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2025-08-31-accounts

OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY ANNUAL REPORT 2025

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

CONTENTS

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SUMMARY
page 1
DIRECTOR’S REPORT r
page 2
COMPANY REP REPORT
page 3
ACCOUNTS
page 4
APPENDIX
pages i - iv
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This year has proved to be one of our busiest yet, with a huge range of activity taking place.

Highlights have included working with professionals such as set designer, Catherine Chapman, and lighting designer, Vicky Lopez and the cast of professional show, How to be a Kid . Our company members again delivered high quality education opportunities for students at York University through simulated patient work.

We had the good fortune to work with third year Marketing student, Evie Tuckwell, who acted as Marketing Officer for the year. After completing her degree Evie moved in to full time employment and sadly her time with OOC ended. We appreciate all she did to promote our work and increase our visibility.

We continue to reach out to audiences to find out what they think of our work. Evaluation findings are included in the Appendix.

We welcome new company members Peter, Luke, Aaron and Olivia as they progress from the Converge Introduction to Theatre course in to OOC. Aaron and Olivia started a little earlier than intended, stepping up to cover parts in our production, Chaos. We are very grateful for this.

We are excited to welcome Dianne Willcocks CBE DL, former Vice Chancellor at York St John and former Deputy Principal of Sheffield Hallam University (as well as many other appointments) as a new trustee for 2025/2026.

We would like to thank all the individuals and organisations who continue to support us in so many ways. Our two production, Chaos and Out of the Box, were attended by our patron Mark Addy and his family. We really appreciate Mark’s support for our company, especially his patience in regard to selfies with the company after the production.

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

Director's Report

Productions

This has been a really positive year for us as a company. In Autumn 2024 we worked towards a devised piece Out of the Box . This project was in partnership with York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre and explored themes of teenage mental health. OOC initially created questions for a questionnaire that was sent out to the 14-16s youth theatre companies, who answered digitally and creatively, sending short films of response pieces. OOC then devised a response piece centred around the idea of a factory that makes bespoke toolkits to be delivered to teenagers at times of ill mental health. Part way through the devising process, Kate and company members went in to two youth theatre groups at York Theatre Royal and ran sessions exploring sections of the text that we had created so far, gaining the young people’s feedback and contributions to the script and characters which was then integrated into the final production. Jane integrated all of the devising work and young people’s answers to questionnaires and session scenes into the finished script. The show ran for 3 nights in theatre 1, YSJ and was seen by approximately 80 people.

However, this was not the only project that the company devised this term. We worked with three York St John MA students, Beth, Henry and Jasmine who collaborated with the company to make Behind the Curtain ; a piece based on the concept of actors preparing to go on stage. This rehearsed in the first hour of our sessions in the autumn and was performed in January 2025.

In January 2025 we embarked on our scripted project, working on Laura Lomas’ play Chaos . The project was launched with a masterclass from our professional set and costume designer Catherine Chapman. We were able to hear about her process to create the design and undertook some creative tasks in order to contribute our ideas into her finished design. We performed Chaos in July at Friargate Theatre in York over 4 shows to an audience of 111. Audience data was gathered from 9 individuals and is summarised in the Appendix.

Simulated Patient work

We continued our work with University of York nursing students this year with Out of Character company members delivering 3 sessions in Spring 2025. Gill, Jean, Jane, Minnie, Patrick, Hannah, Bekhi, Adam and Meg worked with Kate to create 3 very different sessions. This included a session about Stigma where actors created installations around their own experiences and views on mental health, a ward based session where actors learnt character case studies and then were assessed by pairs of nursing students, and a forum theatre session where actors performed forum theatre scenes exploring mental health Unconscious Bias, and facilitated small group conversations about changes that needed to be made to character’s responses, incorporating these in altered versions of the original scenes.

Over the 3 sessions we interacted with 170 students at University of York. OOC members gained a lot from these sessions and we had wonderful feedback from the students in each of the sessions. Images can be found in the Appendix.

Image shows members of OOC with the cast of How to be a Kid. We think one of our talented company members (also seamstress) is hiding in the bunny costume…

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

Company Representative Report

The last 12 months have been busy. The two productions were both challenging in their own way, but we learnt plenty and the special family atmosphere inside OOC provided support when it was needed, a sense of security.

We have had the chance to work with a lot of new groups and individuals. When we were preparing for Out of the Box we worked with a couple of groups of young actors. For Chaos, we had the chance to work with a designer, Catherine Chapman, so we saw the whole process, through to using the set.

There was an exciting chance to be part of a workshop with the cast of How to be a Kid, produced by Next Door but One and then to see the finished production. Some OOC members joined others from York organisations as part Create to Connect, opening different types of experience, starting with producing a radio play and moving on to other new things. Some members of Create to Connect have become members of Converge applying for the Introduction to Theatre course.

The connection with the nursing team at York University continued, we performed in a ward setting and some of the cast developed a seminar based round stigma. Feedback was very positive.

It was a good year socially from the Christmas meal in the new year, to a very enjoyable trip to see Dear Evan Hansen and a summer picnic in the Museum Gardens.

