for 2022 that could get us into hot water with a foreign government. From this, a model grew in which an anonymous identity would protect artists involved for all Whatsitsface productions. It provides a platform for writers and artists to speak freely and frankly. As the past few years have shown, freedom of speech is a fragile thing and cancel culture has prevented us from having some important conversations. From what we know, we’re the first people to operate a theatre company in this model, but we’ve been inspired by many anonymous and brilliant artists.”

The company’s identity will be at the forefront of all publicity and marketing, meaning the creative teams and actors will not be named.

Whatsitsface’s website will share details of other upcoming projects and any future opportunities for submissions.

Derelict Hulme Hippodrome given community value status

Giverny Masso

Campaigners fighting to save the deteriorating Hulme Hippodrome before it becomes “derelict beyond repair” have made a big step forward, after the building was listed as an asset of community value.

The status, awarded by Manchester City Council, gives campaign group Save the Hulme Hippodrome the legal right to a sixmonth pause in any sale by the theatre’s current owner to allow the organisation to raise the funds to bid for it. Protecting the theatre for the next five years, the asset of community value status also recognises the cultural and social role of the Hippodrome to the community.

Located one mile south of Manchester city centre, the grade II-listed Edwardian theatre includes a main auditorium, which can seat up to 1,900 people, and the adjacent Floral Hall, which can seat another 1,000. These areas are currently disused.

They are attached to a separate, smaller twin theatre called the Playhouse, which is run by arts and cultural centre NIAMOS.

The Hulme Hippodrome has been on the Theatres Trust’s Theatres at Risk Register since it began in 2006 and Save the Hulme Hippodrome has warned the building “will not last another winter”.

Made up of local community members, the organisation is lobbying to obtain ownership of the building and restore it to enable the return of live performance.

However, the legal ownership of Hulme Hippodrome is currently in dispute. Built in 1902, the Hippodrome was last used for performance in the 1960s and then for bingo from the mid-1970s until 1986.

In 2003, evangelist group Gilbert Deya Ministries purchased the building and was operating from its foyer. In 2017, Manchester City Council served the organisation with a Dangerous Buildings Notice and closed the theatre. According to Save the Hulme Hippodrome, the building was then involved in two attempted sales.

The Theatres Trust said: “We have been working with Save the Hulme Hippodrome providing advice and support to its campaign to protect and secure the future of the building for the local community.”

September 30 2021

heatres and performance venues in Northern Ireland will be allowed to play to full-capacity audiences from September 30 following a relaxation of social distancing rules. The decision to remove the one-metre distancing requirements that prevented some venues from reopening, and forced others to play to reduced numbers, was taken by the Northern Ireland Executive on September 27. More than 200 people attended a protest calling on Thurrock Council to save the Thameside Theatre from closure, after it was declared “surplus to requirements”. The protest was organised by the Save the Thameside Complex campaign, which is composed of local residents and creative groups. Playwrights’ Studio Scotland has increased its level of grants and bursaries as well as adding funding for mentorships, as it aims to bolster support for creatives following the pandemic.

ALSO ONLINE appointments

A planning application has been submitted to revive the former Assembly Hall in Framlingham, which has since housed an antiques dealership, as a 90-seat theatre. According to architects Paper House, the aim “is to achieve socially responsible and neighbourly development, with lasting social value”. Megan Swann, aged 28, has become the first woman and youngest person to be elected president of the Magic Circle in its 116-year history. Playwright Shahid Iqbal Khan has been appointed to a year-long writing attachment with the Royal Court in London and theatre company Graeae. Blayne George and Alison Holder are to lead creative training organisation the Mono Box, as founders Polly Bennett and Joan Iyiola step down.

Shoreditch Town Hall has appointed Ellie Browning, who was previously at interactive theatre company Coney, as head of cultural programme.

Journalist and writer Rosie Millard has been announced as chair of the board for London International Festival of Theatre.

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