THE TELLING (CEL4RtTABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION) REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 CHARtTY COMMISSION REGISTRATION No. 1181802 THE TELLING DEX TO FtNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Page No. Trnstses, Annual Report 13 Independent Examiner'8 Report 14 Ststsmenl of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) 15 Balance Sheet 16-23 Not¢5 to the Financial Ststements THE TELLtNG TRUSTEES. ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Tlie Trustccs prcsent their r¢port and financial st8t¢mcnts of the charity for the year cndcd 31 March 2024. Tlie Tru5tccs have adopted th¢ provisions of the StaLeTnent of Recominendcd Practi¢c (SORP) "Accounts'ng and Reporting by Charities" (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statement5 of the charity. The financial ststcments have been PTeparcd in accordancc with thc accounting policies set oui in notes lo the accounts and cornply with the charzty's Constitulion, the Charili¢s Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Chariti¢s.' Statcmenl of Recommendcd Practicc applicable to charitics preparillg thcir accounts in ac¢ordance with the Financial Reporting Standard &pplic&blc iii thc UK and Rcpubli¢ of Ir¢land published in October 2019. Objective5 ond Activities The ts￿stee$ confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Cha]'ities Commission's general guidance on public benefit. This is borne out by deliveries of activities outlined in this ￿pOrt, which are in line with the main objectives of The Telling and the activities to deliver against thos¢ obj¢Gtivcs. Thc Tclling aims to ddvance the arts and education for thc public bcncfit. Wc do this through thc promotion, support and encouragement of Inusic and theatre by presenting pcrfonllan¢es, workshops, talks and recordings, oft¢n rotnbining music and theatre and sometiines other art-fomis and taking perforniances to places lo reach people who do not usually a￿¢$$ su¢h perforn]ances. a) give high quality perfonnances, focusing on perfonnances wher¢ musi¢ and th¢atre collidc in int¢resting ways b) work with young people in schools and amateur perfonners: singers and instrumentalists from a variety of walks of life, enabling tlicm to d¢velop and improve their creative, dramatic and musical skills. What ihe Dicken.F? R&D outumn 2n23 in Hovc-pho(n Robert Piivkn We perfomi across th¢ UK and, alongsid¢ a s¢ri¢5 of ¢ngAgem¢Mts, run ourprogramine of residencies. targeting places where there is little classical or ¢arly mi￿le touring which are currently Liverpi)ol, Barrow Peiiinsula/South Cumbria. Colchester, Folkeslone, Conwy, Cardiff, Bedford and Wolverhampton. THE TELLING TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (Continued} FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 We use theatre, new writing. rnusic (including a focus on early music but also classical, world music, folk Tnusic and muslc-theatre), story-telling and filin, to create narratives newly-writt¢n plays with music. We us¢ theatre to demystify the ]nusic and reaeh people who are not usually attracted to classical concerts- but also to use music to h¢ighten feeling. give instght to the characters andlor plot or to cut Asain8t the plot in interesting ways. We perform in churches. th¢atrBs, art centres, pubs, church hall. commutiity centre5, taking perforniattce deep into the heart of co]nmunities. We often perfoiin ill and ￿'Ollnd audiences and use costume, stage lighting/calldi¢light. Wc engag¢ a P(￿1 of leading directors. dctors, musieians, lighting designers, Composers and costume m&keTS. Our Artistic Director, Clar¢ Norburn lias devised a new genie wh¢[¢ Tnusic alld drama collide. Her concert/plays