Registered Number: 3002661 Charity Number: 1044532
The Actors of Dionysus (A Company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31[st] December 2025
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
Contents
Legal and administrative information 3 Trustees’ Report Accountant’s Report Statement of financial activities Balance Sheet Notes forming part of the financial statements
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION For the year end 31[st] December 2025
Trustees
David G. G. Bullen Helen Tennison Caroline Bristow Despoina Christianoudi Olga Gekht Fiona Macintosh Shelley Warren Mai Musié
Company Registered Number 3002661 Charity Registered Number 1044532 Registered Office 25 St Luke’s Road Brighton BN2 9ZD Accountants R Kennedy t/a Brayhaven Limited Lower Ickneild Way, Marsworth, Tring, Herts, HP23 4LN
Bankers
Lloyds Bank North Street Brighton BN1 1GL
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
TRUSTEES REPORT
For the year end 31st December 202 5
The Trustees, who are directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, submit their annual report and the financial statements of Actors of Dionysus ( aod ) Limited (the charitable company) for the year ended 31[st] December 2025. The Trustees confirm that the annual report and financial statements of the charitable company comply with current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charitable company’s governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by charities’ revised 2019.
Method of appointment or election of trustees
The management of the charitable company is the responsibility of the Trustees who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association.
Charitable Objectives
The continuation of the performance of new adaptations of ancient Greek drama and new writings inspired by myth. The company intends to maintain its strong outreach programme with workshops and talks, published education materials including: free online resources adaptations, DVDS, audioCDs, and books of essays (all available via the company website) and its digital presence via titles available on the platform Digital Theatre Plus, as well as its highly physical, visual and poetic performance style, exploring new pilot projects, including further expansion of its Magic from Myth coding and storytelling project. The company continues to expand its community outreach and engagement work, strengthening the profile of its local audience base via its award-winning LIONHOUSE venue.
Review of activities and future development:
Summary of 2025
2025 was a year of consolidation and renewed creative energy. Building on the foundations laid in 2024, we strengthened our educational offer, deepened our partnerships, expanded Magic from Myth across Sussex, and continued our longstanding commitment to supporting emerging artists through the KCL Greek Play and Brighton Fringe. With new team members, a small pot of funding via Big Give #ArtsForImpact (£3978) and new artistic work in development, 2025 marked a quiet but hopeful step forward for Actors of Dionysus.
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
Board, Staffing & Governance
Following the regeneration of our Board in 2024, this year saw continued stability and strategic focus. We also welcomed a new Consultant Administrator/Assistant Producer, who replaced our outgoing Administrator. They bring extensive experience as a theatre producer and marketing manager, strengthening our administrative, producing, and communications capacity. Their ongoing education facilitation with Historic workshops will bring, we hope, some re focusing and redirection for our own engagement work.
Projects in Brief
Magic from Myth – Expansion in Sussex
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- Our flagship digital storytelling and myth based coding programme grew significantly in 2025. Building on the success of the Brighton pilots, we:
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Expanded into Worthing, delivering new sessions at AudioActive and forming deeper relationships with local youth organisations.
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Ran additional workshops in Brighton, with returning participants and overwhelmingly positive feedback.
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Continued to prioritise SEND inclusion, with carers and families repeatedly praising -
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the workshops as welcoming, sensory aware, and empowering for neurodivergent young people.
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Benefited from Big Give #ArtsForImpact match-funding, enabling us to keep sessions free and accessible.
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Participants consistently described the workshops as fun, creative, confidence building, and unlike anything else available locally. Demand continues to grow and plans for expansion are ongoing.
KCL Greek Play – Elektra: A Throne Restored
We continued our role as Executive Directors for the KCL Greek Play, supporting the 2025 production of Elektra – A Throne Restored, written and directed by KCL student Ines Neacsa. This student led production ran from 10–12 June 2025 at the Greenwood Theatre and explored themes of political division, generational conflict, and moral responsibility.
The play reimagined Elektra’s struggle to reclaim the throne of Mycenae, inviting audiences - to reflect on power and justice. Pre show talks by leading scholars enriched the experience for school and public audiences.
