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Theatre Nation Partnerships

Our national network with local impacts

 

Theatre Nation Partnerships is a collaborative network of arts organisations aiming to strengthen their relationships with local audiences, schools and communities.

Convened by the National Theatre, the network is made up of theatres and creative organisations in 13 priority areas of England. By working together, we create more opportunities for people to engage with theatre and are on track to reach 500,000 targeted audiences, young people and community members between 2022 to 2025.

Many of the activities that will take place in these areas as part of the partnership are flagship National Theatre programmes, such as Public Acts and Speak Up.

A map of England, Wales and Scotland with 13 points highlighted: Sunderland, Wakefield, Doncaster, Leicester, Peterborough, Outer East London & South Essex, North Devon, Trowbridge, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Greater Manchester.

Our partners

A photo of the frontage of the Cast building in Doncaster.

Doncaster

with Cast

The image depicts the exterior of The Lowry, a contemporary glass and steel building with an overhanging structure. The entrance has large glass windows and a balcony above it. Several people are walking near the entrance and colorful posters are displayed.

Greater Manchester

Salford, Rochdale, Wigan with Lowry

A modern, curved, glass-fronted building with horizontal slats stands prominently in an urban setting under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Surrounding the building are older, brick structures, trees, and a partially visible high-rise in the background.

Leicester

with Curve

Circular building with a unique, conical structure and large entrance windows, set in a lush green area with trees and pathways. The image captures the building from an elevated perspective, illuminating the detailed texture of the structure in natural light.

North Devon

with Landmark Theatres, The Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple & The Landmark

A photo of the frontage of the Queens Theatre building in Hornchurch.

Outer East London and South Essex

with Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch

Peterborough

with Landmark Theatres, Peterborough New Theatre & Key Theatre

Image of the entrance to Regent Theatre with glass canopy and neon sign. Posters for upcoming shows and events are displayed on either side of the entrance. The building has a tiled façade and large windows above the entrance.

Stoke-on-Trent

with Restoke and Regent Theatre & Victoria Hall

A photo of the frontage of the Fire Station building in Sunderland.

Sunderland

with Sunderland Empire & Sunderland Culture

A photo of the frontage of Trowbridge Town Hall..

Trowbridge

with Trowbridge Town Hall

The front of the Theatre Royal Wakefiled building, a red-brick facade with a glass canopy projecting over the entrance.

Wakefield

with Theatre Royal Wakefield

A night view of the Grand Theatre illuminated with pink lights. The historic building features large, arched windows and ornate architectural details. Street lamps and trees frame the scene.

Wolverhampton

with Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

What we are doing

Domonic Ramsden and Keir Oglivy (Boy), operating two illuminated stick puppets, as Aimee McGolderick and Millie Hikasa (Lettie) look on, laughing

Large scale touring

The National Theatre will take large scale productions to Theatre Nation Partners with future tours. In 2023, The Ocean at the End of the Lane toured to five Theatre Nation Partners.

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane on Tour
Silhouettes of two women, one wearing a crown, dressed formally with pearl necklaces. The crowned figure holds a purple handbag with

Midscale touring

Handbagged by Moira Buffini, a Theatre Nation Partnerships production, produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, will be touring from February to May 2025 as part of our Theatre Nation Partnerships network.

Midscale touring
An illustration of a desert landscape with a large robotic hand partially buried in the sand. Three figures walk away in the distance, casting long shadows. The title

Schools touring

From the start of 2025, the National Theatre will return to schools in 12 Theatre Nation partnership areas with a tour of The LeftBehinds, a new play co-created by Bristol playwright Ross Willis and director Ned Bennett. This follows last year’s hugely popular secondary schools tour of Jekyll & Hyde, which was performed for 10,000 young people nationwide.

The LeftBehinds
A group of people onstage dressed in beige and brown tones with all their hands in the air, production photo of Public Acts' The Odyssey on the Olivier stage, 2023

Public Acts

Six Theatre Nation Partners worked in-depth with their local communities to stage the multi-venue epic The Odyssey in 2023. Public Acts are currently working in partnership with Sunderland Culture and Sunderland Empire to produce their new production Public Record, a celebration of the people and music of Sunderland performed by community members and professional artists from across the city.