have attracted 4 star review5 in The Times and Tht GuaFdttvI and perfomian¢es it Bridgeiyater Hall, St George's Bristol and LSO St Lukes. The stage director we work with, f4icholas Rellton dire¢t¢d Andrcw Davics, BAFTA nominated Mrs Gaskell's Wives andDaughiers for BBC TV and episodes ofLewls, Muskeieers, Silent Wilness and George Gently. We have been on BBC Radio'5 In Tmne, Woman's Hour and Saturday LI￿ and perfor￿ed for promol¢rs includin8 Music at Oxford, Buxtort International Festival, Lake District Summer M￿SIC, Brighton Early Music FestlVAI, Little Missenden Festival and Keele Arts. We have relcased three CDS - all on the First Hand Records label. Achievements and Performance This is the Trnstees fifth report to the Clwity Commission. TOURING PERFORNIANCES AND WORKSHOP The Telling attempts to break n¢w ground, wbere new writing by Aitistic Dirwtor Clar¢ Norburn and muslc collide. Wc tour high-quality, a¢¢¢ssibl¢ and affordabl¢ productions- Combining cngagctn¢Dts by leading promoters witli self-promotions in places that are often missed out on touring ¢ir¢uits. including building audience5 and parthershipb in Wolverhatnpton, South Cumbria, Conwy (North Wales), Bedford and Folk¢slone. 2023124 saw us give 33 UK perfoniianccs ieacliing nearly 3000 people and 17 workshopsloutreach sessions including at The AnviL Basing5toke, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, The Coro, Ulverston, Bedford Music Club, Victoria Hall, Grange-fyver-sands, Canterbury University? Stoke Newington Early Music Festival and Stroud Green Festival. Alon¥side paid engagement8, we are also unusual in the way that we fundiaise to takc pcrfornian¢cs to pla¢¢s which 'llliSS Out" in accessins touring circuits.. so our tours are a mixed economy of guaranteed fees, box offIce splits and self-promotioiis. backed by reciprocal marketing partners on the ground. In 2023124 w¢ contiiiu¢d to fundrdise and tour to our Residency places which otherwise miss out on a¢¢¢ssing pi'ofessional musi¢ and theatre touring. We also built relationships with repeat veiiues where they opcratc k box officc spliV5harcd risk eg JW3 Arts Centre (May 2023) and The Coro, Ulverston (two perforniances in 2023124). articular Achieve ent In 2024, The Telling won the prestigious Audience Participation of the Year Award organi5ed by the European Early Music organisation, REMA for ourSoNgs andsioriés projectin partnership with animateur Sarah Atter and Wolverhampton Refugee and Migrant CeDtre in January and February 2024. THE TELLING TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Also, BBC Radin 3's The Early Muslc Show presented an hour-long feature on our work in March 2024 to tic in wilh Iiiicrnational Woincn's Day. Tl)e hallmark Df our Trvork is our distinctivc collision of inusic and draina. Our early programmcs started with carly inusic and draina but we ar¢ inc￿￿5￿ng1Y Inoving away from that limitation, whilst keeping our early music repertoire Still in our repertory. The Telling's prograinmes ar¢ written by Clare Norbutn whose latter work takes inspiration from Brcclit, oftcn tearirjg down thc fouiih wall, and iconoclastic TV playwright, Dcnnis Pott¢r, Cxploring the ncxus b¢tw¢cn Incinoiy and the charact¢rs' inncr or fantasy lives, and harncssing iiiusic's unique capacity to trigger memoi'ies and feelings. Several are political or provide commentary on current iSSU¢S s¢¢n through the lens of the past. For cxamplc.. celcbrity culture and #M¢Too are cxplored in Ivhat ihe DicK-eRs? Jiito ihe MeliingPoÉ focuses on rcligious and culwral intolcrance and the plight of rcfugees "Clare Norbuii) takes M￿nents in histoi'y to make us understand die pi'es¢nt more clearly" Robin Soans, playwright View a list of The Telling's projects