Wonder Fools (SCIO) Charity Number: SC047673 Annual Report 2017 – 2018

Trustees:

Contents

• Charity Information – 3 • Structure, Governance and Management – 4 • Objectives and Activities – 4 • Chair Statement – 5 • Programme of Work – 6 • Programme Details – 9 • Feedback – 12 • Financial Review – 15 • Looking Forward – 15 • Thank Yous – 15 • Closing Statement – 16 • Independent Examiner’s Report – 17 • Receipts and Payments Account – 18 • Statement of Balances – 19 • Notes to the Accounts – 20-22

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Charity Information

The trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31st August 2018.

Reference and Administrative Information:

Charity name Wonder Fools SCIO

Charity no SC047673

Address 3/1 17 Cumming Drive Glasgow G42 9AE

Current Trustees – Chair – Secretary –Treasurer

resigned 11/1/2018

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Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution The Charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (a SCIO). It was registered in its current legal form on 24th August 2017. It has a single tier structure and as such the trustees are the members of the charity.

Appointment of trustees Wonder Fools (SCIO)’s board is made up of the charity’s trustees. Trustees are elected at the annual general meeting. There must be a minimum of three and a maximum of twelve trustees.

Volunteer Hours of Trustees The running of our charity depends on a high amount of volunteer hours throughout the year in order to deliver our different projects. These hours include administration, facilitation, performing and producing.

In 2017/18 charity trustees and recorded a total of 639 volunteer hours each, with a monthly average of 53.25 hours. recorded a total of 54 hours volunteer work. who performed in The Coolidge Effect, recorded a total of 62 hours. recorded 40 hours.

Objectives and Activities

Charitable purposes Our charitable purpose is from Section G of the 2005 Act. Our charitable purpose is the advancement of the arts and culture.

Activities Our primary activity is to create and produce theatre productions. As a company we are interested in exploring different forms and subject matters, as well as different processes of making work. By curating our programme in this way we believe our SCIO reaches a broad and a diverse range of audiences.

Each Wonder Fools production has an accompanying Creative Learning programme for young people, adults with learning difficulties and community groups, dealing with the different themes explored in our performances.

In addition to the main programme of theatre productions and Creative Learning, we produce performance installations that can be toured outside traditional theatre venues by targeting community events and arts festivals, reaching different audiences through these events.

We curate and produce an ongoing contemporary variety night to fuse different art forms and audiences in one exciting night of new work. The nights place an emphasis on programming emerging artists in different fields such as poetry, performance, music, theatre, film and visual arts.

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Chair’s Statement

We have had a productive and engaging first year as a registered charity at Wonder Fools. We have enjoyed developing existing work further, creating exciting new performances, collaborating with artists both familiar and new, and championing the untold stories of historical and contemporary . Our work strives to prioritise engaging with both traditional and non-traditional theatre audiences and we are proud to place this core aim at the heart of how we program, create and deliver work.

Following our formation as a SCIO, 2017/18 has been our most productive year to date as a company. We have pursued our charitable aims – the advancement of the arts and culture – through a variety of theatre productions and creative learning workshops. Wonder Fools’ production of The Coolidge Effect undertook its first professional tour to the Tron Theatre, Glasgow; , ; Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling and the New Diorama, London. Alongside the production was a creative learning package for a variety of different groups. The show returned for dates in Glasgow at the Citizens Theatre and then at New Diorama again and HOME, Manchester as part of INCOMING Festival in June/July 2018.

In November 2017, Wonder Fools produced an existing work for the first time – Lampedusa. The show was a Citizens Theatre production in association with Wonder Fools and ran from 8 – 18 November. Alongside the production was a post-show talk and an afternoon celebrating the rich diversity and culture of Glasgow with music, poetry and dance. Lampedusa was a fantastic demonstration of the company’s commitment to engaging new audiences in a myriad of ways and we would like to thank our co-producers Citizens Theatre.

After almost three years of development, including researching and interviewing family members of the people involved, Wonder Fools debuted 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War in February 2018. A true representation of what the company is all about, the play was developed in the Prestonpans community, where the play begins, and was first performed in the town hall there to specifically engage audiences in the area who might not otherwise attend. Following this, the play transferred to the Citizens Theatre and the more conventional theatre space of the Circle Studio. Both shows sold out over a month in advance, demonstrating the significant resonance the story has and we look forward to taking this work further and wider in 2018/19. We would like to thank all of the funders and contributors who made the performances possible.

