SOLT and UK Theatre announce schedule and first speakers for Theatre & Touring Symposium

LONDON—The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre invite the industry to come together for the first time since the pandemic for the Theatre & Touring Symposium, to discuss and tackle the many issues facing our sector. This flagship industry event is being held at The Brewery, London, on Monday 27 June 2022. There will be moments to celebrate our resilience but most importantly the day will allow space and time to discuss, problem-solve and network.

With an overarching theme of ‘A New Landscape for Theatre’, this year’s conference, sponsored by Spektrix, Tysers, Ecclesiastical, Theatre Tokens and YesPlan, promises to be one of the most important industry events of the last few years, with topics addressing current industry priorities, including; audiences and ticket sales, the cost-of-living crisis, workforce recruitment and retention, and sustainability.

Industry leaders will present a diverse range of sessions covering topics including:

  • ‘Live theatre vs. the golden age of TV drama: how to get audiences off the sofa and into theatres’ presented by Michèle Taylor (Ramps on the Moon) and Marianne Locatari (Theatre Royal, Newcastle)
  • ‘The cost of touring in a cost-of-living crisis world’ with Edward Snape (Fiery Angel) and Tom de Keyser (ROYO) speaking, and Jonathan Saville (Nottingham Theatre Royal and Concert Hall) facilitating, and
  • ‘People make theatre work: how do we stem the talent drain and make theatre a viable career choice for new workers’ with Deborah Sawyerr (Mercury Theatre, Colchester).

Other sessions include:

  • ‘People and Culture: what do inclusive workplaces look like post-pandemic?’, with Keisha Thompson (Contact), and
  • ‘Book now… how to shift customer behaviour from hesitation to motivation’ with Katy Raines (Indigo), Chilina Madon (Birmingham Hippodrome) and Richard Huntrods (AKA).

For the first time, this year’s Symposium is a hybrid event, meaning people can choose to attend in person or access a pre-selected program through a live stream. All sessions will be recorded, captioned and made available to attendees following the event.

The structure of the Symposium has been updated to allow for more networking time throughout the day, giving all delegates the opportunity to reflect on the issues raised by the panel discussions and share insight and constructive approaches to improving the landscape of theatre.

More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks, including the keynote speaker.

Booking is now open for the Theatre & Touring Symposium 2022 at: https://hopin.com/events/theatre-touring-symposium/registration.

The full conference schedule can be downloaded here: https://uktheatre.org/_resources/assets/attachment/full/0/4184217.pdf

UK Theatre represents approximately 240 theatres, concert halls, dance companies, producers and arts centres throughout the UK. UK Theatre also operates as a professional association, supporting over 1,400 individuals working professionally in theatre and the performing arts in the UK

Society of London Theatre (SOLT) represents approximately 230 London-based producers, theatre owners and managers, including all the major subsidized theatrical organizations in London.

Video about Theatre & Touring Symposium