Due to our status as a touring theatre company, we have had to take into consideration the Arts Council policy and how this might affect both our work and funding. Arts Council England (ACE) evaluate the professionalism and value of a theatre company, claiming that a successful company should ensure that “every aspect of [their] activity contributes to achieving [their] artistic aspirations” (Arts Council England, 2016). This pushed us to revisit our mission statement and guarantee that our work is in fact progressing with this in mind.
Our Mission Statement:
Railcard theatre is a new theatre company that specialise in creating entertaining, escapist theatre that tackles relatable and inspiring issues through performance. Our aim is to challenge the stigma around theatre by making it an accessible experience for …young people to learn within and enjoy. We are looking to use real-life stories and experiences as a basis to write our own original content that will aim to help unite and inspire young people. We believe that theatre has the power to provide a creative outlet for young people who need guidance, unity and above all entertainment. Relatable stories are at the heart of our practice and we hope to inspire and entertain you with our performance.
It has been comforting and reassuring to see that the performance we are creating is very much in keeping with our mission statement. Our inclusion of various forms of social media and communication within the piece, although currently proving a little difficult, is fitting and engaging and the content of the piece as a whole is relevant to our target audience and in keeping with the mission statement. Having worked to ensure that our piece is not heading in the direction of education, but rather entertainment, I personally feel we are progressing with arts council policy in mind.
Arts Council England (2016) Self-Evaluation Framework: Artistic Policy/ Statement. [Online] England: Arts Council England. Available from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160204101926/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/selfevaluation/framework/artistic-aspirations-and-programme/artistic-policystatement/ [Accessed 22nd March 2016].