All children have the right to experience our country’s world-leading theatre sector. The benefits are far reaching – it enhances children’s educational attainment and wellbeing, addresses skills shortages in the theatre sector and boosts the economy. But access is unequal. Children from low-income families are missing out the most because they are less likely to have access to cultural experiences outside of school. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has also led to teachers and parents reporting a reduction in school trips of up to 68% compared to last year, which includes theatre visits. Ahead of the next general election in 2024, the Theatre for Every Child campaign asks all political parties to commit to fund a theatre visit for every child before they leave school. A pledge supported by 84 percent of parents. The campaign was launched at an event on stage at London Palladium with campaign supporters, including the following, who said:
Co-CEO of SOLT & UK Theatre, Claire Walker:
“We believe every child has the right to experience and enjoy our country’s world-leading theatre. Despite amazing work that theatres do up and down the country, access is not equal. This is not right. Which is why we are calling on all political parties to support our call for every child to attend the theatre before they leave school.”
The theatrical form of Cabaret has entertained audiences alike for over 500 years – a French form fusing dining and entertainment – the end result creating a relaxed atmosphere for theatregoers to shut off from the harsh realities of the outside world. A celebration of variety performance, live performance is given the platform to shine, to dazzle – something increasingly important in our new day and age. Hosting an evening of glamorous, daring, flirtatious live art, Cabaret All Stars Disco promises an experience filled with lots of laughs and entertainment.
Kiln Theatre today announces the appointment of Amit Sharma as Artistic Director and CEO – he takes up the role on 1 December 2023. Sharma is currently Associate Director at Kiln Theatre, and also works as a freelance director.
The 2023 UK Theatre Awards winners were revealed today (Sunday 8 October) in a ceremony at London’s Guildhall, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett. Lyric Theatre Belfast enjoyed double celebrations with The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, a collaborative production between Lyric Theatre Belfast and Prime Cut winning Best Play revival and Garry Hynes winning Best Director for the Druid Theatre production Druid O’Casey, a trilogy of stories written by Irish dramatist Sean O’Casey. In total, Irish theatres and production companies had four nods in the winners list.
The Faber New Play Award, which offers publication to coincide with the premiere, and a prize of £5,000, was granted to the best play written by an unpublished playwright under the WGGB New Play Commission Scheme. The scheme was a response to the decline in new theatre commissions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and offered eighteen commissions for playwrights across England in 2022. Under the scheme, And The Earth Opened Up Under Her has been commissioned by Pilot Theatre, York.
A major new training programme for early-career theatre-makers, THE KNOT brings together a cohort of 25 participants to explore and interrogate the essential skills needed to create work on their own terms at a time when the business of theatre has never felt tougher.
“We have reimagined what a night of illusion can be… I think we have liberated the magic show, it’s going to be a glorious thing”, quotes Derren Brown, renowned mentalist and illusionist recognised for his unique brand of magic which helped define the British magical landscape in the early naughties. Televisual feats defying expectation and putting magic on the map! Now crafting his latest stage show Unbelievable – a co-production with the Mercury Theatre Colchester, currently available to experience at the Criterion Theatre, Brown steps back from hosting and instead channels his skill through the charm and charisma of an ensemble of illusionists.
