Building a Theatre Community

Staff here at the theatre have certainly launched into 2011 with enthusiasm!  Across all departments there has been a flurry of activity in these first weeks of January as we plan a whole series of activities, initiatives and projects.  Many of these have a common theme: building our theatre community.

Part of the magic of live theatre is that the experience is shared with other audience members.  It is the collective “whole” that generates the atmosphere of a memorable experience.  This can range from the collective “booing” and heckling of a pantomime baddie to the rapt silence during a particularly enthralling performance.  There is always a “buzz” as audiences leave the theatre discussing what they have just seen, which is also part of theatre’s magic.

Starting early this year, Hall for Cornwall will be creating spaces and opportunities for our community to share their thoughts and experiences of theatre.  Some of these will be “real” spaces and others online, but the common theme is to allow people, in whatever way they prefer, to talk about our art.  Alongside this, we are taking steps to ensure that our art, and services, are as accessible as possible to all, making ours an inclusive, welcoming community.

Space To Talk (and to listen)
We are in the process of creating an online theatre forum that will be accessible via our website.  Forums are a great way for people to talk about common interests, debate and discuss what they have seen and generally “chat” with other theatre goers.  Beyond that, forums can be a great source of creativity.  We hope to run mini events and competitions as well as offer forum members the chance to contribute to, and take part in, theatre activities and projects.

Of course, as the oft-quoted saying goes, we have two ears and just one mouth (this applies to eyes too!) so as important as discussion will be on the forum, it also offers us at Hall for Cornwall the chance to listen to you.  We can learn about what you like, what didn’t go down so well, what ideas you have and what opportunities you’d like us to provide in the future.

An example of “real” space would be the newly launched “The Play’s The Thing” group for the over 50s.  We’ll be offering people the chance to come along to the Hall for a hot drink and a chance to read through and chat about plays shortly before they arrive on the stage.  This project is a great way to meet other theatre goers and to get to know the plays, and their characters, ahead of the performance.  We have a choice of sessions planned for The History Boys and King Lear.  The  cost, per play, is just £2.50 including refreshments.

Access

We’ve been putting a lot of effort into our accessibility for some time and 2011 should see this work come to fruition.  The website has been re-worked to increase text size and each page can be “read aloud” by clicking the link bottom right of the white text area.  

We are also commissioning an entirely new piece of theatre specifically for a visually impaired audience.  Keep an eye out for the “Theatre In The Dark” project as well as looking for the access show icons on the show pages of our website.  Many performances at Hall for Cornwall are signed, audio described or captioned.

Our aim is to create the opportunities for a theatre community to grow.  All are welcome.