We have welcomed some new members to the company and are enjoying working alongside them and our thanks go out to Olivia and Aaron for joining the cast of Chaos at short notice

Performances and workshops

Productions

Simulated Patient Workshops delivered by OOC

company members

Partnership project

Workshops for OOC company members

Performances attended by company members

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

ACCOUNTS

– 1[st] SEPTEMBER 2024 31[st] AUGUST 2025

Income
Carried forward from 23-24 £11,796
Grants £37,114
Donations £252
Performance income £2795
Refunds £22
Total Income £51,979
Expenditure
Artistic Director £8425
Assistant Direction £6894
Pension payments £1940
Playwriting £280
Travel £707
Refreshments £923
Design £2600
Technician £1725
Fundraising £315
Gifts £154
Properties £183
Training £421
Refunds £5760
Administration hours £1155
Examination of accounts £330
Public Liability Insurance £146
Play scripts £628
Promotion £1600
Simulation work £2743
Total Expenditure £36,926.36
Balance to carry forward £15,053

APPENDIX

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

Analysis of OOC values following session on Thursday 18[th] September 2025, conducted by company member, Gill Main

An incredibly self-important and overly-complicated analysis of OOC values

The first table shows the ranks for each group, average rank, and standard deviation in rank for each item, ordered by average rank (i.e. with the item with the highest average rank at the top, and the lowest average rank at the bottom). The standard deviation is a measure of the variation in the ranks given by each group, so can be interpreted as a measure of how much consensus there is on the rank between the groups – for example, since all groups ranked ‘OOC must be inclusive and accommodate everyone’s needs’ as the most important item, this has a rank of one and a standard deviation of zero; while ‘the show should be of good quality’ was ranked very differently by the groups, so while the average rank is relatively high (6.3), the standard deviation of 6.7 represents the fact that one group placed this item much lower down the rankings than the other two groups. Items highlighted in orange were not ranked by all groups, and so rank and standard deviations should be treated with caution.

Table 1: Ranks and standard deviations for items

Table 1: Ranks and standard deviations for items
Statement Group
1		 Group
2		 Group
3		 Average
rank		 Standard
deviation
OOC must be inclusive and accommodate everyone's needs 1 1 1 1.0 0.0
There should be respect for the practitioner leading the task 2 2 7 3.7 2.9
Every play should have a job for everyone that wants one, but that doesn't have to be
an acting role		 5 5.0
Once you have committed to a role, you should commit to further rehearsals 6 6.0
The show should be of good quality 14 3 2 6.3 6.7
Friendships should not exclude other people 5 8 6.5 2.1
People should be able to choose which size role (how many lines) they have 8 7 5 6.7 1.5
We should always be prepared for the session. Whether that is bringing something we
are asked to bring, learning lines, coming with ideas, or research		 10 4 6 6.7 3.1
There must be a tea break in every session 7 7.0
OOC should cover travel to the session for anyone who needs it 13 6 3 7.3 5.1
Every play we choose must have enough roles for everyone in the company 3 13 8.0 7.1
We need to decide on either WhatsApp or Facebook to communicate outside sessions 4 11 11 8.7 4.0
The session starts at 5pm. If people arrive late, they will be included at a suitable point
and without attention		 9 12 8 9.7 2.1
Everyone should try a given task 11 9 10.0 1.4
OOC should cover the cost of lunch when we have a full day in rehearsal 17 9 4 10.0 6.6
If people need to leave early for social commitments, that's fine 12 14 10 12.0 2.0
We need a separate social group chat 18 10 12 13.3 4.2
People should always be able to choose which role they have 15 13 14.0 1.4
The social element is more important than making theatre 16 16.0

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

The final table organises the items in relation to how important each item is to the group as a whole – high, medium, or low - and what level of consensus there is on this between the groups – high, medium or low. We could interpret the different points on this table as below:

High consensus Medium consensus Low consensus
High
importance		 We all agree these are
important		 Most of us agree that
these are important		 These are very important
to most, but very
unimportant to a
minority
Medium
importance		 We all agree that these
are moderately important		 Most of us agree that
these are of medium
importance		 There is a lot of variaton
in how important this is
to us
Low
importance		 We all agree that these
are not very important		 Most of us agree that
these are not very
important		 These are very
unimportant to most, but
very important to a
minority

That is, this table suggests that we can be confident that core values for the whole group include ‘OOC must accommodate everyone’s needs’ and ‘people should always be able to choose which size role they have’; while ‘the show should be of good quality’ is very important to most members, but very unimportant to a minority. Conversely, ‘OOC should cover the cost of lunch when we have a full day in rehearsal’ is of low importance to most, but of high importance to a minority. This may suggest that there are particular needs of a minority of group members which other group members are not aware of or sensitive to (e.g. the cost of buying lunch being prohibitive). NB items which were not ranked by every group are excluded because there is not a valid measure of consensus for these.