h¢r¢: ii'iviv.IhLILllin t CO.Likl r() triainii)e Tourin aims.. Wliile we Inaintain a cominitment to fundraise to take work to places which mis5 Out (which means more cxpctl8ivc and Iiiglicr risk sclf-promoted events} oui. modcl sliifted in 2023124 and will continu¢ going to coinbinc that fiindcd work with paid engageinents and box office splitlshared risks to ¢reat¢ a moi¢ sustainabl od¢l. Thi5 is sliaping up well with cDnfii'nied engagements in 2024125 at Beverley Early Music FestivAIINCEM, Newbury Spring Festival and a longcr Tun at OSO Arts Centre in Barnes as well as return visits and growiiig pArtrtcrships WTih Arena thextr4 Wolverhampton and St Edwards in C*rdiff. Tlie Telliiig'5 pion¢¢ring Touring and Project fund 15 OUT key overarching programme. Within thi5 our Residency ProgranTrme aims to build audienccs by takiiig pcrfonnances to places that'lniss out" We aim to create equal ae¢e5s for low-engaged communities in areas of economic disadvantage, where other performing arts •rganisotions dare Mot tour. Tn th¢ 2023124 financial year. we built audiences in the following places. which oiherwse r¢c¢ive a limited tOUTing offer.. Wolverhampton (3 performances), South Cumbrix (Ulverston and Grange-ovei-sands.. 4 shows), Folke$tone12 performanc¢sl, shows in Conwy, N Walc512 pcrf0r￿anCes), Cardiff Iwhich has no real early niusic touriiig.. 3 perfomian¢es), Mlstley and Mannlngtree (2 perfomiances,. within Tendring local authority, wliich the Arts Collncil has d¢5igniited as low arts-engaged). as well gs perfonnances in Liverpool IVÉO tlie Meltiiig Pol ai JW3, Hamp¥tettd- phoro Robert Piwko THE TELLtNG TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Wc ran 4 touring projects wliich wcre." J. Into theMeltiNg Pol.. set in 1492 in a Spanish ChristianlMuslim/Jewish community, a Jewish woman (playcd by Suzanne Ahmct (National Theatre, Clicster Storyhouse)) is forced to leave. Her story is startlingly conteinporary, with rcsoiianccs to Windrnsh, Black Lives Matter & recent antis¢mitism. and is played out to a 50undtrack of plaintive Sephardic songs & lively Cantigas which fuse medieval & Arabic instruinents15tyles, making cai'ly musiL accessible to a wid¢r auth"¢nce. IOperfopmarteÈs.' 6 perforniances.. May 2023 and 4 perfoi'muiices iii Februtlry 2024 2. Vision.. the iniagined testimony of the extraordinary Inedieval abbess HTldegard of Bingen (played by Tcresa Banham IRSC, Sharcd Expcri¢ncel) alongside her haut]ting chant. Flildc8ard revisits and re- ¢xp¢ri¢n¢cs mcaiiingful episodes from her past which aims to give an insight into the painful visionary experiences She suffered throughout her life, covering SOTne of the core emotional moments, coupled with her distinctive and mesmerising chani tltyough which She felt she can 'say the unspeakable,. 4 perforntaRces.' November 2023 3. Whot thc Dickens P R&D aiid worL¥hop loui-' PLOT.. 11 is Charle% Dicken5' last Christmas Eve.- 1869. AEainsi hi.% doctor's wishes, he gives one of his acclaimed theatrical readings of A Christmas Carol, but from the moment thc lights go down, his life becomes strangely entangled with Scroog¢. Di¢k¢ns' carefully Tnanaged image as a family man. who has created the very quintessence of Christmas, starts to unravel as he is "haunted" by his wife and inother of lus ten children, Catherine Dickens and his secret young mistress, Ellen 'Nelly' Ternan. Tlie'ghosts" force him to face his past, prcscntand future. Can Dickens learn from them, rep¢ni - and bc savcd, as Scrooge was savcd? Composer Steven Edis uses a mix of newly composed and arranged music to soundtrack the drama.. he reimagines colour￿l Victorian popular songs. street music and carols, maiiy of which we know Dickens played on the accordion and sang himself - Spcrfurmonce3.