Finally, Wonder Fools would like to thank all of the incredible artists, audiences and participants we have connected with across the year. It has been a privilege to undertake such a wide-ranging and successful first year as Wonder Fools (SCIO) and we look forward to the future.

Chair

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Programme of Work

The period of 2017/18 saw Wonder Fools focus on simultaneously producing three different productions on a professional level, along with accompanying creative learning programmes.

Alongside our three main productions, in total we ran 13 workshops, developed 2 new shows, worked with 27 different artists, and our productions had a total audience of 1919 people.

1919 13 workshops 2 27 audience members developments collaborators

We undertook the first professional tour of The Coolidge Effect to venues across Scotland and down to London. The Coolidge Effect is an interactive performance that uses storytelling, poetry and science to examine how pornography affects our mental health and sexual experiences. The tour began at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh before transferring to the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, the Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling and the New Diorama Theatre, London as part of the showcase for the companies involved in the New Diorama’s Graduate Emerging Companies scheme. The tour was a natural progression for a production that had begun life at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as and degree show, then went on be developed at scratch performances and one-off performances before being delivered to this wider audience in the winter of 2017.

The Coolidge Effect’s life continued into 2018. The The Coolidge Effect – Tron Theatre, Glasgow – September 2017 themes of this show – around mental health, the internet and pornography – remain topical and the company is keen to do as many performances as possible as long as the issues remain relevant. In addition, the show involves only two performers, travels on public transport, and everything needed to perform it travels in a suitcase – this is to be environmentally sustainable and to enable us to perform anywhere. Taking that all into account, Wonder Fools began 2018 with a performance in a shipping container at Big Burns Supper, Dumfries. As well as performing to an intimate and engaged audience, the conversations after the show were

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fruitful and involved speaking to the NHS Dumfries and Galloway and we look forward to connecting with them in the future.

Wonder Fools were invited to participate at INCOMING Festival, a curation of the best emerging companies in the UK, in the Summer of 2018. Alongside this we planned a couple of “home” shows in Glasgow which took place at the Citizens Theatre. INCOMING itself took us to New Diorama Theatre, London – for the second time in eight months – and to HOME, Manchester. It was a fantastic platform for the company to perform The Coolidge Effect, a privilege to be selected and involved, and invaluable to participate and connect with other likeminded artists and organisations.

In November 2017, the Citizens Theatre in association with Wonder Fools staged the Scottish premiere of Lampedusa by . This was the first time the company had tackled an existing text by another playwright and it was a thrill to collaborate with who is also a political activist. The play itself is a pair of intertwining monologues about the migrant crisis, one about an Italian fisherman who collects the bodies of migrants trying to cross Lampedusa – Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – November 2017 the Mediterranean and the other about a mixed-race woman from Leeds trying to fund her degree by working for a payday loan company.

The production was on for two weeks. There was a post-show talk with director (Activist, Theatre Maker and Community Development Worker) and (Researcher, Practitioner and Activist who also lectures at Glasgow University). In addition, there was a creative learning workshop at St Andrew’s RC Secondary in Glasgow and an open doors afternoon inside the Citizens Lampedusa Celebration Afternoon – Citizens Theatre – 17 November celebrating the culture and diversity of Glasgow. The afternoon involved included performances of Albanian singing, Indian stick dancing, spoken word, Bollywood dancing, Persian / Flamenco dancing, and composer of Lampedusa, , singing songs. Over 60 people attended throughout the day and the event achieved what we wanted it to: to highlight and spark a conversation about the migrant crisis and we did this in a hugely positive way, by celebrating the rich culture and diversity of Glasgow.

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549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War follows the story of four miners from Prestonpans who in 1936 travelled from Scotland to fight against fascism in Spain. It was another production in 2017-18 that began life at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Following this, the show was developed over a three-year period with an extensive research process in Prestonpans interviewing family members, historians and archivists. After working within this community to create the play, it felt only fitting that Wonder Fools’ staged the first professional production in Prestonpans as well. We chose Prestonpans Town Hall, a traditional civic space that would have been known to the four miners in the story. We partnered with the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh who provided technical and logistical support. Making work with and within communities is at the heart of what Wonder Fools are about and it was a special, rewarding time to spend so much time in Prestonpans both creating and delivering the production.

