SOLT and UK Theatre Co-CEOs Claire Walker and Hannah Essex and UK Theatre Joint Presidents Stephanie Sirr and Jon Gilchrist spoke at the UK Theatre Awards Awards 2024 yesterday (20 October) at a ceremony hosted by Faye Tozer.
The UK Theatre Awards celebrate the very best of theatre across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Awards are given for creative excellence and outstanding work both on and off stage, including the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award and the coveted UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award.
You can read both speeches below.
SOLT and UK Theatre Co-Chief Executive’s speech at the UK Theatre Awards 2024
Over the past year, the UK Theatre team have been working hard on behalf of our members to create the conditions that help theatre to thrive. Since January, they have visited an incredible 90 venues across the country and nearly 500 people from across the membership have attended our webinars and forums. Claire and I have personally been so inspired by the 15 UK Theatre venues we have visited ourselves.
Not only do we love meeting you and your teams, but these visits also give us the insights we need to make sure UK Theatre is supporting you to thrive, and to be able to passionately advocate to decision makers on your behalf.
At UK Theatre we are proud to have worked with many of you to host our biggest ever Theatre Conference; to launch version two of the Theatre Green Book; and to secure a permanent rate of Theatre Tax Relief in the March Budget – enabling our sector to deliver more productions, bolder programming, and reach more audiences.
But while TTR helps to deliver more productions, these shows of course can’t reach audiences without a venue to show it in. We understand the urgent need for a sustainable model for investment in theatre buildings, which is why we have called on the new Government to deliver a £30 million urgent pot for maintenance of our incredible venues across the country and to work with us to develop sustainable funding streams for all who need it.
Despite some of the challenges our sector faces, we are constantly amazed by the creativity and shared passion we all have for theatre. And this is a time to celebrate just that.
We want to say a special congratulations to all the nominees for their remarkable achievements!
Before we are joined by our fantastic host, we will leave you with a montage of some of the amazing productions around the UK this year. We hope you have a wonderful day.
UK Theatre Presidents’ Speech at the UK Theatre Awards 2024
Despite a more than challenging environment this past year has shown an explosion of innovation, tenacity and talent in our sector. We’re very proud to be championing so much ground breaking work
In towns and cities across the country financial challenges have had a huge impact on arts and culture. This is something that both Stephanie and I have felt in our homes of Nottingham and Birmingham. So it’s never been more important that the value of theatre to the financial and social health of our communities is amplified.
This is a time of great challenge but also of great change and the theatre sector is uniquely well placed to emphasise its unique value to the future of this country. Cultural industries are growing at a huge rate and theatre is a jewel in that crown.
Today is about celebrating just a handful of the success stories of our industry. But there are many, many more delivered by extraordinary artists and organisations across the United Kingdom.
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