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Dateline: 19th December, 2008
£50,000 for Young Audiences at WYP The West Yorkshire Playhouse has been given £50,000 by Arts Council England, Yorkshire, as part of a nationwide pilot scheme to give away free theatre tickets to young people under 26 over the next two years. This award will enable the Playhouse to develop its existing relationship with this target audience and explore new areas of working with young people. As part of the free theatre scheme, the Playhouse will be able to offer up to 7, 000 free tickets annually.
Commenting on the successful bid, Playhouse General Director and Joint Chief Executive Sheena Wrigley said, "The free theatre scheme is a great opportunity for West Yorkshire Playhouse to enhance its work with young people from Leeds and the surrounding areas. It will also add an important new dimension to the opening of FIRST FLOOR, our dedicated space for young people, which opens in January, and will allow us to build on our developing partnerships with the city’s universities and develop the links we have created through our successful Community Network initiative. Encouraging young people and their families to experience great live theatre is at the core of what we do at the Playhouse and this grant will enable us to achieve so much more." As part of the forthcoming free theatre scheme, West Yorkshire Playhouse will prioritise four key audience areas: young people involved in FIRST FLOOR, those young people from less advantaged communities, students and young people and their families. Playhouse staff will also consult with the FIRST FLOOR Young People’s Panel to ensure that the scheme is attractive to its target audience. West Yorkshire Playhouse is one of eleven theatres across Yorkshire to benefit from the free theatre scheme. Ivor Davies, Director of Performing Arts, Arts Council England, Yorkshire, said, "We are delighted that so many theatres in our region will be part of the free theatre initiative. With eleven venues across Yorkshire taking part, wherever a young person lives there should be a venue near to them offering the free tickets. We're confident that through theatres' creative commitment to this initiative more young people will experience what theatre can do - inspire, challenge, and help make sense of the world." The scheme will be officially launched on 16 February 2009 and West Yorkshire Playhouse will offer a range of free participatory activities, many of which will take place in FIRST FLOOR. The scheme will run for two years during which a limited number of free tickets will be available for each production.The first production to benefit will be Othello in which Lenny Henry makes his Shakespearean debut. Othello opens on 14th February. Confirmed details will be available in the new year via the Playhouse website www.wyp.org.uk or by calling the Box Office on 0113 213 7700.
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