Mayflower Theatre and MAST Mayflower Studios are venues in the centre of Southampton that focus heavily on engaging with their audiences, teachers, schools, and young people. The current participation set up was established by Michael Ockwell in 2013 when he took over the Mayflower Theatre, which has the third biggest seating capacity in the country. Before this there was no department to target this element of its work, and it was his intention to open the theatre to the community.
So, the Engage department was born, and the first initiative was a Summer Youth Project which resulted in the venues first youth production. This summer the venue is presenting its eleventh Summer Youth Project, where they will stage Bugsy Malone with over 160 young people participating.
A short history
In 2020 the theatre was actively looking for more space for participation to take place. As COVID hit, The Nuffield Theatre went into administration, which resulted in a theatre building (Studio 144 North) being left empty. Mayflower Theatre decided to put in a tender to take over the Studio 144 as a community engagement hub.
Mayflower now had a dedicated space to grow its participation offer and reach further out in the community. The organisation placed community engagement and participation at the heart of its work and welcomed seven partner arts organisations to join them at MAST Mayflower Studios.
Mayflower Theatre is a large theatre with 2,271 seats and whilst MAST receives funding from Arts Council England and Southampton City Council. All other elements of the community programme are generated from surplus from the theatre itself. This is referred to as ‘Profit for Purpose’ and is part of an approach that is about investing in the local community.
An example of this is the Elevate Ensemble, which is aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds who are underrepresented in the industry. Using £30,000 over 2 years, 30 young people have access to more than a 100 hours of actor training for free. This project supports young people to gain places at drama schools and in higher education.
Pathways to enter the industry
There are several ticket schemes aimed at different levels. There is Community First Nights, subsidised tickets for first time theatre goers. There are Theatre Passes which target schools in the Southampton with above the national average for Free School Meals. On top of this, Mayflower Student Nights fosters independent theatre going for 16 + where students can access top shows for £10 a ticket.
There is a desire to create pathways that leads to entry points within the industry. The venues run a Production Arts offer which teaches young people a range of skills in offstage roles. This then leads to work experience, placements and even paid roles within the theatre. There is an aim to keep artist and theatre workers in the city of Southampton. MAST has a broad artist development scheme, supporting local artists, and championing their work. This is delivered through seed funding, rehearsal space and mentoring of emerging artists.
Work in education
Education work in schools is key to Mayflower's strategy and the participation department delivers a range of in school projects for primary, secondary and FE Students. The venue is about to launch First Encounters, an actor musician theatre for children production that will tour local primary schools and offer educational resources with Southampton Music Hub. Secondary school students can learn about careers in the theatre through their Tech Tasters and Behind The Curtain careers tours. The department partners with a range of visiting theatre companies. For example, they will be working with Disney's Aladdin on a range of educational projects in September at a low cost to schools.
An important part of the evolving relationship with teachers, especially locally, has been the Illuminate Drama Teacher CPD events that have been developed in conjunction with Open Drama UK. This single day event has now run for 2 years in January and allows teachers both the opportunity to work with leading practitioners and to network with each other. Companies include Frantic Assembly, Splendid Productions and Paper Birds. It's very much part of an approach that considers the upskilling of teachers as important. Next event is 24th Jan 2025.
Overall, the theatre wants Mayflower Theatre and MAST Mayflower Studio's to be a place where their community feels welcome. A place where young people can be themselves, develop skills and foster a lifelong love of live theatre and the arts. Patrick O'sullivan, head of participation, explains that the theatres mission is to creative inspiring experiences. ‘We aim to break down barriers and engage with our local community to inspire them with the magic that is theatre!’, he adds.
If you are a teacher in the Southampton or Hampshire area and you would like to discuss how you can develop a partnership with the Mayflower then Patrick and the team would be thrilled if you would get in touch via the website, mayflower.org.uk