Setting the record straight

At the Everyman & Playhouse we welcome the debate around the prevalent topic of what role a theatre plays in its community. It is a key value to our organisation, recognised with the 2014 UK Theatre Award for Diversity as well as numerous citations in the awards won by the new Everyman building. These values were recently questioned in an article published on Arts Professional – Serving which community?. Some of the points made relate specifically to the Everyman & Playhouse, some of them talk about practices by regional theatres such as ours. As the author did not contact the theatres prior to the publication of the article, we feel it is important to address the claims it makes and explain the way our theatres work with the communities across Liverpool and the way they are deeply embedded within our organisation.

The article claims that “the vast majority of the city’s creatives will never sample [the] delights [of the new Everyman] first hand”. However, since reopening in March 2014 the Theatres have worked with more than 200 Liverpool artists – actors, writers, designers, musicians, poets and directors – through commissions, artist development and participation programmes. Script submissions are only accepted from the Liverpool City area so as to represent our city and local creatives on our stages.

Everyman and Playhouse offers opportunities to Liverpool creatives at all stages of their careers. With Graeae, disabled writers who live in Liverpool, come from Liverpool or have a relationship with our theatres are currently working on the Write to Play project: also seed commissions; artists supported through the Everyman Playhouse Talent Fund; the annually awarded LIPA Design Prize; Liverpool-based writers on attachment; professional commissions of nine plays by Liverpool playwrights; music commissions; and support for local poets. We also employ two Liverpool playwrights as mentors and two more to deliver masterclasses.

The article states that A Midsummer Night’s Dream didn’t “tap into local talent” but rather sought “graduates from some of the UK’s most prestigious acting schools”. In fact all the mechanicals in the cast were from Liverpool including Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) graduate Lewis Bray. There was a significant amount of community participation around the show linked to theatre visits: a range of youth and community groups including elders, BAME groups, first time theatre-goers including Crisis Centre for Homeless people, local Chinese students, and higher and further education groups. Recovery College created a performance in response to the show. The production also staged the first relaxed performance of a Shakespeare production by a regional theatre.  For many of these participants there was already an engagement and ownership of the work on stage when the lights went up. With Liverpool’s diverse communities represented on stage, back stage and in the audience, community was not “conspicuous by its absence” but by its presence.

Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) is about engaging young people in the ‘business in theatre’ and going beyond that to support them into the industry.  YEP is committed to a diverse demographic to reflect the diversity of our city and is non-audition entry (the current demographic of young people is 35% socio-economically disadvantaged, 15% BAME, 10% young people with disabilities).  Leadership is core to YEP ethos and young people drive YEP activity and are involved in decision-making processes and leading initiatives in the professional Company. For this work YEP won the Stage Award Best Drama School this year which demonstrates the inclusivity and impact this youth programme has. The young people work alongside professional staff and are supported into further training and employment. There are progression routes with members gaining employment on our stages and in theatres nationally. In the last eighteen months, five of our in-house shows have involved Young Directors as Assistant Directors; two Young Producers had internships and moved on to assistant producer roles at the National Theatre and Headlong Theatre; and Liverpool writer Jeff Young wrote a part for a young actor into Bright Phoenix at the Everyman which launched his career with further work at the Royal Exchange Theatre. All together, in one year six Young Actors performed in professional work on the main stages. Another group of six Young Actors toured a play, Half Baked, nationally. Lewis Bray’s debut play was developed and produced in the Playhouse Studio. YEP actors were also part of the cast in A View From The Bridge at the Playhouse last year, and 17 actors from Liverpool’s wider creative community formed the ensemble for The Hook at the Everyman this year, while different choirs from the city’s creative community performed every night for The Events in the Everyman’s opening season.

The opportunity for community creatives within the Everyman & Playhouse is not restricted to those “not falling into such highly stratified groups [of disability and youth initiatives]” that the article references in relation to regional theatres like ours. In Everyman & Playhouse since March 2014 more than 40 local artists and storytellers of all ages and backgrounds have participated in regular Platform events and Everyword Festival included 50 local creatives – musicians, playwrights, directors and storytellers, with local actors telling those stories. The new writers’ room at the Everyman, a free facility accessible to all, has been used by 520 people and the Literary team offer free script advice every Friday in drop-in sessions.

The article claims that the Everyman & Playhouse has a “wilfully restrictive interpretation of the concepts of inclusion and community”. The new Everyman Theatre was built with a commitment to its communities and to local people, symbolized in the portrait wall façade with 105 local people from a diverse range of Liverpool communities.  Its high profile opening event was designed with Liverpool’s communities at its heart with 332 members from 24 diverse communities working alongside artists and theatres staff to create and perform the lantern parade.  The Theatres have since worked with over 30,000 participants in its education, youth and community programmes. Having the new building has allowed additional activity involving young people and communities in the ‘business of producing theatre’, including a new dedicated space for young people and community activity which is in use seven days a week. Since the opening of the Everyman Theatre there have been 19 productions and performance events on the main stages by youth and community groups. In addition members of the community have been involved in the acting ensembles in four of those productions. 1,923 Community Rate tickets have been issued to people who had never felt able to attend our theatres before. Each of these tickets includes not just the play but pre- or post-show experiences with the community groups, representing an entirely different experience from the “multiplex” David references.

