Gaslight The Snow Queen Richard Alston Dance Company

Annual Report Summary 2015/16

This year we reached more than half a million Arthur Miller’s The Hook in a co‑production with to upgrade the Derngate auditorium and our people across the UK for the first time ever. We Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and Aldous partnership with Carlsberg UK enabled the creation were delighted to be one of just three theatres Huxley’s Brave New World with Touring Consortium of Bar Hygge. Our audiences supported us in great nominated for The Stage 100 Awards’ Regional Theatre Company, plus Oklahoma! with Music & numbers during the Unforgettable Christmas Gift Theatre of the Year and achieve our highest ever Lyrics. We also co‑produced a candle-lit site-specific campaign, enabling us to offer almost 500 free annual turnover of £9 million. We continued to host production of King John with Shakespeare’s Globe, tickets to young people who had never previously an exciting and diverse programme in both the and thrilled audiences in Northampton with Patrick attended a live performance. Derngate and the Royal including the West End and Hamilton’s classic Gaslight and a new version of The In addition to engaging with 21,531 people through National Theatre phenomenon The Curious Incident Snow Queen. Highlights of the early 2016 season our participatory activity, we guided 69 young Of The Dog In The Night-Time, a record-breaking included a major tour of Peter Whelan’s The Herbal people towards their Arts Award, completed an run of Jersey Boys, our residency with the Royal Bed with English Touring Theatre and Rose Theatre eighteen month festival marking the anniversary Philharmonic Orchestra and many of the highest Kingston, which was nominated by UK Theatre for a of the First World War and hosted a season of profile comedians on the circuit today. Best Touring Production Award. Shakespeare 400 activities. We announced a new We saw our audience numbers expand nationally Record numbers attended films in the Errol Flynn young artist development initiative called Generate and locally as we developed partnerships with some Filmhouse, an 11% increase on 2014/15, and we and met over three thousand actors nationwide exciting theatres and companies. We worked with secured financial support and planning permission between the ages of 18 and 25 as part of the some of the country’s most in-demand playwrights to build a second screen. Arts Council England were audition process for our co-production of The and composers, producing world premieres of the main supporters of the successful campaign Tempest with National Youth Theatre.

HHHHH “Not just a HHHH “Top marks for HHHH “A beautifully great production but a major enterprise to this theatre ” accomplished revival of a wise, theatrical event” The Independent on The Hook witty, touching play” Daily Express on King John Daily Telegraph on The Herbal Bed

H Winner! UK Theatre Management Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre H Nominated! The Stage 100 Awards Regional Theatre of the YeaR H Nominated! UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production H Katherine Ryan Oh No! Not Snow King John

180,883 people saw Made In Northampton shows on tour in more than 30 towns and cities in the UK

audience members attended live£5 performances million and films ticketsin Northampton sold 81% welcomed 49,414 audience members of our income 21,531 to films 336 came from participants ticket sales, of all ages £25 million our bars and took part in economic impact café and our Creative fundraising Learning programme

H Winner! UK Theatre Management Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre H Nominated! The Stage 100 Awards Regional Theatre of the YeaR H Nominated! UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production H A TEN YEAR CELEBRATION

Since the redevelopment in 2006: our local economic impact has totalled £213 million we have generated more than £40 million from tickets sold

WE NOW DELIVER MORE THAN 80% OF more OUR TOTAL INCOME FROM than TICKET SALES, OUR BARS & 1.1 million CAFÉ AND FUNDRAISING audience members have seen Made In Northampton shows either at Royal & Derngate or “ Royal & Derngate has a reputation for adventurous commissioning that on tours across the country few British theatres can match” BBC News 2016 we have welcomed 2.6 million people to 6,630 live we have spent performances on £24.5 million employing our Northampton stages staff from the local area

our customers have spent “I can think of few arts complexes that induce such a rush of excitement on arrival” £27 MILLION Daily Telegraph 2010 on services locally including restaurants, public transport and taxis more than 225,000 people have been involved in participatory activity including 50,000 young people under the age of 19