Following the week in Prestonpans, 549 transferred to the Citizens Theatre, Circle Studio. We deliberately wanted to combine Prestonpans Town Hall with a more conventional theatre space in order to attract a more conventional theatre audience to the show. In this respect, 549 succeeded in fulfilling one of the key aims of the company: to make work that will attract 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War – Prestonpans Town Hall – February 2018 both traditional and non- traditional audiences. Both Prestonpans and Citizens Theatre’s week-long runs sold out over a month in advance and we added an extra matinee performance for both venues. This demonstrates the resonance the story had for many people and that the social and political dimensions, not to mention the national importance of the story, connected with audiences. We look forward to taking the success and momentum of 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War into a future life for the show.

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Programme Details

Productions

The Coolidge Effect

o Winter 2017 Tour

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh – 20 – 22 September – 228 audience members Tron Theatre, Glasgow – 27 – 30 September – 142 audience members Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling – 20 October – 24 audience members New Diorama Theatre, London – 18 November – 9 audience members

o Big Burns Supper 2019

Big Burns Supper, Dumfries – 20 January – 11 audience members

o Summer 2018 Tour

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – 20 – 21 June – 22 audience members New Diorama Theatre, London – 30 June – 13 audience members HOME, Manchester – 1 July – 18 audience members

467 20 performances audience members

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11 performances

641 Lampedusa audience members

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – 8 – 18 November – 641 audience members

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War

Prestonpans Town Hall – 7 – 10 February – 399 (25 school performance) audience members Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – 13 – 17 February – 412 audience members

811 12 performances audience members

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Participation • The Coolidge Effect

o Creative Learning:

Summerhall Physical Theatre Course, Edinburgh – 21 September 2017 – 18 participants MGA Academy of Performing Arts, Edinburgh– 21 September 2017 – 22

• 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War

o Creative Learning:

Preston Lodge High School (Higher) – 15 January 2017 – 19 Prestonpans Youth Theatre – 15 January 2017 – 12 Tranent Youth Theatre – 15 January 2017 – 8 Preston Lodge High School (S5/S6) – 16 January 2017 – 21 Gullane Youth Theatre – 16 January 2017 – 14 Dunbar Youth Theatre – 17 January 2017 – 18 Preston Lodge High School (Nat 5) – 18 January 2017 – 16

• Lampedusa

o Creative Learning:

St Andrew’s RC Secondary, Glasgow – 15 November 2017 – 32 participants

o Celebration Afternoon:

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – 17 November – Between 60 and 100

• A Man’s A Man For A’ Whit? (Sometimes the Rain Doesn’t Stop Here) Development

MGA Academy of Performing Arts, Edinburgh – 2 March 2018 – 22

Performance Installations • This Is What You Look Like

Kelburn Garden Party, Largs – 29 June – 1 July 2018 Citadel Festival, London – 15 July 2018

Development • A Man’s A Man For A’ Whit? (Sometimes the Rain Doesn’t Stop Here)

Development: , Edinburgh 26th – 3rd March 2018 Sharing: 3rd March • Hereafter Development: Platform, Easterhouse – 7 – 8 July 2018

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Feedback • The Coolidge Effect

• REVIEWS

o “Forceful mix of factual information, fictional storytelling, movement and reflection" - The Scotsman o “Wonder Fools are talented theatre-makers and it’s exciting to see an emerging theatre company making such a varied piece and doing so with a noticeable confidence” – Exeunt Magazine o “Immersive, educational and political […] Wonder Fools have created an impactful and visceral piece of work” – The Fountain

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• Lampedusa

• REVIEWS o "A zeitgeist-capturing evocation of hope" – ★★★★ The Herald o “Impassioned political theatre and a beacon of optimism” – ★★★★ The List o production delivers an evening worth remembering” – ★★★★ Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman o well-judged production is enhanced by a soundtrack of increasingly insistent solo guitar” – ★★★★ The Times o ★★★★★ Reviews Hub o ★★★★ Daily Record o ★★★★ The Wee Review

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• 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War

• REVIEWS o “ reimagined for a small town function room” ★★★★ The Herald o “There is a special thrill in seeing the play performed, this week, in Prestonpans Town Hall, a building these men would have known well, in front of the kind of local audience, reliving part of their own history, that has been thin on the ground in Scottish theatre since the demise of 7:84 Scotland and Wildcat” ★★★★ The Scotsman o “Brilliantly executed” ★★★★ Reviews Hub

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Financial review

Our main sources of funding are donations, box office income and grants.

Our fundraising efforts this year have concentrated on the delivery of our main theatre productions and creative learning.

