Theatre Royal's Open Door initiative
Newcastle's biggest theatre is investing in a scheme to nurture talent
Countless celebrated performers and hit shows have graced the Theatre Royal stage but now the Newcastle venue is to open its doors to help local talent reach the heights.
It is investing in a talent development programme called Open Door aimed at aspiring North East theatre people who could do with some help in reaching audiences.
The initiative is also intended as a contribution to making the region’s creative industries sustainable through talent retention and by enabling good ideas to take root.
While the Theatre Royal is primarily seen as a receiving house, a popular stopover for top touring shows, Open Door will see it playing a bigger part in generating new material.
It has entered into a partnership with Eastlake Productions, founded by Jamie Eastlake who will work with its creative engagement team as consultant producer of Open Door.
Jamie, from Blyth, returned to the region to establish Laurels, the little upstairs fringe theatre in Whitley Bay, after a period in London which culminated in him winning an Olivier Award (recognising excellence in professional theatre).
Towards the end of last year his hit show Gerry & Sewell, inspired by Jonathan Tulloch’s novel The Season Ticket and telling of two football daft Tyneside lads, ran on the Theatre Royal main stage.
It was a rare example of a North East story progressing from a small grassroots venue, Laurels, to the bigger Live Theatre and finally to a 1,000-seat auditorium, selling out and earning ovations along the way.
Having parted company with Laurels after four years, Jamie is now free to lend his nurturing and talent spotting skills to Open Door.
Theatre Royal chief executive Marianne Locatori said the venue had an important role not only in presenting the best touring productions but in supporting the region’s “creative ecology”.
One way of doing that was to celebrate North East talent by providing opportunities “right here on our doorstep”.
Unlike West End theatres which are purely commercially driven, the Theatre Royal is a charitable trust (although it receives no subsidy).
Marianne said of Open Door: “This is about us complementing what already exists, looking at the bigger picture to see how we can support artists so they can have a viable career in the North East.
“We have infrastructure that can support artists and smaller companies and organisations.”
The Theatre Royal, a grand presence on Grey Street, is also more familiar to most people than other theatres. Even if they don’t go, they know of it.
“We’re very lucky in that regard,” agreed Marianne.
Jamie said: “The validity is huge. A lot of my mates have never really understood what I did as a career but when I told them about the Theatre Royal, they said, ‘You’ve finally made it!’
“After 20 years!”
Jamie sees the North East as “a hotbed of artistic talent with a huge amount of creative ambition”.
Freed from the pressures of venue management and with his finger on the pulse, to say nothing of his experience as writer, director and producer, he relishes this new challenge.
“First we open the door, offer some seed funding from the Theatre Royal to begin with and then get up to speed, creating a pathway to develop whatever it might be.
“Over the past 10 or 12 years I’ve worked in smaller spaces and had to manage infrastructure at the same time. Now I can just focus on making the work as good as it can be and finding stages for it.
“I don’t want to call it the Gerry & Sewell model but I imagine that sort of scaling up.”
Participants in Open Door will get £2,500 plus four weeks of dedicated research and performance space and access to mentoring from industry professionals.
It’s the latest element of the Theatre Royal’s growing creative engagement programme which includes a range of activities and opportunities away from the glitz of main stage performances.
According to Kim Hoffmann, head of creative engagement, this (to many) less visible aspect of the Theatre Royal’s work is “front and centre” with talent development part of the organisational strategy.
A key part is Project A, the theatre’s year-long actor training course for people aged 18 to 25 and a godsend for those who can’t or prefer not to leave the region.
This year marks its 10th anniversary and its swelling band of graduates includes Rosie Bowden who works for Eastlake Productions and so will be closely involved in Open Door.
Project A is based in the Theatre Royal’s recently refurbished studio theatre which is also to be used for Open Door.
“What we were keen to do was to use our studio space more,” said Kim.
“It has always been a good space, compromised by its internal pillars but made as flexible and dynamic as possible by the refurbishment so that we can host a variety of productions or live performances there.
“One thing we were keen to do was provide opportunities for people within the industry, or wanting to break into it, to develop their artistry.”
The previous collaboration with Eastlake Productions had showed they shared an ambition for developing work and supporting creative talent.
“All work, at every scale, starts somewhere and it can be incredibly difficult to access the space and support to develop new work in its early stages,” Kim added.
“Having taken Gerry & Sewell from Laurels via Live to a smash-hit week on our main stage, Jamie and his team have the knowledge and experience to mentor and support emerging talent.”
Following a targeted call out for submissions, the Theatre Royal and Eastlake Productions will shortlist and meet those with the potential to be part of the inaugural Open Door programme.
Could what emerges be the next big thing?
For further information about Open Door, go to the Theatre Royal website.