IGC Look Back

Welcome to our quarterly ‘look back blog’. The highlights, the challenges, the fight we continue to champion and support Midlands artists.  We're waning to celebrate and highlight the work we do more regularly, to make sure you our artists know exactly what we're up to!

But, before we jump into all that – let us tell you about our Christmas Social coming up on December 19^th. Join us at Nottingham Playhouse for Not Got An Office Office Party. We’re hosting our own little Christmas bash with Christmas quiz and nibbles and all for all freelancers who work in cafes, home offices, hot desks, and beyond! Pop the emails away and come mingle with from 14:00 until 17:00, then after you can head into the panto or stick around for some late afternoon discounted drinks. Grab your free ticket below and bring your best mince pie mentality. Is that a thing? We can make it a thing.  

Also, don’t forget that we’re programming for Departure Lounge Festival (Thurs 2nd – Friday 4^th July) – we want to hear from you on your projects and productions! Head to our website and find out more and get in touch!

Okay, now onto our reflections. As always, thank you to everyone who engages in our network. We do this work for you, and we’re proud to support Midlands makers, and champion this diverse and energetic community.  

-Team IGC 

CHRISTMAS DO TICKETS 

FUNDING SUCESS  

You may or may not know but IGC is projected funded! We run a year (or there abouts) long programme and apply for more funding to keep us running. We were fortunate to get another years' worth of funding for 2025 – 2026 from Arts Council England. With this funding we’ve also gained more capacity with Annis – our Producer and Comms Officer joining us now for 4 days instead of 2.5 (it’s me Annis writing this, I don’t know why I’ve written it in third person but hey ho). With more capacity, we’re aiming to continue delivering the high-quality programme we’ve always done, and add on some new exciting stuff for you.  

IMPROVING ACCESS 

This year we’ve been on a journey to improve our access across all of IGC. Jen and Annis both achieved their Level One in BSL, and we sponsored a freelancer to do the same!  

We’ve been working with Quiplash, disabled led theatre company and charity, to improve access at Departure Lounge Festival and across our programme.  

We’ve always worked hard to make the festival as assessable as possible, but we know there is work to do, and things we can do differently. That’s where Quiplash have come in. They’ve working with us to look at every point of the festival process, from how we talk to artist, the work we programme, and how audiences experience the festival. There’ll be things we can change for this festival, and then things that will take more time. The consultation we’re going through now will lead to stronger and more support access in our festival and our wider programme, and we’re really thankful for Quiplash for being so supportive and brilliant in this process.  

Please do check them out, both from the work they make to the work they do. If you’re interested in your own access consultation – please get in touch with them!  

SCRIPT WINDOW 

Last month our Script Window closed, and our pilot scheme for running an independent theatre script feedback service. We had over 50 scripts come in from across the Midlands. We had first drafts, final drafts, comedies, tragedies, short plays, two act productions, we had the whole lot. Each script received a full report of feedback looking at voice, character, themes, and more. We’re blown away by the breadth of talent in these scripts, though we know that the talent is there – it's always nice to see it in full display.  

This was a pilot scheme we ran. Born from consulting with writers and responding to a lack of opportunities to hear informed feedback and outside critique. From the feedback survey, we know that the writers found the window informative and useful to their work and development. Writing can feel lonely, and it can be hard to find fresh eyes for your play. We plan now to review the feedback and see if here’s a demand to run this again.   

IGC @ GENFEST  

IGC were invited down by our partner Royal & Derngate to participate in their exciting new-work festival GenFest. We were there for artist surgeries and to run the devising game The Investigators made by Alex Kelly. We had an absolute blast being there. We met some incredible artists, and the workshop had over 20 attendees, all of whom threw themselves into the devising process.  

The Investigators is still being developed, but it is a devising board game developed by Alexander Kelly using Voyager 3. It sees participants (or players if you’re feeling fun) voyage out into the world with investigation prompts and return to create the foundations for their devising works.  

COMMUNITY SCRATCH NIGHT FROM SCRATCH? 

Together with Derby Theatre Reaching Communities, we hosted our latest scratch night at the beginning of November.  From new writing to singing workshops, the evening was full of fresh ideas, support, and just brilliant community.  

This particular scratch was made really special as we had worked with Derby Theatre’s Community Steering Groups who programmed the event. We came together with community members who helped programme the night. The open workshop saw us walk through the process of programming together, and each act was voted on by the panel.    

PRODUCER BOOTCAMP  

 In August, we ran our first week-long intensive for seventeen early career producers and self producing artists. Each day we tackled a new topic, from funding bids, audience development and PR, touring, and much much more. It was a really exciting week sharing our skills, and hopefully the first of many.  

We will be launching our next Producer Bootcamp soon, so please keep your eyes peeled for more details shortly.