The Civic is celebrating its National Lottery funded arts delivery this Christmas with a specially-commissioned family show.
The production of ‘The Night Before Christmas’ is funded by the National Lottery and marks its 25th birthday - more than £40 billion has been given to good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community across the UK since the first draw took place in 1994.
The show is produced by the national charity, Full House Theatre, whose mission is to give the opportunity for every child to hold treasured memories of theatre.
Harriet Hardie, Creative Director at Full House Theatre, said: “The Lottery funding ensures we expand the reach of our work and make sure that people who might not normally get the opportunity to take part in or engage in the arts, get access to really high quality performance work - particularly outside of London and the big cities.”
Harriet added: “It’s about raising opportunity and aspiration amongst young people, which is hugely important for health and wellbeing and social mobility. With The Civic, we want to broaden horizons of children and young people who may not get the opportunity to go to the theatre or who can’t afford to take two days to go to the West End to see a show.”
The Civic has brought ground-breaking productions to Barnsley leveraging lottery funding for local artists, who have put the town on the national arts agenda.
Ian Morley, Head of Programming and Artist Development at The Civic, said: “One big success story is the award-winning choreographer Gary Clarke – who was one of our key core commissions. He’s from Grimethorpe, a real area of deprivation, and he’s now regarded as one of the UK’s leading independent dance artists.”
Since The Civic launched its Artistic Residency Programme five years ago, it has supported more than 33 companies and hundreds of artists to develop new works seen by tens of thousands in Barnsley and on tour across the UK. The venues artistic development work has secured further grants for the artists it supports worth over £573,566.
The investment helped develop a local amateur theatre into a professional company. Right Hand Theatre received Lottery funding just shy of £100,000 to create a new musical that will be showcased at The Civic in February.
Ian said: “The Lottery funding is massively beneficial – it’s created an eco-system of arts funding that boosts the local economy in our region. We are still a young organisation after opening ten years ago, but The Civic has grown into a leading arts centre in the North with national recognition.”
‘The Night Before Christmas’ is a re-imagining of the famous poem, set on Christmas Eve in 1969, the year of the Moon landing. It centres on three Santa super fans who dedicate their lives to catching a sighting of Father Christmas.
Harriet said: “It’s about as Christmassy as a Christmas show can get! It’s full of festive fun, it’s very creative – there’s animation, live video projection, an original musical score by a BAFTA-nominated composer - so the quality of it is something you would expect to see in the West End, but we’re able with Lottery money to bring it to Barnsley.”
Harriet added: “There are two things The Civic do brilliantly, one is they are very generous with the opportunities they give to artists to test and develop new work and ensure that creativity is harnessed in Barnsley and Yorkshire. But it’s also important that they’re championing quality - that’s very important – and that quality work is accessible, in this the Civic excels.”
Tickets now on sale for ‘The Night Before Christmas’, Fri 13 – Tues 24 December. Box Office: 01226 327 000. Or book online: barnsleycivic.co.uk
ENDS