We find ourselves in scary times at the moment and everyone working in the arts is feeling it. I hope anyone reading this is doing ok and feels that they have a support network in place - if not, please get in contact and we can have a cup of tea over Skype.

Whilst we are all losing work, we're also hoping that the government or funders will come in with a bailout pot that we can apply to in a bid to try and recoup at least some of our lost earnings. In the meantime, I've made this Lost Earnings Log template to share as a way to keep track of the cancelled/postponed contracts and the financial loss attached to these.

I think it could help each of us to keep a handle on the really rapidly changing situations that we are in, and also to be prepared to apply right away if that bailout pot does appear.

Rachael Young will be presenting both OUT and NIGHTCLUBBING at world-famous performance venue The Roundhouse this May. Malik will also be performing in OUT so we're really excited to be showcasing both of these amazing artists at this prestigious venue. 

OUT is on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd May
Tickets available here: https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2020/spring-season/out/

NIGHTCLUBBING is on Thursday 7th - Saturday 9th May
Tickets available here: ​https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2020/spring-season/nightclubbing/

Dan Watson is taking his crowd-pleasing show VENUS on tour this Spring as part of the Rural Touring Dance Initiative Menu 4. 

Here are some of the dates ​of the tour:

3 April        Theatre Orchard, Somerset
4 April        Carn to Cove, Cornwall
17 April      Ucheldre Centre, Wales
24 April      Arts Out West, Cumbria
25 April      Highlights Cumbria
30 April      Parc and Dare Theatre, Wales
8 May         Black Country Touring, Trevelyn
9 May         Creative Arts East, Norfolk/Suffolk

For more information take a look at the Rural Touring website: https://www.ruraltouring.org/news/a-new-year-of-rural-dance-an-eclectic-mix-of-shows-to-visit-village-venues-this-spring/ 

With huge thanks to The Yard, Laura completed the Mental Health First Aid training offered by Echo and has a little certificate to prove it!

The training was super heavy and difficult , but completely vital to finding appropriate ways to sipper each other. Anyone who is responsible for others in a work context should really do this course.

As freelancers we can't afford these types of training, so this is a plea to organisations to
​1) get the training! and 2) open it up for freelancers to join.

​Share the knowledge and let's all look after each other a bit better.

Marikiscrycrycry's He's Dead is premiering on February 4th as part of NOW 20 at The Yard.

Malik's first group work asks the unanswerable question: Was Tupac Depressed?

​Catch the show:


4th - 8th Feb at The Yard, London:
https://theyardtheatre.co.uk/theatre/events/now-20/now-20-week-3/


9th February at Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts, Brighton:
https://www.attenboroughcentre.com/events/3511/marikiscrycrycry-hes-dead


15th February at Theatre in the Mill, Bradford:
https://theatreinthemill.com/rightqueerrightnow/

We're excited to announce that Laura and Ash will be facilitating The Committee at The Yard theatre, London throughout 2020. 

The Committee is The Yard's programme for 15-19 year olds, bringing together young people from Tower Hamlets and Hackney with the potential to shape the performance world. 

We're going to be working together to consider The Yard's new capital project so that we can collaboratively envision the theatre of the future. Expect more updates throughout the year on what the group are getting up to!

It has been such a wild year...artistically, politically, emotionally!...so thought we should do a round of everything we've worked on in 2019 to feel lovely about what we've achieved.

Let's start this off with a lovely Christmas photo of the artists we're working with now:

Beautiful!

OK now on to the review...

Projects worked on in 2019:
Greg Wohead - Call it a Day
Catherine Hoffmann - Cyst-er Act
Brian Lobel - BINGE
Brian Lobel - 24 Italian Songs and Arias
Rachael Young - NIGHTCLUBBING
Rachael Young - OUT
Dan Watson - VENUS
La JohnJoseph - A Generous Lover
​La JohnJoseph - A Warning from Socrates
Emma Frankland - We Dig
Nando Messias - The Pink Supper
Marikiscrycrycry - He's Dead

Other cool stuff that happened this year:
Laura became Deputy Chair of Home Live Art Board, got a place on the GENERATE British Council programme and got a Jerwood bursary for some training and coaching.

Ash started working with all of the artists from July, being a literal baby angel by writing loads of applications, creating approximately 1 million tour packs and keeping Laura mostly sane! 


So overall, it's not surprising we're pretty tired and looking forward to the festive break. Everyone has been bloody smashing it this year, and we are so pleased that we could be part of it. 

Here's to 2020 - it's already shaping up to be a doozy!