Theatre for Young Audiences
1. Present: Steve Ball (SB), Ben Eccles (BE), Akua Obeng Frimpong (AOF), Tony Graham (TG), Paul Harman (PH), Guy Holland (GH), Marigold Hughes (MH), Vicky Ireland (VK, Alex McGowan (AM), Jude Merrill (JM)
Apologies: Richard Croxford (RC), Ali FitzGibbon (AF), Kevin Lewis (KL)
2.Notes of Last Meeting: TG proposed that the minutes for the last meeting (dated 8th February 2008) were an accurate record of the meeting, BE seconded
SB referenced the action points raised by the minutes of the last meeting. SB confirmed that the action points had been “actioned”. In regard to one point pertaining to World Theatre Day, VI asked about the involvement of Daniel Radcliffe. MH explained that having been contact with David Pugh’s office, she was informed that Daniel was too busy to be involved with the day and – rather than chase this up, it would be preferable to solicit his participation in the promotional DVD and treat this as a priority.
3. Matters arising not covered by Agenda
SB opened a discussion about the TYA logo. It was decided that the text of the logo will stand as follows: TYA: UK Centre of ASSITEJ i.e. the use of “the” will be alleviated to make it snappier. All draft print will be altered accordingly. In addition, the various acronyms used to reference theatre for children and young people will be brought into line to make sense of TYA – Theatre for Young Audiences. Again, all draft print will be altered accordingly.
4.Proposal re national lobby and Professional Development
SB stated that TYA UK was on the edge of making some major decisions regarding its core initatives i.e.
SB suggested that TYA UK does not have the resources or infrastructure to lobby in isolation and suggested that TYA UK make contact with the chairs of other organisations to create a forum that is better equipped to respond to political threats or strategic opportunities.
The group would be the chairs of a variety of different drama and theatre organisations that can collectively respond to initiatives and that this could aid in the development and clarification of our lobby/advocady role. Organisations such as: ITC, NAYT, NATD, National Drama, SCUDD, Puppet Lab, ACA and Equity
PH responded by saying that this list of names might be too heavily orientated towards education. BE agreed with the notion of a collective lobby and that ACA should be on included onto this forum. TG affirmed that the “collective lobby forum” was an excellent idea and that as an organisation, TYA UK is not equipped to take this on independently. A campaign that was referenced as a succesful example of such an alliance was the National Campaign for the Arts.
It was proposed that TYA UK should enter into discussion with NCA and that NCA co-ordinate this forum, organising a subset of which TYA UK is a part. It was confirmed that this forum should be a “rainbow” alliance and not be theatre exclusive, but rather adopt a holisitic approach to the arts - meeting twice a year to focus on key issues related to theatre for young audiences.
SB asked for approval to begin these negotiations and approval was granted.
ACTION: SB to meet wth chief executive of the National Campaign for the Arts
SB raised the issue of professional development and discussed a meeting he had recently had with Charlotte Jones from ITC.
SB explained that ITC have organised a series of tea parties and there is the potential for TYA to “piggy back” onto these events. For ITC, the event is primarily designed to “meet its members” and for TYA UK it could be opportunity for our members to connect with TYA UK through their local board member and also to meet each other. New members could also be recruited from within the ITC membership.
ACTION: JM offered to helm this initiative, alongside assistance from MH. Together they will organise local TYA UK events alongside these ITC meetings, working with board members across the regions to ensure a TYA UK presence
VI raised the importance of a national meeting with our membership. PH offered space at Take Off for a date in October .
ACTION: Major item for next meeting – National TYA UK Meeting
5. Role of Treasuer
A unanimous vote was passed that Guy Holland take on the role of treasurer.
MH and GH to work together to facilitate a handover with Wendy
ACTION: Treasurer’s Report to be a major agenda item for next meeting
6. Development Worker Update
MH begun updates by sharing the research she had undertaken regarding the subscription fees of other member networks. There were a number of opinions presented related to the matter of subscription fees. AW proposed that there could be various tiers of membership, with benefits/services available to higher paying members. BE proposed that there could be a “recommended” membership fee, whilst making it clear to members that cost should not prevent them from joining.
MH propsed that it might be tricky to administer a “means tested” approach to membership and said that whether or not we can justifiably charge a full membership fee is directly connected to the benefits of membership; members won’t object to paying if they can see where their money is going. It was decided that membership rates should remain as they are .