The charity generated a surplus of £673 in the year. At 31 August 2018 the charity held unrestricted funds of £673 and no restricted funds.

Looking Forward

Following the success of The Coolidge Effect in 17/18 and connecting with the NHS Dumfries and Galloway after the Big Burns Supper performance, we have been discussing bring The Coolidge Effect back down to the region for a series of performances specifically targeting young people. We look forward to progressing with these plans and performing the show to the demographic we believe would take most value from seeing the work.

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War took real momentum from its first professional staging in February in terms of audience engagement, critical reception and interested programmers. We are planning to deliver an extensive Scottish tour, with further dates in London, in May/June 2019. We have already secured Creative Scotland funding towards the tour and we look forward to delivering an expansive creative learning programme around the production and will work hard to secure the funding to achieve this.

Thank You

As a priority we must extend our gratitude to the freelance staff and artists that joined Wonder Fools during the delivery of our projects this year. Without their hard work, creativity and passion for the company’s core aims and ideas we would not have delivered the quality of work we achieved.

We, of course, would also like to extend a thank you to all our participants and audience, without whom Wonder Fools would be empty. Your input and positivity towards our work drives us in continuing to make theatre and tell stories.

Thank you to all the partner organisations, funders and supporters of the company and specific projects. We thrive off collaborating with external organisations and, especially as a young company, continue to learn and be inspired by those we work with. We’d like to give specific thanks in our inaugural year to the Citizens Theatre, New Diorama Theatre and the Brunton Theatre.

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Receipts and Payments Account

Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds Receipts Notes £ £ £

Donations 2 7,365 - 7,365 Grants 3 - 4,000 4,000 Trading Income 4 6,938 - 6,938 14,303 4,000 18,303 Payments

Charitable Activities Costs 5 2,185 291 2,476 Trading Costs 6 11,445 3,709 15,154 13,630 4,000 17,630

Net Receipts/-Payments 673 - 673

Transfers Between Funds - - -

Net Surplus/ -Deficit for the Year 673 - 673

Funds Brought Forward - - -

Funds Carried Forward 8 £673 £0 £673

The notes on pages 20 to 22 form an integral part of these accounts.

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Notes to the Accounts

1. Basis of Preparation

These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

2. Donations Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £

The Reward Foundation 200 200 Hargreave & Nurse 150 150 The Battle of Prestonpans 1,000 1,000 ASLEF 250 250 Prestonpans Labour Club 750 750 Hospitality Venture Ltd 250 250 Peter Ford 200 200 Brunton Theatre 1,900 1,900 Other donations 2,665 2,665 7,365 - 7,365

3. Grants Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £

East Lothian Council - 4,000 4,000

4. Trading Income Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £

Box office 6,938 - 6,938

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Notes to the Accounts – cont’d

5. Charitable Activities Costs Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £

Bank charges 6 6 Equipment 220 220 Events 228 228 Insurance 221 221 Printing & publicity 402 291 693 Sundry costs 13 13 Travel & accommodation 877 877 Website costs 218 218 2,185 291 2,476

6. Trading Costs Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £

Cast Fees 4,280 3,144 7,424 Director Fees 1,000 1,000 Producer Fees 1,800 1,800 Lighting Designer 1,000 1,000 Venue hire 1,015 485 1,500 Set costs 1,878 80 1,958 Photography 472 472 11,445 3,709 15,154

7. Related Party Transactions

The trustees received no remuneration or expenses during the year (2018: Nil)

Two trustees were paid a total of £1,000 each in performer and director fees in relation to Wonder Fool's production 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War.

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Notes to the Accounts – cont’d

8. Funds Analysis Opening Closing Balance Balance Unrestricted 24 Aug 17 Receipts Payments Transfers 31 Aug 18

General - 5,889 (1,553) 4,336 TCE - 2,699 (1,365) 1,334 WF549 - 5,715 (10,712) (4,997) - 14,303 (13,630) - 673 Restricted

East Lothian Council - 4,000 (4,000) - -

Grand Total - 18,303 (17,630) - 673

9. Nature and Purpose of Funds

General – free, unrestricted reserves to cover core costs, including the cost of developing new work TCE – income and expenditure relating to the theatre production, ‘The Coolidge Effect’ WF549 – income and expenditure relating to the theatre production, ‘549: Scots in the Spanish Civil War’

East Lothian Council – funding to support the delivery of ‘549: Scots in the Spanish Civil War’

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