Applause Rural Touring Case Study - Frittenden Village Hall

Applause Rural Touring Case Study - Frittenden Village Hall

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hello welcome to this video whoever  happens to be watching it in the future we   are here celebrating Village Halls week, my name  is Sam and I work for Applause in their touring   department and we're here today with Frittenden  Memorial Hall and I think I'll leave the   introducing to you guys, would you guys like to  introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about   the Memorial Hall and the recent refurb and  how you funded that, give us a bit of an overview   Hi, yes my name is Rosalind Riley  and I'm the chair of the whole   committee and this is Mike Fitzgerald  and he's the person who's been running   Applause as an ongoing series of events  in Frittenden for quite a long time now actually   and we've both been working towards bringing  Applause back well we have brought Applause back   since the pandemic and we have yes undergone  a huge refurbishment, we removed an old stage that was built in that was a bit limiting  and we've opened up the whole space to make it   much more flexible and Applause was  actually hugely helpful in finishing   our ambition to get it to create the  the conditions for good performance and   and having new performance equipment and  I think you were interested in how   we funded the project how we funded like the whole  refurbishment but actually how Applause was a help we did a lot of application writing we  got a lot of exterior funding we were actually   quite lucky in some respects, I used to work in  theatre myself and so I kind of knew how to write   applications which came in very handy, we  have a very good Treasurer who helped with all the   figures and I think as well we  had a very good Community who you know loved what   was going on in the hall beforehand and wanted  to look to the future and there had been a lot of   fundraising over the years with the view of either  building a new hall or refurbing and that meant   that when I went to funders they could see that we  had this fundraising base that all just came from   running quizzes and running events and then donations on top   of that we had some very generous local  donations which I am not, I wasn't too   shy to go and solicit you know and so  when the refurb was halfway through   well more than halfway through we  were just starting on the second phase   the Platinum Jubilee was occurring and we  had the opportunity to apply for Platinum   Jubilee Let's Create funds and you could apply  for more if you were associated with someone   who had Central Arts Council funding and of  course Mike immediately said Applause   you know I genuinely, we genuinely feel  we've been in a partnership   with Applause for a long time and you know  they've given something to Frittenden which   we wouldn't be able to create ourselves  and so we got this extra money we've now got a   portable stage, flexible stage we've got lights  I think you can you can see a little little bit   of what we've got and a projector and a screen  and you know we've we've actually, we've made   this space very much more usable, even though it's not got the traditional stage   setup anymore which a lot of village halls do but  you know we've released some space that way    Great thank you it all sounds really exciting and  amazing how much local support you had around   I wondered if you'd want to talk to me a little  bit about what the benefits of putting on shows in   your local community are, why is that important and  exciting, I'll answer that one then so really   this stems from 2004 when I discovered that there  was such a thing called Applause and as I enjoyed   the Arts and going to live performance I  thought I would give it a try here in Frittenden   and so we put on about 40 shows since then  and I think the the principal benefit, I mean there   are lots of benefits but probably the principal  one is that it gives the local community the   opportunity to engage with professional actors and musicians and is right on their doorstep   and the other benefit is to the scheme provides  very high quality entertainment and it's an   affordable price and I think there are also productions which people might not otherwise   go to they might not choose a  particular style or a particular   performance but if it's right here in  Frittenden and it's at a sensible price   then they might and it might open them  up to other possibilities in theatre and music   and I think it also enables people to  share in live theatre which is important and   then talk about it afterwards and even and you  can't often do this in the large theatre chat with   the performers afterwards and talk to them about  their musical life or their theatrical   career and I think it brings a much more  intimate experience into the performance and there we are, I think you know there are several benefits but I think those are the principle ones yeah definitely, great, and how important do you  think it is to have a facility like yours, live   performance included and aside especially post  covid, yeah I'll take that one, funnily enough I mean I don't really like to think of us  as being post-Covid, you know I think we've still got   a lot of difficulty on that front, by the way  I can hear someone's mowing their lawn   or cutting their hedge or something immediately  outside I hope it's not bothering you anyway, I   actually I mean obviously it's hugely important to  to have a building in the community around which   events can happen and people can gather and you  know Frittenden is quite isolated it has no public   transport and it has quite a mixed community,  quite a big, a very wide age range of people here   but also class wise as well you know and  income-wise there's quite a big difference I mean   you know we do have some you know weekenders incomers and all that you know but quite   quite often they tend to get straight involved  with the community as soon as they arrive so   it's actually quite strong in that  way but I think actually more than   Covid it's actually about austerity  at the moment I mean I think that   you know