Nottingham Playhouse stands fully in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and acknowledges the injustice within society, which must end, and that we all have a role to play in that.

We have been asked what active steps we are taking to effect representative change at Nottingham Playhouse. We welcome this feedback and the opportunity to listen.

The belief that theatre is for everyone lies at the heart of Nottingham Playhouse.

We acknowledge that people from the Black community feel underrepresented at Nottingham Playhouse and we are striving to address this.

We acknowledge that we have not done everything right, despite our best intentions and recognise that we need to improve. We understand that not everything we do is seen.

We promise to continue to meet with, and to genuinely listen to, our patrons, participants, employees and other stakeholders.

To build on our commitment to our Equality and Diversity Policy, we shall create, develop and implement Anti-Racism policy including an Anti-Racism Action Plan.

This is very much the initial draft of our Anti-Racism Action Plan and it will be developed and refined as we learn more:

1) To set up a working group to take the lead on, oversee the development of and ensure that Anti-Racism policy is communicated to, understood by and adhered to by all employees, freelancers, participants.

2) To increase the diversity of our workforce.

3) To make a commitment that we acknowledge past mistakes and will learn from them and make sustainable changes.

4) To make a commitment to never stop listening and to engage in meaningful debate in order to make real and lasting changes to Nottingham Playhouse.

5) To work across all areas of Nottingham Playhouse to promote appropriate behaviours.

6) To develop an effective representation training programme (including Unconscious Bias and anti-racism) for all employees, freelancers and Board members.

7) To ensure that all employees, freelancers, Board members and participants are empowered to challenge and call out racist behaviours, including a robust reporting system.

8) To develop mentoring programmes in all areas of our work for Black people wishing to develop a career in theatre, both backstage and front of stage.

9) To continue to create opportunities for freelance artists to engage with Nottingham Playhouse through our Artist Development Programme, Amplify.

10) To ensure that the work we present on our stages and create in our participation programmes reflects the communities that we serve.

11) To ensure that all marketing material is using appropriate language and images.

For the 2019/2020 financial year, we were pleased to be awarded Strongly Met for Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity and received the following feedback:

“Nottingham Playhouse has prioritised resources in its business plan to ensure effective contribution to the Creative Case. There is strong evidence of ongoing self-evaluation, including positive feedback from peers, audiences and stakeholders.”