Table 2: Importance and consensus on the items

High consensus Medium consensus Low consensus
High
importance		 OOC must accommodate
everyone’s needs
People should always be able to
choose which size role they
have		 There should be respect for the
practtoner leading the task		 The show should be of good
quality
Medium
importance		 The session starts at 5pm, if
people arrive late they will be
included at a suitable point and
without atenton		 We should always be prepared
for the session
We need to decide on either
WhatsApp or Facebook to
communicate outside sessions		 OOC should cover travel to the
session for anyone who needs
it
Low
importance		 If people need to leave early for
social commitments, that’s fne		 We need a separate social
group chat		 OOC should cover the cost of
lunch when we have a full day
in rehearsal

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OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

Work with York University nursing students

PAGE iv

OUT OF CHARACTER THEATRE COMPANY

Chaos Evaluation Findings

These findings were collected through Google Forms. 9 responses were collected following the June 2025 performance at Friargate Theatre.

Audiences told us that the performances were:

Some individual comments were…

‘The staging was incredibly clever. The scenes with everyone on the railway platform were just perfect.’

‘More ensemble, great movement work’

‘The complexity of the choreography was impressive with the number of setting changes and screens/chairs to move, especially while the whole cast was in the same room in view of the audience’

Some of the statistics…

78% of respondents gave the performance a 5-star rating.

89% of respondents strongly agreed that the performance ‘… was absorbing and held my attention’. 89% of respondents strongly or very strongly agreed that the performance was ‘thought provoking’ and helped them to ‘gain new insight or knowledge’.

100% of respondents said they would be ‘interested in attending a similar performance in the future’.

A bit more about our audience…

Of the 7 respondents who were happy to answer questions about themselves:

Out of Character 24-5

Income
C/F 11795.57
Emerging voices/transform 5484
Natonal Lotery 16380
Error payment from Nick 22.3
3 0
Total Income 33681.87
Expend
Kate hours 750 1.10.24
Kate refresh 12.2 1.10.24
Travel Lucy Dawes 24 1.10.24
Travel Chris Hansen 15.2 1.10.24
Gifs fro Christe and Simon 65.98 3.10.24
Travel Jean 16 1.10.24
22 0
330
Insurance 145.6 4.10.24
Total Ex 1358.98
Balance 32322.89

Out of Character Icharfty Numljer. 1161399) Trustees Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31st August 2025

Out of Character {awrlty 1161399} Contents Index Page Charity information Independent Examiner's Report Recelpts & Payments Accounts Statement of Assets and Liabilities Notes to the Accounts

Independent examlnerfs report to the tnistees of Out of Character I report on the accounts of: Oirt of Character for the year ended: 315t Au8USt 2025 which are set out on pages 3 to 6. Responsibilitles and basls of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Art 2011 ('the ACV). I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5)(b) of the Act. Independent examlner's ststement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: l accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2 the accounts do not accord with those ￿CordS I have no cOn￿rn$ and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached except that the prior year's accounts presented as comparative 7d/lf /2 Jeff Todd IFCA) Date: Outsource independent examination services 24 First Avenue York Y0317YQ

Out of Character {Charity Number: 1161399) Recelpts & Payments Accounts for the year ended: 31st Au8USt 2025 2025 Totsl funds 2024 Total funds funds funds Recelpts Grants Donations Events Performance income Sale of books Total recelpts 37,114 252 37,114 252 17,561 572 2,795 2,795 9,128 Payments Artistic directors A$￿Stant Direction Pensions Perfomiers Simulations Playwriting & scrrpts Music Fim making Trainin8 Travel & accomodation Refreshments Design Promotion Technician and technical equipment Props Grants paid Professional fees General and administrati(In Insurance Gifts Total payments 8,425 8.049 1,940 8,425 8.049 10,555 8,563 2,634 1,619 412 300 5LM) 2,743 1,123 2,743 1,123 421 707 421 707 477 2.010 860 1.256 279 1,724 183 1,724 183 4,8LX) 330 1,275 146 154 330 1.275 146 154 320 146 158 Net of recelpts/(payments) 3,257 3,257 3.716 Transfers between funds Balance brought lo￿ard li￿56 11,856 15,572 Balance carrled forward

Out of Chararter (Charity Number: 11613991 Statement of Assets and Liabllltles at: 31st Au8USt 2025 2025 Total funds 2024 Total funds funds funds Cash at bank and in hand Current bank account Petty cash 15.052 15.052 11.796 ,1 Is,1 11,856 2025 2024 Total Funds Funds Funds Funds Llabllltles Independent Examination fee 350 350 350 330 330

Out of Character {Charity Number". 1161399) Notes to the Accounts for the year ended: 3tst August 2025 l. Ba$ls of Accounts The Trustees have taken advantage of section 144 {2) of the Charities Act 2011 and prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis. Approval of Accounts for the year ended: 3tst August 2025 The report and accounts were approved at meeting of the Trustees held on: Date Sl8ned for and on behalf of the Trustees: 11 $18nature 51gnature Matthew Harper-Hardca Name Name Vice Chair Posttion (e.8. Chalr ett) Posltlon (e.8. Chalr etc) 1510412026 Date Date