A look back at 2022-23
2023 April 1Our Annual Review film of 2022-23 is here. At Lawrence Batley Theatre we've been even busier than ever. Over the year we welcomed more than seventy thousand people into the theatre.
We produced three exciting and entertaining professional shows of our own.
Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me was met with rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe and won many awards including best solo performance, before it headed off on an international tour.
Atlantic Records artists The Staves, composed an original song for Blood Harmony. Our third production with our partners Thick Skin.
Our pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, celebrated local talent by employing local actors with natural Northern accents. It’s so important to us that our community can see and hear themselves reflected on their professional stage.
Every year we raise money through our Christmas Heroes scheme to invite families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, to come see our panto. This time donations broke all records and we invited six hundred people in.
Magic happens every day here, and not just on stage.
On Saturdays our building is full of Ukrainian refugees who gather to dance, learn English and have fun.
Over the year nearly three thousand people from our community got the chance to perform on our stage. We nurtured the confidence over a thousand young people, and worked to develop their talent through our workshops and classes.
We coached and supported 70 people to be part of our annual community production that was written and directed by freelance artists. We have also given 950 hours of free rehearsal room use to local professional artists.
We started working closely with our community ambassadors, Hardeep Sahota and Madiha Ansari who are local artists of South Asian heritage. We're helping them to achieve funding for their artistic projects and they're helping to shape our programme to provide for more people in our area.
We opened TEN Queen Street, a space for people to be creative on their own terms. In there we host regular book clubs, acting classes and playreading groups. Some of the people from these groups have developed into amateur playwrights and have formed their own supportive group.
All this is just a snap shot of what we've been up to. We are so committed to our community and to our mission to be the creative heart of Huddersfield. Keep an eye on our social channels for more updates.