I am very excited to be able to announce Alphabetti’s first season of programming since becoming Artistic Director. Since I arrived in my role the staff here at Alphabetti have wasted no time in making me feel like a member of the family, and I owe a huge degree of gratitude to them for negotiating the first stages of this transitional period with incredible professionalism, care, and proactive optimism.” 

​

As an organisation, Alphabetti has a responsibility to our artists, our audiences and our communities to create a welcoming space where people can share stories, develop ideas and create change, and to forge pathways for ideas, people and creativity to grow. We must also be open and honest about the challenges facing the creative sector in the present day, and work with partners across the city and beyond to ensure that everyone can be optimistic about the creative future of Newcastle and the North East.

 

With all of this in mind, we have begun a period of organisation development work at Alphabetti, generously funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Arts Council England (ACE). Grants have enabled us to employ external consultation from the brilliant Ned Glasier (founder of Company Three) to help us collaborate as a team and lay the foundations for a company vision, that will in turn form the basis of a new business plan. Training for staff (including anti-racism, BSL and mental health first aid) will be delivered thanks to the funding, and soon we also hope to offer new roles at Alphabetti - watch this space! 

​

As I’m sure you can appreciate, the workload has been such that I’ve had precious little time to do my most important job – read and programme plays! I’ve met some wonderful writers and am making my way through my ever-expanding reading list– but to anyone who has reached out or submitted a script, I can only offer a huge thank you for your patience and understanding. The quality and volume of work being produced across this region is nothing short of astounding, and I can’t wait to be able to be regularly programming work from some of our incredible local playwrights.  

​

Which brings us to this season – and I’m delighted to say we have some truly excellent work coming up on the Alphabetti stage. We have familiar faces and new ventures; poetry, comedy, cabaret, gigs and touring shows; regular events and one-off celebrations; and, at last count, four different festivals (four!!!). It feels poignant and apt to be opening this season with the return of one of Alphabetti’s most successful shows; Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light, as their sell out tour comes home to Newcastle. We’ve even added an extra matinee performance as demand for tickets is so high. It’s also incredibly exciting to be hosting TeePee productions’ award-winning show, Fluff, which arrives at Alphabetti in March with huge praise from previous runs at Birmingham and Buxton Fringe Festivals, where it won Best New Piece and Best Performance, respectively.  

​

Heading into May, and the brilliant Ruth Raynor will be debuting her show Grounded, which has been in development over several months and had a work in progress showing at Alphabetti last summer. The show is magnificently written – engaging, thought-provoking and incredibly moving – and has some stunning music woven throughout.  

​

We then have the phenomenal Olivia Hannah’s new show, Sh*t Life Crisis in June, presented by Silent Uproar, which promises to be a wild party of a show with brilliant tunes and a full-blown karaoke. I can’t wait!

 

There are also some shows which unfortunately, we can’t announce - yet. Given the nature and pattern of ACE funding, it’s often the case that production teams (especially for small-scale shows like we have at Alphabetti) won’t find out whether they have funding until only a few weeks before rehearsals are due to start. This creates a series of challenges that Alphabetti is looking to address. Normally, we would programme work several months in advance and then wait with bated breath and crossed fingers to find out if ACE funding would be successful. If so – great, full steam ahead! But on the ever-increasing occasions that bids were rejected (ACE funding has never been as competitive as it is today) then we were left in a situation where a production had to be delayed, dramatically scaled down, or cancelled.  

​

Alphabetti is accepting of the current funding model, and we acknowledge the enormous pressures the Arts Council is under. There isn’t a huge amount we can do to change this system in the short-term, however, we can alleviate the pressure on productions by leaving them out of our programme until funding is confirmed. As such, you’ll spot one or two gaps in the programme between now and August, where we hope (funding permitting) we will be able to programme shows, but are having to wait and see, for now. You can rest assured that we’ll be shouting from the rooftops (and from our social media channels and mailing list) when these shows are ready to be announced.  

​

I can’t finish without offering some more thanks to our wonderful funders. Firstly, the Backstage Trust, whose generosity quite literally brought us back from the brink last summer. Also, Arts Council England and Esmée Fairbairn for getting us started on our next chapter, and the Barbour Foundation, the Sir James Knott Trust, the Fagus Anstruther Memorial Trust, the UKRI and NCIF – without all of whom we simply wouldn’t be able to bring you this incredible season of work.  

​

Finally, thanks to each and every one of you. Alphabetti, like all independent venues, relies on people like you making the brave decision to put on a coat, leave the house, hop on a bus, a bike or a train, and take a gamble on a night out. I promise you that I, and all the team here, will be doing everything we can to make that decision worth your while. You will always have a warm welcome at Betti, whether for Lort Burn Specials’ new poetry night, the zany adventure of Mr Funbles’ Sunday Portal, or one of our world-famous Showaoke’s (with new host Elijah Young!). We’ve even had a bit of a makeover in the bar to celebrate you coming down (along with a range of delicious new bar snacks!). 

​

Thank you so much for your continued support. See you soon,  

Ed