people can't travel so freely as  they could because they can't afford it   you know I think some people also are just more  conscious of not traveling so much, I think   you know Panto for example this year I think  knowing some of my friends in the business who are actually doing quite badly in panto in the  big not badly but doing less well than they hoped   in the bigger regional theatres you know and I think if you know people come here   because it's cheaper they don't have to travel  they don't you know they can buy some nice cheap   pop and crisps and not worry so  much about expense so I think that is awesome so   and you know this is a place that  people know from all the other things that   they do here as well so you know we have  well you'd call it a loneliness cafe   but I've never liked that word, but we have that  here we have you know fitness classes and historical society and the gardening society, you  know all those things that you have in    a village and you know this just feels like  it slots really well into that kind of village   life and it's bringing people together  after a time when we've been all really separated   I think it's pretty wonderful actually and you  know your children's show two weeks ago last week   that was one of the best audiences  you've had for a children's show which I thought   was quite interesting, yes it is, we had around  about 80 over 80 mums, dads, grandparents and   and youngsters, so you know I think that you  know that really shows that there's a desire   for it and a need for it, amazing, yeah totally  agreed and the mowing isn't bothering me at all   over here and that's the beauty of being at the  centre of the community, so don't worry about that   Mike I wanted to ask you because you've been  working with Applause for a long time, could you   tell us about your experience with Applause and  the types of shows that Applause have helped you   host over the years? Well as I mentioned I've  been doing this since 2004 there was quite a long   gap for a few years and so I've dealt  with a number of your colleagues present and past   and they have all have been terribly helpful and  I think you're all very enthusiastic people who   want to go wanted to do a good job and  help the lives of us to put on these shows   I think the great thing about Applause is that, is that you source the various performances, the musicians and actors,  the players which we wouldn't be able to   do and then you as far as I understand it you  review them, you vet them and then you offer a   menu and that's something we just couldn't  do ourselves, so that's one aspect of it   and of course the other is the subsidy  which we will probably come to that later   and so what do I do? Well I try and offer about  one show a month, it might be six weeks   and I've tended to organize three types  of shows, I think it's important to offer   something for children, we have a school just  opposite the hall, primary school and so   there's a body of youngsters there who would  certainly, be interested in children's shows   and so I include a children/family show, puppetry  always goes down well and if they offer a workshop   I usually take the workshop and that's always very  popular, yes the last one you had, didn't they make   puppets and then the puppets were part of the  show, well that um yeah it was built like that   but it didn't quite work out like that but it  didn't matter at all and what they made was glove puppet crabs, the older children  were able to make a puppet of crabs lots of tentacles and the younger  ones painted papercraft colored paper crafts and   everyone enjoyed it and it was like a party in  here particularly when the very young children but it's all good fun, for the grown-ups  well I tend to book a play which from Applause   may involve several actors or I may just be one  actor it could be a monologue or it could be   comedy, we've had a number of really good  shows here, comedy always goes down well but we've   had serious shows as well and in fact we've  got a serious show coming up very soon   and then the third part of this trio is music of course and we've had some   very good shows here, we've had classical  music such as guitar and harp, that was very well   received and of course we've had a number of world  music shows which really do go, I would say go down   a storm, particularly the last one which was an Afro Cuban band who had done it before and   they came back in the summer to help us celebrate  the Queen's Jubilee and it was terrific   a terrific night, absolutely overflowing with  people dancing I'm going to say dancing in   the street, because they really were dancing in  the car park as well, the music was very loud   so that's what I try and do, the actual  number of shows a year is six really isn't it   because we don't, six or eight, maybe from  September around to June but six or eight   shows yeah, amazing such a packed program, and you did mention actually I was going to ask about   the subsidies that Applause is able to offer  and whether you think you'd be able to host   a roster like this without that subsidy   that sounds like a very leading question, wasn't it? doesn't it sound a little bit leading, well my initial   response would be frankly no and, but the reason  is I think well for one thing I find it very   comforting to know that I'm not going to have  to pay the full fee if only one person turns up   and I find the structure of you  know paying a basic fee and I'm paying a   percentage of the surplus works very well and we break even, sometimes we make a surplus   and that surplus goes towards the  Memorial Hall here, buying equipment and so   on but it also goes towards subsidising some  of the other shows that don't actually make   surplus which the children shows tend not to as the ticket price is cheaper for a start so   it's much more difficult with the children show and you don't make much money at the bar, no sadly no double gins   so you know we're a small village maybe  900 people, the hall is about 120 capacity   so we're now we're going to have a huge number  here and the other thing is I don't think we   can charge more than the recommended 10 pounds  per