Outreach is essential to widening access to the arts

In my experience, many young people in state education perceive learning as a process of providing answers that are either right or wrong. That’s not a judgement on the incredible work of teachers navigating the complexity of our current system. It is largely the result of a fact-based system of learning that has squeezed the space for socially engaged thought, debate and creativity from the curriculum.

I also think it’s why programmes like the RSC’s First Encounters with Shakespeare: The Tempest that I’m currently working on feel more urgent now than ever. The productions are designed for younger and first-time audiences and tour to areas across England where arts provision is typically low, using abridged versions of Shakespeare’s original texts performed in school halls, community venues and local theatres.

Huge disparity in access

Taking the shows directly into schools and communities is particularly important. In this country, the arts aren’t valued as a fundamental part of a young person’s development. They are perceived as an optional extra, resulting in a huge disparity in terms of access and opportunities to experience or participate in the arts.

If you’re not used to them, arts spaces can feel intimidating and ticket price barriers mean people can feel pushed out, as if they don’t belong. I grew up working class and arts weren’t part of family life. But I was lucky to have an incredible science teacher who set up arts provision in my school and took us to the theatre. But I remember the reactions from other audience members. We weren’t welcome.

Outreach projects try to address that imbalance by creating a space for young people – many encountering it for the first time – to experience the arts in a familiar and safe environment. Taking work to audiences, rather than expecting them to travel to us, removes barriers and allow audiences to just focus on and enjoy the work.

Inspiring careers in the arts

In 2018, the RSC, Tate and the University of Nottingham asked over 6,000 young people why arts experiences and creative subjects matter to them. Overwhelmingly they said arts subjects were the only spaces where they felt able to make mistakes, think for themselves, express opinions and explore new perspectives.

Arts experiences – and more specifically this First Encounters show – prompt and empower young people to ask fundamental questions. Such as the one that I think sits at the heart of every Shakespeare play: why do people do the things they do?

Shakespeare plays may be over 400 years old, but their complex stories, themes and characters make them a perfect vehicle for getting young people talking and thinking. The Tempest specifically speaks to power and control. Written when Empire was looming in Britain’s future, racial identifiers were emerging that continue to impact young people’s lived experiences.

At a time when polarisation and villainization of certain groups is exploited as a tool to create division, our production feels very relevant. If seeing our show prompts ideas and conversations that audiences can engage with and form their own opinion of, then that is a vitally important outcome.

Taking work into schools and communities also has wider implications for the industry. When we perform in these venues, we’re not trying to hide the stage management or backstage teams. Everything can be seen on and off stage, which opens audiences’ eyes to what it takes to make a play, perhaps inspiring someone to consider a path into the arts.

Continues…

The cast of the RSC’s First Encounters: The Tempest. Photo: Sarah Beaumont

Cautiously optimistic

The perception that art is for the elite also plays out within the industry. As anyone working in theatre will attest – and as a freelance director myself – it can feel that you need to have money behind you, or at least a support system to take up opportunities.

Often the fee on offer doesn’t reflect a living wage when you break it down to an hourly rate. The result being that the only people able to make work are those with a certain level of financial privilege. That inequality can often mean work isn’t representative of or welcoming to all communities.

And while the industry is working hard to address these imbalances, it is simultaneously battling the fact that the arts are being defunded and either erased or out of reach for the majority of young people’s experience. 

I was at school during a Labour government and directly benefited from their understanding of the value and impact the arts can have on a young person’s development and learning. So, I am cautiously optimistic about this government’s commitment to investing in the creative industries and considering the arts in the ongoing curriculum and assessment review.

The arts contribute in myriad ways to young people’s growth and development, but they also impact significantly on the country’s international reputation and GDP. It’s a delicate ecosystem – each part relying on the success of the other.

My hope is that, in addition to supporting outreach work like ours, this government can use its influence to reframe the view that arts are essential – not only for making well-rounded, articulate human beings, but as a viable route for career progression.

First Encounters: The Tempest is on tour until 10 May 2025 – more information about dates and venues can be found here.