Over £700k of investment for Touring

23 Sep 2016 11:40 AM

More than £780,000 has been awarded to five organisations through our Strategic Touring programme.

The funding, totalling £782,712, will enable the organisations to tour works from different art forms across England.

This programme is designed to help ensure that everyone, everywhere is able to attend and participate in great art and culture.

In particular, the funded projects will focus on areas where engagement with the arts is low, or that rely on touring to provide most of their arts activities. They will provide more opportunities for people to get involved.

The Projects

Our £354,137 investment will see Phizzical mark the 70th anniversary of India’s independence with a national tour of Bring on the Bollywood. In partnership with the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, Phizzical will perform this fun, family show at venues across England interested in programming more South Asian art and culture for local people to enjoy.

Sinfonia Viva will use our £159,525 investment to transform their inflatable stage into a modern day musical cabinet of curiosity. It will pitch up in towns and cities, often where there are few traditional concert venues, offering people of all ages a mix of classical concerts and workshops, including a brand new musical commission. 

November Club has been awarded £85,000 to work with Highlights Rural Touring to create and tour a new musical, Beyond the end of the Road, to eight village/community venues across Northumberland. The musical, composed by Katie Doherty, explores the collision of rural and urban life in contemporary Northumberland and local communities will be able to get involved through story gathering and participation work.

Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art has been awarded £159,050 to work with partner venues across the North West to tour and exhibit work by international artists from the 2016 Biennial. The partnership will also bring about opportunities for practical and professional development, and will develop curatorial and project management capacity.

The £25,000 from Strategic Touring will enable Acta Community Theatre Ltd to engage new audiences for theatre through the re-working and tour of Gas Girls, a successful community theatre World War 1 centenary show, performed by local people from diverse backgrounds. The tour will target new audiences for community theatre in areas of least engagement in Bristol, and develop partnerships with new venues in the wider region.

Speaking about the funding, Cinzia Hardy, Artistic Director, November Club, said,“November Club is thrilled to receive this grant, allowing us to build on our unique approach to working with local communities - reaching new places and people across Northumberland.”

Equally pleased is Samir Bhamra, from Phizzical Productions. He said that funding like this is so valuable to small, diversity-led organisations like his.

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