Inspiring the Future of Theatre is a joint initiative by Society of London Theatre (SOLT), UK Theatre and charity Education & Employers, launched to nurture new generations of theatre-makers and audiences from school age, connecting schools with their local theatres.
What is Inspiring the Future of Theatre?
Theatre and the performing arts are part of the creative industries, which are worth an estimated £101bn, and are growing at almost twice the rate of the economy. If the sector is to continue to thrive, it must draw on the talent base, and build audiences, from all areas of society. To achieve this ambitious project, SOLT, UK Theatre and Inspiring the Future (run by Education and Employers charity) launched a drive to sign up industry ambassadors who will be matched with schools across the UK, taking part in events to lay the groundwork for young people to later make informed and ambitious career decisions.
Vice President of the Society of London Theatre, Kenny Wax, started the call for ambassadors:
“Our goal is to sign up 1000 Ambassadors from across the industry, to include technicians, designers, actors, creatives and administrators – with particular emphasis on roles behind the curtain – to commit to visit a local school once a year to talk about what they do – to open the eyes of children and inspire them to consider a role in the theatre.”
There are three parts to this project:
a) Volunteers: colleagues across the industry are asked to volunteer as Inspiring the Future of Theatre Ambassadors. Once signed up, Ambassadors will be invited to careers events in local schools, requiring just one hour of commitment per year.
b) Flagship events: UK Theatre, SOLT and Education and Employers coordinate careers events in schools and theatres around the country. Chosen areas are prioritised for social mobility and cultural educational development, as well as holding events in Scotland, Wales and London.
c) #InspiringFutureTheatre day: For the last three years in July, Inspiring Future Theatre Day has been celebrated, with #InspiringFutureTheatre trending UK wide and having a big impact in making less visible roles more visible. Many of the country’s theatres, arts organisations and industry professionals shared their own inspirations, education work and career success stories.
Following their first major Inspiring Future Theatre event post-pandemic, organisers are keen to put a call out for more theatre professionals to sign up as ambassadors, visit schools and inspire young people about offstage theatre careers, combating the ‘talent drain’ and ensuring the future of the theatre industry thrives. Inspiring the Future is a campaign across all sectors and always looking for new volunteers to speak in schools about their careers.
Earlier this summer, around 150 primary school students got the chance to go find out all about jobs and making theatre at Nottingham Playhouse as part of the Inspiring Future Theatre campaign to introduce young people from all backgrounds to the huge range of offstage theatre careers available.
The students watched an extract from a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Nottingham Playhouse and enjoyed a Q&A with cast members and workshops, finding out about backstage departments integral to the show, including stage management, participation and scenic painting. The day also included theatre games and a careers talk from the Nottingham Playhouse production manager and Chief Executive.
If you are a teacher or governor, you can get your school or college involved by registering your school or college on the Inspiring the Future platform and give some details about what kind of activities you’d like to do in your school. If you don’t have a theatre in your area, but would love to take part, this shouldn’t be a barrier to your taking part. Please email Siobhan Walsh (siobhan@soltukt.co.uk) to discuss what might be possible. If you have anyone interested in working in theatre, there are several resources that could help. These include:
• Get into Theatre getintotheatre.org
• Creative Choices ccskills.org.uk/careers
• TheatreCraft www.theatrecraft.org
• Official London Theatre officiallondontheatre.com/inspiring-future-theatre/lifebackstage
More information on becoming an Inspiring the Future ambassador is available at
www.inspiringthefuture.org
#InspiringFutureTheatre