- Oclober 2023 JVITUI IIIE DicK-en.F? R&D &uluniii 2023 tn HniJe- Ipliolo Robei'l Piii,l- THE TELL]NG TRUSTEES, A￿NUAL REPORT (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 4. The Telling Uiichaiiied.. is a different kind of LOnL¢rt.' it's a fun, relaxed and informal pcrforniance of carly music mixcd with folk, iinprovisation, jamining and plcnty of audien¢¢ participation. The coiicept was created to educate and offer the audience a'behind-the-scenes" view of how we arrange mcdicval and traditional rcpertoire wliich is ofteii a singlc linc mclody. We want to demystify the process. Wc carcfully programTne ￿ld discuss cach piece aiid how to present it.. which for this progrnmme is just as important as perforniing it. Then in front of the audience, for some pie¢e6, we demonstrate how wc go about putting tog¢tli¢i' an arrangement for our lint-up. We also include onc piece which 15 completely iinprovised on a ground bass, showing the audicnce the skill of our instrumentalists and talking Ihein thi'ough what is liappening musically. The repertoire is made up of a inix of mcdieval music, lute songs, and traditionallfolk music which straddlcs the caTly musiclfolk dividc likc the popular ¢oll¢¢tion of dance tuiics byjohn Playford (1623-1686), which are often played by early miisicians but also by folk musicians. We include soiiie rousing drinking songs and rounds in the second half, teaching die audi¢nce and eiicouraging them to join in. 3perforniaNces." May2023 alld January 2024 S. Carols ihrough tinie.. candlelit C&irol tour wliich wc performed around England and Wales, alongside livc worksliops, (inline workshops and an online Advent calendai. of short films of carols. 11 performances Deceniber 2023 All except The Telling Unchained and Carols thi'ough time were directed by Nicholas R¢nlon (BAFTA- noininat¢d Mis Gaskellts Wi￿eS aiidDaiighteis, Mttskeleers. A R(iom WEth A Viem,. LeH'is, SElent Witpius) and writl¢n by singcrlplaywright, Clare Norbum. LJVE WORKSHOPS.. While on tour, wc capitalis¢ on bi'inging high-quality artists to excluded communities around the country by offei.ing tnusic workshops to local schools ahcad of thc evcning perfonnances. During the year, we coiilinu¢d our distinctive model of 45 minute live workshop5 before concerts for all comers. tied to Into the M¢lting Pot and th¢ caiol tour, targoted at "Community Clioir level" with no need to read music. These workshops take place a little ahead of a conccrt, cnabling participants to join us in pcrfomiing a fcw numbers either during the concert froin their seats or often at the start of the second half. The workshops were frcc forconcci1 ticket holders. Singer Clare Norbum also visitcd two primary schools in Conwy and Ulverston, Cumbiia tcaching carols to pupils who then perfomicd with the Telling to their peer and parents at the end of tlie day. The Headteacher at Ysgol Porth y Felin in Conwy fed back that the pupils received new singing skills and knowledge.. 'Thepupils learned differenl carols in a very short space of tinie .some of them Inlricate ond iinfamiliAr, so they caff#e away with many new cAroLY aNd nielodies. It was also clear that w¢ provided the pupils a new nd diffcrcnt cxpericnce which they wouldn't have reccived if we hadn't visited= "This was an expertise thol we couldn? ojfer in Jchool, and hoving mKFicidns playing singing wus a great experieAcefor theptspil5." CIUIE Noi'btiin leadi12g u )¢/iuoly siiigiiig ivo1-k*h￿P THE TELLfNG TRUSTEES. ANNUAL REPORT (Continued} FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Wc also started a vcry p051tivc ongoing relationsliip with animateur dnd musi¢i8n Sarah Atter. Sarah has taken inspiration froin our stage works and