The need for space - moving forward in theatre

We recently attended a conference in London called 'Ages and Stages' organised and facilitated by the wonderful London Bubble theatre company:  http://www.londonbubble.org.uk/ Already feeling inspired, challenged and determined to move our company forward/sideways depending how you look at it, this conference cemented those thoughts and urged us to take action.

Lyn Gardner, theatre critic, recently said perhaps it is now time to move theatre forward into the direction of making theatre WITH people rather than just FOR people, and we wholeheartedly embrace this statement. Theatre, for us, is so many things: and principally it has the potential and the ability to break down walls and build and strengthen communities. We have formed Liminal Community Theatre which is a community group completely and utterly dedicated to this mantra.

So what happens now? We want to work with communities - all sectors of communities, across all ages and eventually across the whole county - but small steps at first. We want to bring people together to share, to tell and communicate stories. There are many to tell - we've already discovered some! We also want to work inter-generationally to bridge the gaps between the generations. Something that is very dear to us is creating apprenticeships, volunteer opportunities and retaining our wonderful student graduates that can give so much to our city.

We need space - somewhere - to create wonderful theatre and invest in our fantastic communities. We would like theatre to become part of a central community arts hub that contains - (under one very cheap to run and operate roof, the creating and sharing of work across a range of arts disciplines. Most of all - we want to create and generate a warm and welcome space where artists and those who long to be and also those who might be but don't know it yet, can feel 'at home'. 

We would love for anyone to get on board with this venture and help fundraise to make it happen. We are also inviting interested parties to become part of a steering group to move this project forward. There is strength in numbers and to coin a well-used phrase, 'power to the people'!

:D

Theatre in a Rural Climate.

In early December we participated in Lincolnshire Open Space, an event organised by Lincolnshire County Council and facilitated by Nick Sweeting from the fabulous Theatre Company Improbable. The Open Space model is a great way of exploring problems in a relatively new format: it is very participative and involving. The event was well attended from lots of arts organisations, venues, artists and the like, and proved to be an interesting day. The aim of the day was to provide an 'open space' for artists across Lincolnshire to discuss burning issues and perhaps set future agendas to take them further. For us, this is hopefully the start of more collaboration and partnership working across the region, and an opportunity to explore sustainability as a theatre company in the current climate. 


Lincolnshire is a very rural county with as many obstacles as there are opportunities. The event opened our eyes to what an amazing county we have, and what latent talent there is here. We hope that 2012 will provide chances for us to turn these obstacles into opportunities and for us to embrace our wonderful county. It is tough, making sustainable theatre in a rural climate, and also in a difficult economic climate, but we are up for the challenge! Here's to a wonderful 2012!