Annual Report for 2020
In accordance with our Constitution and our obligations as a CIO, Heroica Theatre Company’s Trustees met at four Board meetings and an AGM across 2020, and accurate Minutes were kept. Accounts and reports were submitted to The Charity Commission in October 2021.
A surprisingly productive year, despite national stallings and set-backs related to the Coronavirus pandemic.
1. Introducing MMM 7[th] March:
These were free taster sessions in MMM in a day-long event, funded by Hebden Royd Town Council and the Bearder Charity, at the Waterfront Hall, HBTH, with sessions conducted by MMM experts (from Bucks and D&G respectively), Gail Borrows and Sara Lockwood. Gail’s morning session worked with newcomers at a simple level and Sara led a more advanced level in the afternoon, with several local dance and movement practitioners in attendance. Sara gave a demonstration of MMM between the classes.
It was a rewarding and interesting day where we worked with 27 people, all from Yorkshire: 26 women and 1 man, 20 from Calderdale, some having travelled from York and Sheffield.
Both sessions were followed by feedback Q&As led by Amanda Dalton (AD, Chair). There was a suggestion from the workshop participants themselves that, in a performance and following a practice session, they become a ‘flashmob’ within the play, helping to demonstrate MMM for audiences and encouraging them to join in. This is an idea Angie Cairns (AC) will follow through in the writing of the play.
Volunteers Christine Tansey and Geoff Tansey gave generously of their time in ushering and filming for us on the day. Film footage by Geoff Tansey of Sara Lockwood’s MMM demonstration was later uploaded to the Heroica website.
2. Margaret Morris: The Honest Artist
Significant work got underway: a timeline for a touring production in 2021, investigating available funding channels and continued liaison with MMMI. Wendy Seager (Edinburgh; director of The Chelsea Belladonna, 2012) was approached informally with a view to becoming the director; she has expressed interest in principle.
AC continued development and drafting of a working script: and in the summer, Alison Leonard (AL), Alex Mathie (AM) and AC conducted a reading on Zoom, giving AC many further ideas for its more focused development.
3. Maverick Monologues
We were unable because of lockdown to hold ‘Maverick Monologues 5’ in the proposed new venue of the Egg Factory, as kindly offered and co-ordinated by AD. (Plans were: Entry by donation of
suggested £5 to include one free drink. The Egg Factory would charge us £12 ph, around £30 max, and we would have accommodated our usual numbers of between 20 and 30, in a quieter location than our previous venues.)
Our first Zoom Maverick Monologues (5) held in November - was a great success. We had 45 attenders on 33 different screens and eight fascinating speakers, from England, Scotland, Wales, New York and (audience from) Hobart, Tasmania. Feedback and comments were overwhelmingly positive, and attenders were very generous with their donations to Heroica Theatre Company projects: c£230.
With people’s feedback to the first virtual event being so positive and it clearly constituting a breath of fresh air amidst the pandemic – and preparation being relatively straightforward from our end – we scheduled Maverick Monologues 6 for 16th December, for which we had 10 speakers and 23 screens (about 40 people in all).
The Maverick Monologues page on our website now features verbatim (nearly all of) the monologues so far presented, plus images of the heroines in a fascinating Gallery.
4. Joan Eardley Centenary events 2021 :
Journalist Jan Patience (Glasgow art correspondent) alerted us to a vacuum existing in relation to Joan Eardley Centenary events, and to a need for Scottish galleries et al to begin planning for May 2021. We expressed our willingness in principle to offer some audio version/extracts/re-workings from the 2017 play if desired, to support galleries’ special exhibitions or events. We also saw it as feasible that we could offer 1-2 live actors to present sections of the playscript.
A useful Zoom meeting with Marion Nancarrow (radio producer) provided some ideas about what we might prepare and make available e.g. pod-cast sections of playscript (e.g. the monologues from the Eardley play) to accompany a painting within an exhibition, and available through a phone or audioguide.
We were invited to attend a Zoom meeting of SWARN ( Scottish Women in Art Research Network) meeting on 19th November, with curators from NGS, Kelvingrove, the Hunterian, Glasgow Women’s Library, the GSA . All discussions and planning relating to the JE Centenary were clearly constrained by current funding, staffing and opening issues, with all future events uncertain. TBC
5. Videos and website
There is now a link to Youtube film of A Pearl in the Sands (2008) on the Heroica website: Previous Work page. The film was also made available to the HB Quaker meeting. The film quickly received well over 600 hits, mostly from Quakers.
Geoff Tansey also completed a very impressive Youtube version of Matilda Mitchell’s 2015 talk at Hebden Bridge Town Hall on Joan Eardley’s drawings and paintings, plus Sara Lockwood’s MMM demonstration at the March 2020 workshop. Our thanks to Geoff. Both are now uploaded to the website.
At much the same time as the promoting new website developments to our database we also promoted easyfundraising and we garnered a good number of new subscribers.
6. Marilyn Imrie
We were hugely saddened at the news of the death in August of Marilyn Imrie, our much cherished director of Joan Eardley: A Private View, and to whom all of us involved in the production had felt very close. Our last contact with her had been in March when she was first unwell. We sent a letter to Marilyn’s husband James Runcie on behalf of all of us at Heroica. We now have a tribute to Marilyn on the NEWS page of our website.
All of the work undertaken by Heroica Theatre Company in 2020 was directed towards the achieving of our objectives through the means of the new key project celebrating the life and work of Margaret Morris. We deem most of the progress made to be on target with our development plans. All fund-raising activity was in line with our policy objectives.
A Cairns, September 2021
Heroica Theatre Company
Total Receipts & Payments Account for the year ended 31-12-20
| Receipts Fundraiser - Jess Walker Theatre Project JEAPV Grants Box Office JEAPV Fundraising Income Donations Receipt - spare 7 Receipt - spare 8 Receipt - spare 9 Receipt - spare 10 |
Unrestricted Restricted Total - - - - - - 478.00 - 478.00 - - - - - - 546.86 - 546.86 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,024.86 - 1,024.86 255.00 - 255.00 316.78 - 316.78 - - - - - - (0.37) - (0.37) 63.99 - 63.99 - - - 57.96 - 57.96 25.00 - 25.00 - - - - - - 579.20 - 579.20 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 121.69 - 121.69 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,419.25 - 1,419.25 (394.39) - (394.39) |
Previous year |
|---|---|---|
| - - - 2,687.10 - - - - |
||
| Total receipts Payments Room Hire IT - Domain and Hosting Donation - Jess Walker Theatre HMRC - Gift Aid Interest Miscellaneous Project Appraisal HTC office Marketing WCAS Fee Salaries Fees Rehearsal Sets and Props Costume Equipment and Hire Venue Management Licensing Transport Insurance Education Venue Hire-Split Hospitality Consultancy Payment - spare 25 |
2,687.10 66.00 765.13 (0.78) 37.20 121.40 - 1,738.20 - - - - - - 53.50 - - - 16.60 - - |
|
| Total payments | 2,797.25 | |
| Net receipts / (payments) | (110.15) |
| Transfer Balance brought forward |
- - - 2,334.22 - 2,334.22 1,939.83 - 1,939.83 1,029.02 829.00 81.81 - 1,939.83 0.00 |
- 2,444.37 |
|---|---|---|
| Balance carried forward Made up of: Lloyds TSB Current Account Lloyds Deposit account Cash float Spare Checks - this should equal zero |
2,334.22 | |
Approval of the accounts
The financial statements were approved at a meeting of the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:
Signed: ……………………………………
Name ……Amanda Dalton……………Chair of Trustees
Date: ………27 Sep 2021………………………………