Venues have joined forces to make the North East a hotspot for children’s theatre, as DAVID WHETSTONE reports
PANTO time is when most children get taken to the theatre but a new consortium of North East venues is keen to make it a more frequent occurrence.
The North East Children’s Theatre Consortium aims to increase theatre provision for young audiences across the region and raise the quality of what’s on offer.
At a time when stories about budget cuts have figured prominently, the consortium looks like an initiative to lighten the gloom.
It is the brainchild of Miranda Thain, creative producer of the region’s specialist theatre company for young people, Darlington-based Theatre Hullabaloo.
Miranda says the idea was driven by the appetite for children’s theatre across the region and the fact some venues were programming work that wasn’t very good.
TV spin-off shows and “large stadium stuff” may pull in family audiences but Miranda believes they don’t always offer much mental stimulus.
Partners in the consortium, she says, “share the belief that children and young people have an entitlement to regular access to theatre of the highest quality in order to stir their imaginations, inspire their hearts and challenge their minds”.
Plenty of that sort of work can be seen in the annual Takeoff Festival of theatre for children and young people which has taken place in the North East since 1997 and is also masterminded by Theatre Hullabaloo.
The 2012 festival took place in Durham, following the closure of Darlington Arts Centre, with a three-day conference and shows by various British and European companies over six days.
“There are lots of little venues in the North East that programme a variety of work, including theatre for children and young people, and we invited them to come and talk to us about how we might work collaboratively,” says Miranda.
“Just as we started to talk about this the Arts Council came up with a new fund called Strategic Touring to encourage different theatre touring models. We decided to apply for funding, having agreed to work with these other venues, and were very successful in securing £166,000 for three years.”
The consortium, led by Theatre Hullabaloo, includes Arts Centre Washington, Gala Theatre, Durham, Darlington Civic Theatre, Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre, Lamplight Arts Centre, Stanley, and Middlesbrough Town Hall Theatre.
