Arts Council to fund free tickets for young people
December 18, 2008
Eleven theatres in Yorkshire are soon to receive grants from the Arts Council to fund free tickets. This will form part of a two-year national pilot scheme, the Free Ticket Initiative, whereby theatres will try to encourage theatregoing among those aged between 18 and 26.
The initiative, which will commence on 16 February, is to provide grants to 11 theatres in Yorkshire. Each recipient has been allotted £10,000, £30,000 or £50,000, with the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s acquisition of the maximum award likely to facilitate around 7,000 yearly free tickets. The only other Yorkshire theatre to be allocated the full (”Premium”) amount is York Theatre Royal, while Hull Truck and the Sheffield Theatres group are to receive the £30,000 (”Standard”) amount. The seven recipients of the £10,000 (”Flexible”) grant will be Leeds’ The Carriageworks, Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley, Scunthorpe’s Plowright Theatre, Square Chapel Centre for the Arts in Halifax, Barnsley’s Civic and Lamproom Theatre and the National Rural Touring Forum in North Yorkshire.
As well as stating that the project is a “great opportunity for West Yorkshire Playhouse to enhance its work with young people from Leeds and the surrounding areas”, WYP general director Sheena Wrigley was keen to highlight that there is scope for it to complement the Playhouse’s forthcoming First Floor initiative. This will aim to get youngsters aged 12 and above involved in performing arts when it begins in January, particularly those from less affluent homes or whose relationship with mainstream education has been temperamental.
“It will also add an important new dimension to the opening of First Floor,” she said, “and will allow us to build on our developing partnerships with the city’s universities and develop the links we have created through our successful Community Network initiative.” The WYP also identified those involved in First Floor as one of four types of people that it will be seeking to target with its new funding, along with disadvantaged young people, students and young people and their families. “Encouraging young people and their families to experience great live theatre is at the core of what we do at the Playhouse and this grant will enable us to achieve so much more,” explained Wrigley.
Hull Truck artistic director John Godber emphasised that the scheme coheres with the theatre’s broader aims. “We already do a lot of work to engage with young people in the area, and the Free Theatre Initiative will provide the opportunity to introduce even more young people to our company and theatre in general,” he said. “The whole ethos of Hull Truck is based around creating accessible theatre – and much work has gone into the design of the new building to make the venue as accessible as possible too – so the Free Theatre Initiative is a perfect scheme for us to be involved with at this crucial time in our history.”
Leeds City Council’s executive member for leisure, Cllr John Proctor, expressed his hope for what The Carriageworks would be able to achieve through its grant. “Theatre has the power to change lives – it can give people new insights, it can broaden their minds and help them achieve their potential. But some young people feel it is not for them. We are delighted that The Carriageworks has secured funding to develop new theatrical audiences in Leeds.”
Ivor Davies, Arts Council England’s director of performing arts for Yorkshire, claimed that, “with 11 venues across Yorkshire taking part, wherever a young person lives there should be a venue near to them offering the free tickets”.
-Simon Walker
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