Pioneer Children’s Theatre is leading Theatres across London towards a new wave of diversity. By diversifying their theatre, the community has a chance at tackling the decline in diverse participation in the arts as a whole.
The 2015 Warwick report on the future of cultural value – taken over a period of a year and reported every two years – surveyed that the “talents” of the UK population “as a whole” were not being “expressed and represented.” So in turn the Theatre community is one of the least culturally and socioeconomically diverse.
Southwark council took heed of the report and declared a £50,000 bursary to help young people enter the arts. Councillor Johnson Situ told ‘The Stage’ that the public sector was at risk of losing a “focus” on the arts and culture subjects altogether.
With this crisis within the arts community, London Bridge’s local, Unicorn Theater, is tackling three of the Warwick reports highlighted problems. A lack of access to the arts by public school children, the pricing of shows for lower income families, the lack of diversity in subject matters.
The Unicorn Theatre has been open for 70 years, their promise of theatre for “young audiences” is apparent if you look at the shows they offer. In 2017 however, they have particularly aimed to change the way diverse groups can access the theatre.
They have started a Pass it on scheme, a ‘New Shows for Schools’ Program, and in the lineup of these new shows have tackled subjects not traditionally focused on.
The Pass it on scheme gives less fortunate families the opportunity to go to the theatre by giving buyers the option to donate £10 when they buy their own tickets. The New Shows for Schools program offers state schools cheaper tickets to all their new shows. Finally they introduced shows that appeal to wider audiences, ranging from Beowulf to The Velveteen Rabbit, even offering a show called Wild Life FM in which eight young adults explain what it’s like being young today and how to discover yourself through music.
With these small changes over this Christmas Period the Unicorn Theatre is spearheading theatre towards a more diverse future.