through l)¢r involveincn¢ school students in Cumbri& and Wolverhampton (places which really 8¢¢¢¥5 high quality music education projects) were facilitated to create iheir own songs over three sessions and p¢rfoTm them to an audience. Sarah also worked with us on our award-winning Songs and Stories project, which was delivered with Wolverhampton Refugec and Migrant Centre in JanuatylFebruary 2024 and Manchester J¢wish Museum in May 2024. We have plaiis to tak¢ this project to Cardiff and Birn)ingham in 2025. "It helped with refromtng thÉ mind and eventually it hope and erywwermen4 drtd it helped with inlegritiion building connt¢tiOnS" Staff feedback from the Wolverhampton Refugee and Migrant Centre "J was in a slale of depression befove ¢omirtg ¢0 (he workshops. bul after eng¢ging wilh you in the 51ories ¢ind sungs, Ifeli beller. Parti¢ipan¢ f¢¢dback (r￿n the Wolverhampton Refvgee É¥nd Migrant Centre We continued our singing workshop5 on Zoom with 2 one-off online singing caml workshops. This enabled our online community, which we had developed and got to know very well during weekly workshops for over a year starting during the first wKk of lockdown. Th¢sc online sessions enabled us to continue to connect with thi5 onlinc audience who are across th¢ audi¢nc¢ from Devon to Glasgow and to give theTll a sense of our online touring. artistic team.. Our creative teain is led by Artistic Director Clare Norburn {playwTight, producer and ronner soprano) who won the 2023 Colin Skipp Memorial Radio Playwriting Competition aud was one of 7 writcrs, scl¢ct¢d out of 400, for BBCIACE-funded The Space's Pitch Perfect scheme to receive mentoring and be ¢ominissioncd to develop a play with music for national BBC radio. Our rcgular a￿laImed director Nicholas Renton cut his tccth in theatre, going on to direct at thc RSC and thcn spent 30 ycars directing for th¢ BBC and ITV, including being BAFTA-nominated for BBC Tv's Mrs Gaskell's Wive5 and Daughters. Our lighting designer is Natalie Rowland. We work with a creative pool of.. leading actors including Alec Newman, Rachael Stlrling? Danny Webb, Dominic Marsh, Clive Hayward, Karen Asco4 Molly Lynch, Gerald Kyd, Suzanne Ahmet, Tere5a Banh#m, Lella Mimmack and Niall A5hdown acclaimed musicians including many who are eaily music specialists including Emily Baines, Jean Kellyy Jamie Akers, CleJnJnie Franks, Heloi5e Bernard, Gile5 Le￿[￿ Alison Kinder, AvitAI Raz aTsd Maya Levy. THE TELLING TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Audience Feedback: We continued to receive moving feedback from workshop participAllts and the public about our work. This is just some audience feedback questionnaire responses we received: The Telling Uiiclftained I',¥ ii.L•l'L, ljoiipiliiigli. iiioviiig uiid ilie acloi-pluJpEng Hildegai.daiiia_ing. feel liL-¢ I lived wilh her andgot lo krtom, her. What th¢ Dickcns? "Reully wondeifiil engaging tt¥perienLe wilh u wondediil narrattve and engagingperformers" 'UNusual- original- enricliirtg. "We enjoyed itl Amusirtg. We liked the musie. Good cortcept. Lots of ¢olkngpoints. Cdther£ne was exeelleptt. as was Mr Violinl" "Loved it. Well wi'itlert, wellperfomed, well designed." "Lively iiinovulive..funny &.fresk. In[orma¢Evc & engagTJzg. Inventive. Into the Melting Pot.. "Tonight was wonderfyl. It me£Mt d grettt deal to MÉ. My ancestnr wtts Pedro Cdttyino orte of thefirsi Jews burni aÈ ilie slake irt Seville in 1481 and the rest ofÉhefamily had to leave ITE 1492 and went to Ortsn (Algeria) foi. a coiiple of hundredyears then rourtd the Mediterrortean until they arrived in the UK late 1900s. lye can trace them tg early 1300s so the piece abc)ut the p(Jgrom in Seville. The whole show meant a greot deal ¢0 manyJews- il made ihem