more than120 volunteers have supported our work every year since 2006, contributing “It truly is a stunning more than 15,000 hours little gem in the heart in 2015/16 of Northampton” The Guardian on the Errol Flynn Filmhouse 2013 WE’RE STRONGER TOGETHER We have only been able to deliver all these exciting shows, projects and developments over the past 10 years with the support of some extraordinary local and regional partners – many of whom are listed on the reverse and below. Thank you to: Arts Council England, BBC Radio Northampton, Business Improvement District, Carlsberg UK, Cedar Road Primary, Chronicle and Echo, Collingwood Lighting, The Compton Fund, Corby Borough Council, Corby Cube Theatre Trust, David Ross Education Trust, Fermynwoods Contemporary Arts, Herald & Post, Malcolm Arnold Academy, Malcolm Arnold Festival, The Mallows Company, The Mighty Creatives, Music & Lyrics, NN Contemporary, Northampton Borough Council, Northampton College, Northamptonshire Community Foundation, Northamptonshire County Council, Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, Northampton Gilbert & Sullivan Group, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, Northampton Musical Theatre Company, Q-Film, Richard A NEW FILMHOUSE FOR Alston Dance Company, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Step By Step Dance, Sir Thomas White Trust, Towergate Insurance Brokers, University DAVENTRY of Northampton, University of Northampton Students’ Union, Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, West Northampton Development Since we opened the 88-seat Errol Flynn Filmhouse three years ago, we have Corporation and Writing East Midlands. welcomed over 121,000 film-goers. With a loyal following established, work has now just started on building a second screen. Thank you also to: As a result of the success of the Errol Flynn Filmhouse, we are now working All our cast and creative teams, creative project associates, partner with Daventry District Council and its development partner, Henry Boot schools, commited audience members and YOU! Developments Ltd, to progress plans which will see the inclusion of a cinema Your ongoing support is actively encouraged as we head towards 2021. in the proposed redevelopment of Daventry Town Centre. The three projects that we introduce here are key to our developing vision, As Daventry’s population is set to almost double by 2021, Daventry District but they are just the starting point. We need you to pledge your support… Council is working in partnership with a range of organisations to deliver whether it’s your expertise, your connections, your opinions, its Town Centre Vision, a regeneration programme aimed at improving the your enthusiasm or your financial resources. town’s amenities and economic and social vitality. As part of these ambitious plans to create a sustainable, thriving town, there is the potential for the We very much look forward to discussing how you can ensure that the inclusion of a cinema. theatres and the cultural and creative industries in Northamptonshire continue to thrive. We will be leading a consultation process to establish what the people of Daventry would like to see in their cinema. Plans for the cinema will Best Wishes be developed in response to this consultation and the needs of the local community, but there is the expectation that the new Filmhouse could include up to three screens showing a mix of mainstream and independent films. If the project goes ahead, it is anticipated that the cinema would be developed and operated by Royal & Derngate as tenants of Daventry District Council. Martin Sutherland www.royalandderngate.co.uk/about-us/new-projects Chief Executive www.daventrydc.gov.uk A NEW APPROACH TO A NEW SCHOOL FOR MUSIC-THEATRE NORTHAMPTON Building upon the Royal’s early history as an opera house, the Derngate’s In partnership with creative digital agency Balance, we are exploring the idea regional reputation as a concert hall and Northampton’s rich musical of developing a new secondary school for Northampton, placing cultural history, we are announcing that we have gathered a consortium of and creative learning at its heart. Sharing the values of Royal & Derngate and partners – including Scottish Opera, Musical Theatre Network, Perfect Pitch, Balance, the new school will encourage inclusion, creativity, collaboration Improbable, China Plate and Underbelly – to commission new music‑theatre, and ambition. ranging from opera to musicals, which we would hope to present in the This new school initiative directly responds to the cultural sector’s concerns next few years in a festival format in Northampton and at major UK and that arts education is increasingly being marginalised within secondary international festivals. schools across England, despite the sector being amongst the fastest We are working with Studio Three Sixty who are developing a new portable growing in the UK economy. As the cultural and creative industries sector theatre venue called The Mix, which will provide a magical and architecturally wrestles with this challenge, we believe that a new school for Northampton striking performance space for this range of commissions. Designed could be one very positive solution. specifically with live music in mind, it can transform into different layouts, As well as ensuring that creative learning is integral to the curriculum, the with flexible auditorium seating for between 200 and 400. new school will address a very real need locally, responding to the projected As the distinctions between opera, musical theatre and plays with music levels of population growth and the need for new school places as identified are increasingly blurring, the consortium plans to commission work from by Northamptonshire County Council. a diverse range of writers and composers working across different genres, Over the next three months, Royal & Derngate and Balance will be hosting a from the emerging to the established and from local to international. We series of events and conversations that are intended to shape the vision for aim to create a forum that liberates writers, composers and creators from the the new school. We encourage anyone interested in joining this conversation barriers they have previously faced in originating new work. We look forward to visit the new website in the first instance and we look forward to to speaking to artists, venues, audiences and funders who can help support lively debate. this unique new initiative.

www.royalandderngate.co.uk/about-us/new-projects www.new-school-northampton.co.uk www.studiothreesixty.uk @NewSchool_NN /NewSchool_NN Grants received from Arts Council England, Northampton Borough Council and Northamptonshire County Council remain vital for sustaining the quality of the work we produce and present, and we thank them for their continued support:

Additional support in 2015/16 from a range of organisations has been invaluable:

We value the ongoing commitment of our corporate sponsors, Business Club members and supporters:

Thank you to our Friends, Gold Supporters, Trustees, donors, staff, collaborators and volunteers for making 2015/16 our best year so far. Box Office 01604 624811 www.royalandderngate.co.uk Royal & Derngate is a trading name of The Northampton Theatres Trust Limited. Registered Charity Number 1075741. Vat Number 623532071