The Stage

ACE unveils theatre ticket giveaway details for under 26s

Published Wednesday 17 December 2008 at 14:30 by Alistair Smith

Arts Council England has unveiled details of the more than 200 venues which will be offering 618,000 free theatre tickets to under 26-year olds over the next two years.

Organisations including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse are among those chosen to take part in the scheme, along with a number of theatre consortia including one made up of more than 65 professional arts venues and village halls in Cornwall.

A consortium of off-West End London theatres - the Almeida, Battersea Arts Centre, Bush Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Greenwich Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Hammersmith Lyric Theatre, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Young Vic - received the largest pay-out, totalling £300,000.

An award of £50,000 was given to venues including the Barbican Centre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Birmingham Rep and the HQ Theatres group - Wycombe Swan, Beck Theatre, Southend Theatres, the Wyvern Theatre Swindon and the White Rock Theatre Hastings.

ACE chief executive Alan Davey said: “Venues around the country have responded to this initiative with energy and imagination. Through their creative commitment, many more young people will experience what theatre can do - inspire, challenge, and help make sense of the world - an engagement and an inspiration that can last all their lives.

“We’re looking forward to working with the successful venues to get everything ready for an exciting week of launch activities in February.”

The scheme, which received 116 applications with 99 of them approved, will go live on February 16, 2009. It is funded by £2.5 million of extra cash from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The programme, which will be named in the new year, is designed to develop young audiences by offering them free attendance to shows at quieter times of the week, when theatres might otherwise have empty seats. It will run alongside other already existing reduced priced schemes for young people which many theatres operate.

Unveiled by culture secretary Andy Burnham in September, the scheme had originally promised to deliver one million free tickets for youngsters. This has now been reduced to 618,000.

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Burnham of ‘over-promising’ on the initiative.

He said: “Anything that gets more young people into the theatre is great news, but what has happened to Andy Burnham’s Party Conference promise to deliver one million free tickets? Once again he is guilty of over promising to get a good headline, leaving the arts council and theatres to pick up the pieces.”

However, the scheme has been welcomed by those involved.

Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican Centre, said: “This award enables us to introduce a generation of young people, who might not otherwise have come through our doors, to our fantastic programme of international theatre events.

“At the Barbican we aim to offer the highest levels of artistic excellence to the widest possible audience, and in particular we want to welcome the communities of East London. This generous award helps us achieve that aim.”

Meanwhile, Philip Bernays, chief executive of the Newcastle Theatre Royal - one of three Newcastle venues, with the Live Theatre and Northern Stage involved in the scheme - added: “The Free Theatre Initiative will give non-traditional theatregoers the means to experience and enjoy a theatre performance free of charge.

“The £30,000 Arts Council England grant awarded to Live Theatre, Northern Stage and the Theatre Royal will be used to engage with young people from Newcastle and beyond, and help to overcome the barriers which prevent these people from visiting the theatre.”

“The funding is not merely a contribution towards the cost of a ticket and in collaboration with theatre producers across the country, all three theatres will provide free tickets across a range of performances, beginning in February. The scheme will continue until 2011.”

A dedicated website will be launched in the new year, providing details of venues in your area and direct links to book free tickets. Final allocations of awards for the scheme were recommended by an overview panel including independent representatives from the Contact Theatre, Manchester, Local Government Association, Network (Audience Development Agencies Consortium), Society of London Theatres/Theatrical Management Association and Mousetrap Theatre Projects.