seat for the grown-up shows and actually   Rosalind mentioned austerity and actually well this season we've started to offer free tickets to some   of the local villagers who wouldn't otherwise  be able to afford to come yeah yeah and that   was partly something that was inspired by the  Let's Create fund, it was yes, because we knew   we wanted to do you know what they call Outreach  in the professional sphere and you know that's   quite a particular job and we don't  have those skills or necessarily those people that   have the hours of the time to do it and and   that really made us think actually and you know   Mike did do some successful Outreach and you know  we talked to the parish council and various other   people and I think we're very pleased about  that aren't we, yes we are, you know that   if we hadn't been doing that you know Applause  linked work with Let's Create we wouldn't have   had the opportunity to sort of put a little  bit of money and some thought behind actually   trying to get people out who might just look  at us and just say that's, you know we   can't afford it which you know we don't want  that, we don't want that to happen we want this   to be something for everybody. So thank you  thank you for your candor, it is one of those   tricky things that we do have to financially  support the work to ensure the artists get paid   but the outreach that you're doing and  the subsidy we're able to provide I'm   just really glad you're managing to make it work  because it sounds like you're doing great things   On the subject of that do you have any advice  that you would give to someone who's thinking of   hosting a show in their village hall or community  space, yeah I do actually and that is get a Mike you're too kind, also get a Rosalind, team work, you know if you have someone who has the enthusiasm   for and the will, someone who would be the  sort of person to say let's put the show on   right here in the bar, you know that's  the enthusiasm, you have people who have a   great love of theatre and music and performance and  they have that connection to the community and   they just think well it's possible let's do it and I mean the second thing I would say is   get an Applause, I don't know if  all counties have or regions of Britain   have similar things to Applause but you know it's  so important because we just couldn't   source those performances without it and you know  I speak as someone who used to work in the   theatre, well it's a few years since  I've been working in the theatre you know, I know   people who put on shows, I've been an actor in  shows in village halls and school halls and things   myself and so you know I know what it's like to  be in a little company you know it's good for the   companies that they can come to you and then we,  you know you act as a broker between us because   you know the work that is going on out there is  exceptional and you know it's about spreading   the word really I think about Applause and  saying that this is possible for you this   is actually it's you know it's hard work and  it's especially hard work the weekend of the   show, yes , you know when you need volunteers to  sell squash or gin, we don't actually sell gin, wine, but you know you need volunteers to do  it, you need to set it up, you know there's   a whole day when people are doing the get in/get out and we're clearing up   and you know yes that's an effort but it's a kind  of joyful effort I think and you know it brings   something really special to the community  and I think once you've done it a few times   I think I think there's well, Mike came back  to doing it after not doing for a few years   because it was like come on something's  missing you know and you do need   a bit of leadership from someone like Michael  from, you know from people who, you need   the kind of person that can sort of charm other  people into joining in and then realising   though I would say that so Mike and Applause  is what we need yeah we've luckily got that   well I'm not sure where to tell  everyone else to source a Mike unfortunately, you might have to leave that  up to the communities, but Applause do work   across East and West Sussex, Kent and Essex, so  for anyone watching do get in touch and   countrywide there are rural touring schemes  all across the country and if you visit the   National Rural Touring Forum website they'll have  information about where your nearest scheme is   so thank you for mentioning that and thank  you for all of the above, the last question I   have to ask you today is what have you got  coming up at Frittenden that people can attend   we've got two shows coming up at the moment  there will be more when I booked them but the   first one is next Saturday 28th of of January and that's an interesting play that   centers around the life of a deaf woman  in 1920s England, she's in a loveless marriage   she's not getting support, her deafness is a  barrier to others and she takes solace in studying   insects and in fact research insects and unfortunately, her research was largely ignored   so it's a tale that resonates in a number of  different ways and it's had excellent reviews   around the country so that's on the 28th of  January, it's called Earwig by the way, I'm   sorry yes I do a lot of publicity for small theatre companies and yes our next one is called   The Wilderness Yet and that is a musical  trio, it's folk and they play their own   compositions and songs and they also improvise  and sing other well-known songs generally related   to the natural world and that is in March on  March 4th, yeah so all those Johnny Flynn fans, it's not Johnny Flynn, but it's going to be a good night, yes yeah, so that's  what we've got coming up, how very exciting   That was the end of my rigorous questioning  for today, thank you so much for your time we   really appreciate it and taking the chance  to celebrate one of our favourite village halls   in village halls week, so yes thank you Mike and  thank you Rosalind and have a great Village Halls Week   everyone, thank you Sam and happy Village Halls Week everybody as well from us, good luck

2023-02-03 13:56

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