ACTION: Marigold to set up direct debit and arrange online subscription to be a part of our website services.
MH progressed to share the promotional print and other design work. The style of design was approved, with minor changes to be made to the flyers and the crediting of photographers and productions
MH raised the issue of how to share information with board and it was recommended that AW is her direct contact for all communication matters.
7. Report of EC Meeting from Paul Harman
PH reported that he came away from this meeting with very positive impressions. He reported that Tony Mack got a very detailed grilling about the details of the congress, with some very pertinent questions being asked. PH confirmed that Wolfgang Schneider will remain President and that some member countries – such as Greece and Mongolia – were dropped from ASSITEJ because of a lack of activity. PH discussed the UK’s role to the international association.
8. TAKE OFF
It was agreed that TYA UK will have a formal involvement in Take Off 2008. BE has offered to do a workshop/seminar on a topic of interest.
ACTION: Take Off is a major agenda item for next board meeting
9. The Adelaide Congress and the Bid
SB proposed that the first meeting with the UK delegation will be on Saturday 10th at a venue to be organised by Issy Hawson from the Arts Council. This meeting will take place at 8.30am.
ACTION: MH to contact Issy Hawson to communicate meeting arrangements and obtain directions
It was noted that the presentation of the bid at Congress will be made by Steve Ball, Tony Graham and a young practitioner – possibly Nina Hajiyianni (Next Generation delegate, Associate Director at Action Transport).
TG re-iterated the importance of presenting a united front at the Congress in tone, message and tactics.
AM presented the bid brochure and talked about the promotional DVD, in which children from the Unicorn Theatre youth theatre will share their favourite parts on London, on location along the Southbank. The DVD will constitute 2 -3 minutes of our bid.
Concerns were raised about the length of the brochure and some of the content within it – i.e. the section about the geographical “mapping” of TYA and the inclusion of some companies but not others. Content to be revised and ammended accordingly, concentrating not on specific companies but on key movements in the sector –i.e. new writing.
It was decided that the core proposal which is “London is a world in a city” is very strong.
The matter of assisted places was raised; both of the other bids address assiting the places of delegates from developing countries. VI proposed that the brochure address the content of the ten days in more detail, i.e. what the festival programme might consist of in terms of workshops, performances etc. Having said that, VI also said that this lack of specific detail could be a strength and that ommitting the detail of the programme could leave us with more flexibility in regard to responding practically and creatively to what is being addressed at Congress.
Summary of inputs regarding the brochure are as follows:
AM raised the matter of party arrangements, noting that he is the process of organising menus and drinks which will include non- alcoholic beverages and vegetarian food! AM stated that he is having some boards designed to display in the event room, with dynamic images and snappy text. It was decided that it would be appropriate for Issy Hawson to make a speech at the party
It was decided that TYA will purchase some copies of The Skeleton Key from Action Transport to take to Adelaide and therefore two texts can have a firm presence there: The Skeleton Key and the newly designed TYA UK book. In regard to the former, TYA UK will pay £300 for the texts and the bid money will pay the extra £200 for shipping.
ACTION : MH to liase with Action Transport re. purchase and shipping
10. Paul Harman and the General Secretary Post
SB informed PH that they wanted to support his bid and wanted to know what TYA UK could do to strengthen his bid. PH discussed his pitch , explaining that he would run the secretariat as a mutually supportive network where everyone carries “bits of the load”, ensuring that people are talking to each other and that he would travel when he needed to. PH stated that he would take on the job to serve and not be beholden to any other constituency.
PH stated that Ivica Simic’s pitch is very different, stating that his vision is for the secretariat to be run as a slick,professional outfit with translation services on site and that he would also take on the role of treasurer.
SB confirmed that he thought Paul should not withdraw at this stage. BE affirmed his opinion that a centralised “outfit” would not be an attrative propoistion for continental Europe. TG raised the question of - thinking globally - whether people are going to vote for both?
VI asked PH whether he was okay with taking on the post for the next three years. PH observed that it was a shame that such a clash was present, noting that Wolfgang had suggested that he could be a vice president with responsibilities for projects. PH noted that he would discuss this matter with the Arts Council and whether or not it would be acceptable to take a compromise.
Next Board Meeting Date: Wednesday 11th June: 12-5pm at the Birmingham REP (boardroom on 2nd floor)