One Year On for Theatre Royal Plymouth
Today (16 March) Theatre Royal Plymouth is reflecting on the last 12 months, exactly ‘One Year On’ since its forced closure in 2020. After a year like no other, where the Arts and Culture sector faced oblivion, TRP reflects on its achievements during 2020 and starts to look forward to welcoming back audiences and participants.
CEO Adrian Vinken has recorded a special video message for supporters to thank them and look back on the highlights of the last year for the theatre, particularly the continuation of their Engagement and Learning programmes. Despite its closure for such a significant time, TRP’s supporters have helped it to:
- Provide workshops for 478 people through their Engagement and Learning projects: 326 sessions have been on Zoom and 63 delivered in person while restrictions were temporarily eased
- Engage with over 1,001 people in the local community through their Engagement & Learning work
- Send 385 creative care packages to participants across the city, including Our Space (a creative programme that works with adults with multiple and complex needs)
- Support 54 local artists through their Talent Development work, including the TRP Lab Company
- Teach five modules of actor training, delivering sessions to every single acting student across all three years of the Plymouth Conservatoire (TRP’s partnership with the University of Plymouth).
- Offer an accessible online Funky Llama Club Night, which over 600 people world-wide tuned into
- Welcome over 16,000 people safely into TRP for 80 performances of three festive shows over the Christmas season, with thanks also to the National Lottery and the Cultural Recovery Fund
Adrian Vinken, CEO of Theatre Royal Plymouth said: “One year on since our closure it would be easy to look back and talk about the perils we have faced in the last 12 months, but we want to take this moment to marvel at our staff, participants and supporters and how they have pulled together and adapted to these difficult times.
“As we look to the future, the additional £300m announced in the Budget for the Culture Recovery Fund plus the extension of the furlough scheme will, hopefully, provide the final lifeline to get theatres back onto a sustainable footing. We look forward to welcoming back our community programme participants in person and to presenting our fantastic Summer and Autumn season of shows, bringing theatre back to the heart of Plymouth. We fervently hope that the Government’s roadmap will go ahead as planned because, at the moment, there are no guarantees of further support if things don’t work out that way.”
Nobody in the UK could have remained immune from the damaging consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, but its impact on the performing arts and to TRP has been particularly devastating. TRP was forced to close its doors for the first time in its 37-year history, with 91% of its income vanishing overnight. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters and emergency funding from Arts Council England and the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, TRP has continued to provide its community and artist development projects which many rely on as a creative lifeline. The hope is that the end is finally in sight but, as one of the first industries forced into closure, it will also be one of the last allowed to reopen. Now, one year on, the theatre is asking the public to please continue supporting and donating to Theatre Royal Plymouth so that it can be in a position to open its doors to everyone as soon as restrictions allow.
You can find out more and donate here.