KCL Greek Play 2026 – The Clouds (transitioning back to Spring)
In Autumn 2025 we began the transition from June performance period back to an early March run so development work with the student creative team for the 2026 production began earlier than usual. A pitch by Giulia Balsamo for The Clouds , was selected and the work began to mentor young artists and support high-quality student-led theatre.
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
LIONHOUSE at Brighton Fringe – Award - Winning for the Second Year Running
For the second consecutive year, LIONHOUSE won the Brighton Fringe Audience Choice Award for Best Venue, a testament to the warmth, creativity, and professionalism of our team and visiting artists.
We hosted five productions in 2025:
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Verity
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Dionysus
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The Labours of Hercules
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Arias in the Garden
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Lionhouse Cabaret
Audience numbers were good throughout, the sun shone and artists praised the supportive environment and high production values.
Artistic Development
Our Artistic Director, Tamsin Shasha continued developing her new solo show, Forgive Me, (in association with aod) now being prepared for its 2026 Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe run. The project will be receiving support in kind from HH Productions and the West End Arts Theatre, enabling rehearsal space, and technical development.
Conferences and Training
As members of the Family Arts Campaign Tamsin Shasha attended the annual Family Arts Leadership symposium at Cecil Sharp House, London in March on behalf of aod and subsequently entered our Magic from Myth coding workshops into their Fantastic for Families award. We were not selected on this occasion. Tamsin and aod remain committed to starting a Family Arts Network in Sussex to support the provision of theatre for young people and connect with other organisations who do the same to share resources, etc. This project is funding dependant and requires support to envision.
Tamsin Shasha and Mark Katz also attended regular Brighton Fringe venue meetings throughout the year to further establish Lionhouse as a community venue.
Tamsin Shasha undertook training with Helen Tennison (solo theatre lab 1 & 2) to further her creative practice. This was not paid by aod, but is an investment in her ongoing CPD and helps toward the development of Forgive Me. The online and in person course culminated in presented sharings at BOLD, Elephant & Castle in London.
Education
Our education programme continued throughout the year with educational workshops delivered by Mark Katz and Tamsin Shasha. These were severely reduced in number but had the same geographical reach as 2024. Feedback remained consistently excellent, with teachers praising the clarity, energy, and curriculum relevance of our sessions.
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
Communications & Social Media
We welcomed two volunteer social-media marketers (via the online platform REACH) in July 2025 and in Dec 2025. As a result our online presence has been revitalised and it has supported our campaigns for #ArtsForImpact Magic from Myth , Brighton Fringe, and the KCL Greek Play.
Funding
In addition to Big Give #ArtsForImpact support, we continued to receive small ongoing donations from Friends and Supporters, helping us to continue our operation, but it was felt that in order to grow and develop strategically that much greater investment and sponsorship is required going forward. This is an urgent necessity for the charity and a commitment going forward.
Risk Management
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Company is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the Company and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate the Company’s exposure to the major risks.
In terms of governance all current company policies have been reviewed, updated and signed off. The Trustees are currently reviewing an AI policy to be added to our company website.
Trustees’ responsibilities
Company and charity law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statement for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the surplus or deficit of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees have:
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Selected suitable accounting policies and applied them constantly;
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Made judgments and estimates that are fair and reasonable;
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Stated whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
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Prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis (unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Trust will continue in operation)
The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the charitable company has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. They are also responsible for
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS (A Company limited by guarantee)
keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act, 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the detection and prevention of fraud and other irregularities.