The full list of venues participating in the scheme is as follows:

Multi-award - 10 Awards combined totalling £300,000

London - London Off West End Consortium (Almeida, Battersea Arts Centre, Bush Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Greenwich Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Young Vic)

Premium Award - £50,000 each

Multi-Region - HQ Theatres Ltd (Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe; Beck Theatre, Hayes; Southend Theatres; The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon; White Rock Theatre; Hastings)

London

National Theatre

Barbican Centre

Rose Theatre, Kingston

South East

The Marlow Theatre, Canterbury

Chichester Festival Theatre

South West

Venue Cornwall Consortium (Hall for Cornwall, Truro; Carn to Cove [representing 62 village halls]; the Acorn Arts Centre, Penzance; Sterts Theatre, Upton Cross; The Keay Theatre, St Austell; Helford Theatre, Truro)

Theatre Royal, Plymouth

West Midlands

Malvern Theatres

Birmingham Rep

Royal Shakespeare Company

Birmingham Hippodrome

Yorkshire

West Yorkshire Playhouse

York Theatre Royal

Standard Award - £30,000 each

East Midlands

• Royal and Derngate, Northampton
• Nottingham Playhouse
• Derby Live (Assembly Rooms & Guildhall Theatre)

London

• Hackney Empire Studio Theatre
• Trafalgar Studios
• Pleasance Theatre Trust Ltd - The Pleasance Theatre Islington
• The Churchill, Bromley
• Arcola Theatre Production Company -Arcola Theatre Production Company
• Polka Children’s Theatre Limited - Polka Theatre

North East

• Newcastle Theatres (Live Theatre, Northern Stage, The Theatre Royal)
• Live Nation Venues
• Sunderland Empire

North West

• Contact
• Royal Exchange Theatre
• Dukes Playhouse
• Octagon Theatre, Bolton
• Oldham Coliseum Theatre
• Blackpool Grand Theatre
• West Cumbria Arts Partnership (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick; Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven; Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth; The Wave, Maryport, Arts Out West [West Cumbria rural touring scheme])

South East

• Nuffield Theatre, Southampton
• The Hawth, Crawley
• Oxford Playhouse
• Milton Keynes Theatre

South West

• Northcott Theatre, Exeter
• Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts

West Midlands

• New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme
• Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
• Warwick Arts Centre
• Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

Yorkshire

• Hull Truck Theatre
• Sheffield Theatres (Crucible Theatre, Lyceum Theatre, Studio Theatre)

Flexible Award - £10,000 each

Multi-Region

• Highlights Rural Touring Scheme

East

• Mercury Theatre, Colchester
• The Hat Factory, Luton
• Palace Theatre, Watford
• Junction CDC

East Midlands

• South Holland District Council - South Holland Centre

London

• Tara
• Blue Elephant Theatre
• The Albany
• Artsdepot
• Harrow Arts Centre
• Millfield Arts Centre
• Orange Tree Theatre
• Roundhouse
• Gate Theatre
• Half Moon

North East

• Darlington Civic Theatre/Darlington Arts Centre
• The Customs House

North West

• Met Arts Centre, Bury
• Library Theatre, Manchester
• Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse
• Marine Hall and Thornton Little Theatre, Wyre
• Forum twenty eight, Barrow

South East

• Farnham Maltings
• Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells
• Theatre Royal, Winchester
• West Wing Arts Centre, Slough
• Performing Arts Network Kent Consortia (PANEK; Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury; Theatre Royal Margate; Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, South Hill Park Arts Centre)
• Hampshire Small Scale Venues (Ashcroft Arts Centre, Farnham; Forest Arts Centre, New Milton; Havant Arts Centre; West End Centre, Aldershot; Winchester Discovery Centre)

South West

• Merlin Theatre
• Culture Swindon: Swindon Arts Centre, Artsmad
• Arc Theatre, Trowbridge

West Midlands

• Oakengates Theatre @ The Palace, Telford
• Playbox Theatre
• Breaking Boundaries (Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Arts Alive Touring Scheme)
• The Drum, Birmingham
• Courtyard Centre for the Arts

Yorkshire

• Lawrence Batley Theatre, Kirklees
• Plowright Theatre
• National Rural Touring Forum
• Carriage Works, Leeds
• Square Chapel Centre for the Arts
• Lamproom Theatre, Barnsley
• The Civic, Barnsley