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Arts Council England has announced two pilot Performing Arts Producing Hubs; groups of theatres, arts organisations, social enterprises, community groups and other organisations which will work to support the performing arts sector in their local areas.

Led by Derby Theatre and Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill, the Hubs will operate from early September 2019.  They will each receive up to £1.5million over three years to develop their local performing arts sectors, supporting organisations to develop local talent and increase their capacity to produce work.  The pilots are intended to test the potential of Producing Hubs to respond to the 2016 Analysis of Theatre in England report, which identified a gap in such support for performing arts organisations outside of London.

Neil Darlison, Director, Theatre at Arts Council England said “These pilots will examine whether a better connected performing arts sector increases production capacity and provides greater opportunities for artists and audiences. By supporting individual artists and organisations, we hope these Hubs will develop thriving cultural economies that both reflect and engage their local communities.”

Sarah Brigham, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Derby Theatre said “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the Producing Hubs funding which will enable us to forge and develop new and exciting relationships with artists, local people and organisations across the city and beyond. We very much look forward to collaborating and creating and presenting work which connects and resonates with the communities our organisations serve.”

Rich Warburton, Artistic Director of Theatre in the Mill said “This grant is a culmination of an open and collaborative approach to arts that has been embraced over the past years.  It mirrors a shared belief that Bradford is on the cusp of an incredibly exciting decade of cultural activity in this city that will demonstrate the benefits of transparency, risk taking, empathy and openness to create a cultural landscape.”

The Producing Hubs will be funded via the Arts Council’s National Lottery Project Grants Programme.

Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

As a Producing Hub, Derby Theatre will create new work with audiences and communities at its heart, involving partners from across the city and beyond.

The Hub will produce :

• a programme of work in community settings across the city
• new touring small-scale productions
• new midscale productions which will play at Derby Theatre
• new outdoor work which will play at festivals like Festé and across the city

It will also provide artists with opportunities to work together and deliver community and artist development opportunities.

Bradford Producing Hub (BPH) will support, incubate and enable artists from all live performance disciplines to establish sustainable careers and create boundary-pushing new work.  Bradford has a long history of blurring artforms, ideas and processes to realise work that redefines what live performance can look like.  This approach to creativity will ensure their success in creating transformational, inspiring, socially engaged work.

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