Public Acts
A group of young people wearing pink t-shirts with the words 'Speak Up' written on them - they are speaking British sign language

Speak Up

Ten Theatre Nation Partners are delivering our creative schools programme Speak Up that gives young people the opportunity to explore issues that matter to them.

Speak Up
Three actresses on stage in a period drama setting, portraying a scene with joyful expressions. One in a blue dress sits smiling, another in a red dress reads a letter, and the third in a dark dress leans over her shoulder, all against a simple wooden backdrop.

NT at Home

Theatre Nation Partners are using streaming licences as an audience development tool in their local communities.

NT at Home
Students in a classroom watch a National Theatre production on a TV screen, featuring an actor in costume performing a scene. The students are seated with their backs to the camera, focused on the screen at the front of the room.

NT Collection

Our educational streaming platform equips schools and public libraries in Theatre Nation Partner areas and beyond to engage with high-quality digital theatre.

National Theatre Collection landing page
Three people looking at laptops during a workshop.

Research & innovation

Theatre Nation Partners will research and evaluate our activity and share what we learn with the wider sector. Our current research is focused on building and sustaining drama audiences.

A group of people sitting on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre with the words 'Making Theatre Green' on a screen at the top

Environmental action

All Theatre Nation Partners are working together to apply Theatre Green Book standards so we can deliver our activity sustainably.

Sustainability

The story so far

We created the Theatre Nation Partnerships network in 2017, with partners in six initial areas – Doncaster, Greater Manchester, Hornchurch, Sunderland, Wakefield and Wolverhampton.

Between 2017-2022, the first phase of the programme exceeded its target of reaching 200,000 people from under-engaged areas and demographics, working with 215,987 audiences, participants, and artists.

100% of partners said that the programme enabled them to share expertise and ideas and 96% feel that they have developed their skills.

National Theatre plays have toured to multiple partner venues, including War Horse, Macbeth, A Taste of Honey, Hedda Gabler, LOVE, and Home, I’m Darling.

Specially adapted tours of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Jekyll & Hyde visited schools in all six partner regions, allowing our partner theatres to forge strong relationships with high priority local schools. A specially adapted version of Macbeth also toured to secondary schools in Doncaster, Sunderland and Wakefield.

Our Public Acts community and theatre project worked in-depth with community organisations in Outer East London and South Essex (with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch) and Doncaster (with Cast) on a wide range of creative projects.

In summer 2022, we were delighted to receive a second round of support for Theatre Nation Partnerships from Arts Council England, so that we could expand the network and run an ambitious new phase of activity. The National Theatre is tripling the investment made by Arts Council England, and 90% of our total budget for the programme is being spent on activity with our partners in partnership areas.

Between 2022-2023, the network has achieved:

  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane toured to five Theatre Nation Partners, with wrap-around activity widening access for local audiences.
  • Sucker Punch produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch toured to nine Theatre Nation Partners.
  • Our creative school programme Speak Up launched in 55 schools across the partnership.
  • Shut Up, I’m Dreaming devised by The Pappyshow toured to 50 schools across the partnership.
  • Six Theatre Nation Partners worked in depth with their local communities to stage the multi-venue epic The Odyssey.

Our funders

Theatre Nation Partnerships is generously supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund.

Find out more about supporting our work

The National Partnerships team

Kiri Grant
Head of National Partnerships

Oliver Branton
Project Producer

Ellie Hart
Speak Up Manager

Claude Graham
Administration Manager, National Partnerships

 

Tom Chamberlain
Touring Coordinator

Niamh Parker-Whitehead
Speak Up Administrator

Liam Smith
Speak Up Coordinator

If you wish to get in touch with the National Partnerships team, please email learning@nationaltheatre.org.uk.

Photo © Brinkhoff Moegenburg
The Odyssey Episode 5: The Underworld, Olivier Theatre 2023