Lowry helps launch new National Theatre Nationwide partnership that will help young people gain access to opportunity through theatre

Lowry helps launch new National Theatre Nationwide partnership that will help young people gain access to opportunity through theatre.

More than 100,000 young people across England will have the opportunity to develop new skills and confidence through theatre with funding from the government's Every Child Can programme, announced today by the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy at a special event held with partners at the National Theatre.

The funding supports National Theatre Nationwide, a new national partnership which will share shows, youth projects, digital access and skills training, embedding the National Theatre's activity and resource across all nine English regions with 12 leading theatres. The following lead partners make up the Nationwide network: Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Curve in Leicester, Lowry in Salford, Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Norwich Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Southampton Mayflower, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Theatre Royal, Nottingham. Each partner theatre will curate the elements of the programme that feels most relevant for their local community, co-created with the National Theatre.

At a time when many families continue to face cost-of-living pressures, the partnership is united by a shared purpose: making the arts more affordable and accessible, and a career in them possible to young people in every post code. National Theatre Nationwide will give more young people, wherever they live, the chance to experience the transformative power of theatre: to express themselves, discover what they’re capable of, build confidence, forge new friendships and feel proud of where they come from.

Up to £15 million from the government’s Dormant Assets Scheme over the next four years, combined with funding secured by the National Theatre, will bring the total investment in the programme to £27 million. This represents a generational commitment to developing young people’s future through theatre, and new theatre audiences across the country.

The launch of this landmark partnership was celebrated with the partners at the National Theatre hosted by Co-Chief Executives Indhu Rubasingham and Kate Varah. Theatre leaders, young people and well-known actors and creatives including Adjoa Andoh, Fisayo Akinade, Jim Carter, James Graham, Jill Halfpenny, Adrian Lester, Joe Locke, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bella Maclean, Francesca Mills, Imelda Staunton, and Indira Varma from every region of England joined Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, to share their lasting experiences of theatre and the impact that theatre can have on opportunities, careers, and creativity.

At the event the 12 partners shared how National Theatre Nationwide will bring world class National Theatre performances into their own theatres and local schools alongside learning and skills programmes into their communities, creating a holistic, year-round programme that will widen access to theatre, and help young people in each locality enrich their lives and take their first steps towards careers. Threaded through the programme is an emphasis on representing the experiences, interests and voices of young people across England, achieved through creation of a new National Theatre Nationwide Youth Council and by locating ten Youth Managers focused on the partnership in theatres across the country.

The funding announced today forms part of the government's Every Child Can programme, helping to break down barriers to opportunity by funding activities and facilities that young people might otherwise struggle to access. Irrigating the National Theatre's work, resources and expertise across the country through this extensive partnership with leading theatres, the programme will expand access to world-class theatre in places where opportunities can be limited, creating new pathways into the arts and careers in theatre and beyond for young people everywhere.

This tailored, wide-ranging programme will also address significant challenges faced by the sector in skills shortages and lack of opportunities to gain employment in theatre, both of which are having a negative impact on the growth of the sector. Data from DCMS shows that 30% of job vacancies in the cultural sector are affected by skills shortages, with 60% of theatres reporting that staff shortages have worsened since 2019. In addition, research from Ravensbourne University found that 75% of 18-25 year-olds want to work in creative sectors, but 42% say it’s too hard to find entry-level opportunities.

National Theatre Nationwide will address this by delivering:

New audiences: Targeted subsidised tickets will give 16,000 young people the chance to see world-class National Theatre productions at their local venues.
Career pathways: Skills demonstrations before and after performances will introduce young people to the practical expertise behind a production, while workshops led by skilled technical staff will bring hands-on learning directly into schools. A roving Skills Roadshow will also reach young people in areas without theatres, taking opportunities to discover theatre-making beyond the places where performances happen.
Youth enrichment: A new music theatre programme for 14–18-year-olds, artists, industry experts and emerging creatives in each region will work directly with schools and youth groups to co-create new music theatre inspired, devised, produced and performed by young people. Local emerging writers will be commissioned to create storylines and plot arcs, which will then be used as the basis for a new company of young artists to devise, choreograph, design and compose - developing a canon of new work and amplifying young people’s voices and opinions through theatre.
Youth voice: Young people will help shape the programme itself. Ten new jobs for Youth Managers outside London and a new Nationwide Youth Council will help ensure they have a direct say in design, development and delivery of the programme.
Training courses will lay the groundwork for qualifications, helping young people explore routes towards future careers.
National tours: One major National Theatre main stage production will now tour annually, directly from the National Theatre to partner venues: giving audiences immediate access to the shows with the original cast.
Tours for schoolSkills training: s: Five National Theatre schools tours over four years will bring high-quality theatre directly to 45,000 young people from 400 primary and secondary schools in underserved areas across England.
Youth theatre programmes : Through Connections, our annual nationwide youth theatre festival, 20,000 young people will have the opportunity to act, direct and work backstage, discovering the many ways they can be part of making theatre. And New Views, our annual playwrighting programme, will inspire 6,000 young playwrights to tell their stories in new ways.

Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said:
“I am tired of being told that not everybody can or should have access to the best of what this country has to offer. Arts and culture gives the chance to live a richer, larger life and that chance should be afforded to every young person.

“Experiencing the joy of theatre shouldn’t be restricted to only those who can afford it or who were born in the right postcode. This programme takes the very best of the National Theatre and brings it to the doorsteps of our young people across the country, many for the first time ever, to help them find their spark, expand their horizons and encourage them to see a creative future for themselves."

Sir Ian McKellen, said:
“It is appropriate that a National Theatre should live up to its name by taking their work round the country. For young audiences living far away from the NT’s London headquarters, here is a chance to see them close to home and get involved. If this means that theatre-going becomes a habit rather than an occasional adventure, hurrah!

“Live theatre has been available in this country ever since the birth of modern drama. It is increasingly costly, so it’s encouraging to all of us who care about the future of live theatre, that central government is playing its part, supporting theatre people and our audiences.”

Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive of the National Theatre, Kate Varah said:
“A young person’s chance to experience the transformative benefits of theatre should not depend on their postcode or what their family can afford. National Theatre Nationwide turns this groundbreaking government investment into practical opportunities for young people in every region: be that a seat at a major production offering a first experience of theatre, seeing a schools show that unlocks their learning potential, the chance to write or make a show themselves or discover a hands-on career behind the scenes.

“Theatre has the power to spark imagination, build confidence and bring people together. Working with our 12 partners theatres across every English region, and they with local organisations in turn, means we can build something lasting, shaped by local communities and young people themselves. This is about more than finding the next generation of theatre-makers. It is about giving 100,000 young people the chance to discover what they enjoy, what they are good at, and where their creativity could take them. This is an investment in their futures, in the future of our sector and of our country.”

Julia Fawcett CBE, Chief Executive of Lowry, Salford, said:
“We’re incredibly proud to be part of National Theatre Nationwide, building on a partnership that has meant so much to Lowry and our audiences over many years. Nationwide is about bringing the very best of theatre to more people, but also about opening doors for young people, nurturing talent and creating opportunities that can change lives. By working together, we can make a real and lasting difference in communities across the North West.”

Ends.