The article accuses theatres such as ours employing education and community officers to work with the community as being “superficial as well as wholly inadequate”. Far from the Theatres work in inclusion being superficial or inadequate, our work involves long-term partnerships across a number of sectors. In education over 8,000 pupils have engaged in activity to increase their knowledge skills and experience of theatre-making and the theatre industry since the Everyman opened. This is informed by the Drama Teachers Forums which represents nearly 100 educational organisations in the city region. To further the impact of the work between the schools and the Theatres there are over 20 partnership programmes each year involving bespoke activity to support schools in the teaching of performing arts as well as theatre visits and performance projects enabling pupils to develop work for the main stages. To increase the impact in schools the Theatres provide INSET training for teachers. Similarly five local Higher Education institutions have committed programmes and partnerships with Everyman and Playhouse including a principle partnership with Liverpool John Moore’s University. The Theatres Community programme which has engaged over 8,000 participants since the opening of the Everyman is a major commitment from the Theatres.

Liverpool suffers some of the most extreme deprivation and child poverty nationally and the Theatres over the last six years have demonstrated a commitment to addressing inequalities. “I have found Liverpool Everyman to be the most forward thinking and innovative arts organisation who are constantly striving to improve their offer to the community”, said Del Millward of Liverpool Targeted Services for Young People. Statutory services have identified specific ward priorities which the Theatres have worked to improve while also supporting under-represented people to experience and participate in theatre – a far cry from “occasional disability and alcoholism initiates” and the “narrow definition of community and inclusion” which the article claims. At the Everyman & Playhouse, the five year Art Valley programme demonstrates depth of engagement and impact with significant outputs including 20,732 participant experiences, 63 events and live performances, 90 local and national artists and 13 international artists working in the community in 1,400 arts facilitated sessions with 85 community organisations. Outcomes from this project are broad but three examples are: 1) Negotiating anti-social behaviour orders for families to include artistic participation for parents and children resulting in artistic hoardings to cover an unsafe site 2) Working with mums on Stonedale Estate to develop a bus for a regular artistic programme to decrease anti-social behaviour on the estate culminating in 0% on Mischief night. 3) Using a shop in Norris Green, perceived as ‘the most dangerous street in Liverpool’ (Liverpool Echo) to engage ‘at risk’ young men at night in positive activity and support them in gaining accreditation in the arts.

The article goes on to state theatres like the Everyman & Playhouse lack commitment and that disability and youth initiatives “equate to boxes ticked and cash secured”. Everyman & Playhouse have, over time, developed initial community interventions into longer-term sustained programmes in theatre making for young people. From the young men on the streets of Norris Green engaging in a creative construction programme which trained those ‘at risk’ in carpentry, metal work and design. This has been developed into the Creative Construction Programme with a group of young offenders. Reoffending costs can reach £13 billion a year in the UK (National Audit Office) and 70 per cent of young offenders released from custody re-offend within a year (2014 Ministry of Justice). From the 12 young men who committed to the project 100% did not reoffended in the six months from completion of the project and 100% of the young men who didn’t have sentences before the start of the project went on into positive progression – all into professional training/apprenticeships or employment.

The Theatres are committed to diversity and inclusion and are very driven in involving under-represented people in the business of theatre. This commitment won Everyman and Playhouse the TMA award for Promoting Diversity 2014. An example of work that contributed to that involved engaging young men on the streets at night using light which developed into the current annual Bass Techs programme. BAME young people and those not in employment, education or training are trained ‘on the job’ as sound and light technicians with 100% going into employment last year. John Marshall of The Prince’s Trust described the work carried out with the local young people involved as “outstanding”: “The Everyman staff share a positive, encouraging, understanding and caring nature with the young people who come from diverse backgrounds.”

To respond specifically to the claims about disability initiatives, the Theatres are working in partnership with a range of organisations including DaDaFest, and since the Everyman opened has involved an access forum, training of all staff and youth-led initiatives. The Theatres have collaborated on two Young DaDaFest events at the Everyman involving both developing theatre and showcasing the work of young disabled artists on the Everyman main stage. The theatres have also programmed work involving disabled artists or involving the stories and experiences of disabled people. Disability isn’t an initiative at the Theatres – it is a committed development across the organisation.

The article states that both youth and community are “useful to a theatre to secure funding but less useful when it involves engaging community in the business of producing theatre”. The largest investment by Everyman and Playhouse in engaging the community is in Young Everyman and Playhouse which provides a navigable route for young people, some of whom are engaged for the first time in community intervention through to professional training and employment in theatre-making.  Through YEP membership young people from across the Liverpool region can access £5 discounted theatre tickets for any of our shows and currently more than 2,500 young people are members.  Uniquely, there are also strands in acting, technical theatre, communications, producing and directing which engage up to 200 regular participants in a minimum of 15 sessions a week. Theatre staff across the organisation are involved in the delivery of YEP, providing the opportunity for young people to work alongside professionals all of which refute the article’s suggestion that youth initiatives are tick-box exercises and lack commitment from Theatres like the Everyman & Playhouse. Colleen Martin at Liverpool City Council has testified to this: “The work that the Everyman Playhouse has undertaken with Liverpool City Council with some of the most disadvantaged and challenging young people in the city has been exceptional.”