This report was approved by the board on INSERT DATE and signed on its behalf by
Amanda Comber
Signed: Amanda Comber (Chair)
Date: 5[th] May 2026
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THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTS
for the year ended 31 December 2025
| Note INCOME From Generated Funds Voluntary Income 2 Activities for generating funds 3 From Charitable Activity Workshops Other Income Sundry Income/Interest Theatre Tax Relief TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE Costs of generating Voluntary Income Cost of Goods Sold and other costs 4 From Charitable Activity Workshops Governance costs 5 TOTAL EXPENDITURE NET INCOME/(DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR |
Unrestricted Funds £ 5859 10060 15919 7589 86 4598 28192 0 35377 0 1097 36474 -8282 |
Restricted 2025 2024 Funds Total Total £ £ £ 2889 8748 12109 0 10060 7522 2889 18808 19631 0 7589 13697 0 86 189 0 4598 5561 2889 31081 39078 0 0 0 2889 38266 50816 0 0 0 0 1097 487 2889 39363 51303 0 -8282 -12225 |
2023 Total £ 45432 10651 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56083 10173 166 14182 |
|||
| 80604 0 65967 0 584 |
|||
| 66551 14053 |
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
BALANCE SHEET At December 31st 2025
| Note TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS 1 CURRENT ASSETS Stock 1 Debtors 7 Cash at Bank and in Hand subtotal CREDITORS falling due within 1 year 8 NET CURRENT ASSETS NET ASSETS Represented By: Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds |
2025 36 0 4598 12526 17124 (689) 16435 16471 1989 14482 16,471 |
£ 2024 48 0 5562 19542 25104 (400) 24704 24752 0 24752 24,752 |
£ 2023 64 0 15570 21693 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37263 (350) 36,913 |
|||
| 36,977 | |||
| 4443 15550 |
|||
| 36,977 |
In preparing these accounts:
(a) For the year ended 31 December 2025 the company is entitled to the exemption from audit under Section 477(2) of the Companies Act 2006;
(b) Members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006, and;
(c)The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
(d) These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.
The financial statements were approved by the Board on …………………………
…………………………….
Director
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31 December 2025
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements
The financial statements have been prapared under the historical cost convention.
Company Status
The Charitable Company is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the company are the Trustees named on page l. In the event of the charitable company being wound up the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member of the charitable company.
Fund Acoounting
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charitable Company and which have not been designated for other purposes.
Restricted funds are funds which are to be used accordance with specific instructions imposed by the donors which have been raised by the Trustees for particular purposes.
Income
All incoming resources are included in the Income & Expenditure Account when the Charitable company is legally entitled to the inoome and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.
Expenditure
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been included under expense categories that aggregate all costs for allocation to activities. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular activities, they have been allocated on a basis consistent With the use of the resources. Overheads have been allocated on the basis of charity expenditure
Cash Flow
The company has taken advantage of the exemption from the requirement to produce a cash flow statement on the grounds that it is a small charitable company.
Turnover
Tumover comprises the invoiced value of the goods and services supplied by the company. The company is not registered for Value Added Tax.
Stocks
Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and market value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow - moving items.
Tangible Fixed Assets
Office Equipment is written off on a 25% reducing balance basis.
| Cost Balance at 1 January 2025 912 Additions during the year 0 Charge during the year Balance at 31 December 2025 912 |
Depreciation 864 16 880 |
2025 Net Book Value |
|---|---|---|
| 48 0 -12 |
||
| 36 |
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
for the year ended 31 December 2025
| INCOME Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds £ £ 2 - Voluntary Income Membership Fees 1102 0 Donations 4260 1989 Grants 900 0 Gift Aid Tax Repayment 497 0 6759 1989 3 - Activities for Generating Funds Publications 0 0 Workshop Income 7589 0 Venue Income 10060 0 17649 0 EXPENDITURE 4 - Cost of Goods Sold and other costs Production costs and purchases 1125 0 Staff costs 29384 0 Miscellaneous 3214 0 Postage 0 0 Staff Expenses & Travel 1651 0 Stationery 0 0 Computer Costs 0 0 Phone/Internet 329 0 Depreciation 12 0 Publicity 0 0 Repairs & Renewals 0 0 Hire of Space 1725 0 Insurance 826 0 Expenditure Allocated to restricted funds -1989 1989 Training 0 0 36277 0 1989 5 - Governance Accountancy 689 0 Consultancy 300 0 Claiming Theatre Tax Relief 0 0 Bank Charges 108 0 1097 0 |
2025 Total £ 1102 6249 900 497 8748 0 7589 10060 17649 1125 29384 3214 0 1651 0 0 329 12 0 0 1725 826 0 0 38266 689 300 0 108 1097 |
2024 Total £ 2821 1174 8114 0 12109 0 13697 7522 21219 5227 37392 1411 0 2908 0 0 544 16 0 0 2492 826 0 0 50816 400 0 0 87 487 |
2023 Total £ 811 14356 29447 818 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45432 0 10173 10651 |
|||
| 20824 1445 57825 1372 184 2100 0 0 509 22 168 46 1480 816 0 0 |
|||
| 65967 350 150 0 84 |
|||
| 584 |
6 - Trustees Remuneration & Expenses
No Trustee received any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses during the year. (2024 £nil)
7 - Debtors
| 7 - Debtors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Debtors Gift Aid Repayment Theatre Tax Relief 8 - Creditors Trade Loan Accruals |
0 0 4598 4598 0 0 689 689 |
0 0 5561 5561 0 0 400 400 |
0 0 15570 |
| 15570 0 0 350 |
|||
| 350 |
THE ACTORS OF DIONYSUS
Accountant's Report
Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025
In accordance with instructions received I have prepared, without carrying out an audit, the accounts set out on pages 1 to 4 from the accounting records of The Actors of Dionysus and from the information and explanations supplied to me.
