The Consortium
As part of our dedication to community building locally, we are setting up a consortium of 4 local Theatre and Arts organisations.
Funding is becoming more scarce, fewer people are coming to watch shows in traditional theatre settings and the combination of the cost of living crisis, the Covid Pandemic and Brexit has brought our sector to its knees. Alongside this, the government is stripping the Arts out of our schools, despite the fact that the creative industries in this country are a thing of national pride. In 2022, the creative industries generated an estimated £126 billion in gross value added to the UK economy and employed 2.4 million people.
The consortium will work together to find our way through this tricky time.
We will be working with 3 other amazing local companies to try and problem solve together ways of becoming more resilient, by pooling resources, knowledge and networks to find our way through collectively. The benefit of this work will ripple out to the other companies we all work with as freelancers, finding ways to be stronger together.
The Consortium members joining us are:
Front Room Theatre is an award-winning venue and producing company based in Weston-super-Mare. We are passionate about using the arts as a powerful tool for social change. Our mission is to make high-quality theatre and creative opportunities accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or income.
We believe that cultural participation goes far beyond entertainment, it builds confidence, fosters a sense of belonging, and creates pathways to new opportunities.
Alongside presenting high-quality touring theatre in Weston, we also offer a range of community-focused programmes. These include skills workshops, performance groups, mentorship for local artists, and arts outreach for community groups and schools. We also provide professional commissions and artist residencies for creatives in the local area.
In addition to hosting other artists, we produce our own original work, which we tour across the South West and beyond; reaching both established venues and underserved community spaces with limited access to theatre.
Our impact has been nationally recognised: we are proud winners of The Small Awards’ "Best Social Enterprise Business" in the Mission Possible category, and finalists in the Green Growth Awards for our commitment to sustainable practices and eco-conscious touring.
Roustabout is a company dedicated to creating epic theatre for family audiences. We explore the biggest of questions in the silliest of ways, using play as a way to engage with some of the more complex & serious realities of the world we live in.
Roustabout Theatre is an award-winning team of theatre makers based in North Somerset and Bristol, born out of ten years of collaboration, fun and nonsense. We seek out extraordinary tales, both true and imagined, and tell them with clarity, simplicity, humour and a wild imagination. Performed in theatres, schools, libraries & community venues, our work is for audiences of all ages, for anyone who loves play, and for anyone who delights in the communal act of sharing a story.
Tidal Tales Collective
Tidal Tales Collective CIC (TTC) is a theatre company based in the South West of England.
They use design, music & theatre to make striking folk-theatre that finds cultural connections through world stories and songs. Through a blend of modern and traditional forms, TTC explore the commonality of all people, our interwoven history & our reliance on the health of the planet.
TTC brings together 30 years plus of experience in the Arts to create new female led theatre. Their backgrounds are hugely diverse & distinguished, including work with indigenous communities in Australia & environmental activist groups to high budget Hollywood films for Warner Bros, Disney/Marvel and Universal and with world renowned organisations such as The Royal Shakespeare Company, Sky TV, The National Theatre, The Young Vic, The Barbican, & many more. They bring this huge bank of varied experience together to create excellent theatre and make use of these skills and experience to support & strengthen communities and the environment.
They are passionate about bringing work to audiences who don't get to access arts and culture and have partnered with several key local organisations including Heart of BS13, Trinity Arts, Front Room Weston and Taunton Brewhouse to ensure their work reaches and connects to their target communities.