R Kennedy FCMA Date: 21/03/2026 Brayhaven Ltd Timbers House, Lower Icknield Way, Marsworth, Tring, Herts, HP23 4LN
Restricted Funds Analysis
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Balance | ||||||
| Received During Year | ||||||
| The Big Give | 3978 | 0 | 2996 | |||
| Arts Council England (ACE) | 0 | 0 | 29447 | |||
| Foyle Foundation | 900 | 0 | 6500 | |||
| Doyly Carte | 0 | 0 | 3000 | |||
| University of London | 0 | 0 | 1350 | |||
| Chalk Cliff funding | 0 | 3211 | 0 | |||
| subtotal | 4878 | 3211 | 43293 | |||
| Carried Forwards from prior year | ||||||
| The Big Give | 0 | 1498 | 1719 | |||
| Arts Council England (ACE) | 0 | 2945 | 0 | |||
| subtotal | 0 | 4443 | 1719 | |||
| Carried Forwards to 2026 | ||||||
| The Big Give | 1989 | 0 | 1498 | |||
| Arts Council England (ACE) | 0 | 0 | 2945 | |||
| subtotal | 1989 | 0 | 4443 | |||
| Used in 2025 | 2889 | 7654 | 40569 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesldirectorsl members of Acf On accounts for the year ended ,ILL- li)2( Charlty no.: ¥Sz company no.: ooI6L I Set out on pages indude the page num of additn4* sheets. I report to the chadty trustees on my examlnatlon of the aCtunts of the Company for the year ended Re6ponsibilitie6 and basls of report As the charity's trustees of the Company (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company lawy, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance Nmth fv requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Acr). Hang satlsfied myself that the acu)unts of the Gompany are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 20 Act and are eligible for independent examination. I report in respect of my examinabon of your chariVs accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (°the 2011 Acf). In carying out my examination, I have foll0vd the Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 ACL Independent examine$ statement I have completed my examlnatlon. I confirni that no material matters have come to my attents.on ") thich gives me cause to believe that: ' aGGounting records were not kept in aGGordanLZ With section 386 of the Companles Act 2006: • the accounts do not accord with such reeords,. or . the accounts do not comply wrth relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Compani8s Act 2(X)6 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter Gonsidered as part of an independent examination. or .the accounts have not been prepared in accordance wth the char"e5 SORP (FRS102). IER October 2018
I have no concem6 and have come a(xoss no other matters in connection with the examination to Nthlch attentlon should be dr8vm in this report in order to enable a proper uTraerstandiTrJ of the accounts to te hed. ' Please delata the words the brdckets rfthey dD not appty. Signed: Name: fLu fvi fLf Relevant profe88ional qualification(s) or body (if any): Addrnss: Ti oB(-Q-£ Dob4 L-IL I CrfiJw' ? L LvI¥Y MAISbJo KT HI ZS Lpu Section B Disclosure Only cnmplete rf the examiner needs to highlight material matters of conrn {see CC32, Independent examination of charty aecounts: direthons and guidance for 8xaminers). Glvè hare brlef detalls of any items that th• oxaminor wishos to disGIose. IER October 2018