Cheltenham Playhouse & Everyman Theatre announce new arts collaboration

Two leading Gloucestershire theatres are joining forces to help turbo-charge the county’s arts scenes - and will kick off the collaboration with three brand new plays inspired by a famous son of Cheltenham.

(Left) Paul Milton, Creative Director - Everyman Theatre and Kieron Milsom Chief Executive - Cheltenham Playhouse (right) Cheltenham Playhouse.

The Cheltenham Playhouse and Cheltenham Everyman said they were “delighted” to announce the start of a new collaborative relationship to develop the arts in the Regency town and beyond.

The team behind the collaboration believes that it offers a model for co-operating that can help strengthen arts and culture. “In adverse times for the arts,” say the Everyman’s Creative Director Paul Milton and the Playhouse’s Chief Executive Kieron Milsom, “our two charities can benefit from each other’s experiences and expertise.”

Working Collaboratively: “Inspired by Holst”

Paul Milton and Kieron Milsom already jointly chair the Performing Arts Subcommittee of Cheltenham Borough Council’s Culture Board. Between them, and in their positions at Cheltenham’s two most prominent theatres and with a wealth of knowledge from other roles, they help to inform and promote the success of Performing Arts in the town.

Their vision is of an arts scene in which organisations can offer mutual benefit to each other. A new project, “Inspired by Holst”, is the first major production in years where the two organisations are working jointly to produce a single show.

Inspired by Holst” is a series of three new professionally produced plays augmented by a cast drawn from the local community. Its world premiere is coming to the Cheltenham Playhouse 26th - 28th September.

The three plays explore the music and works of Gustav Holst in a series of amusing and entertaining new plays. Inspired by Holst is jointly produced by the Everyman Theatre and Cheltenham Playhouse and directed by Kirstie Davis (The Minack Theatre, The Barn, Chipping Norton Theatre and more). This event is part of the wider celebration of the 150th anniversary of Holst's birth and supports new writers and local amateur performers.

(Left) Everyman Theatre exterior, (right) Interior images of Everyman Theatre photographed by Jack Boskett.

“Better Together”

The two theatres often serve quite different audiences. But working together unlocks benefits for everyone. For example, a co-operative bid produced by both theatres working together secureda Arts Council England funding for “Inspired by Holst”.

The Playhouse hopes to demonstrate the significant value that smaller venues can play in the community and local economy, says Milsom. “‘Inspired by Holst’ is an example of where a play most suited to the size of the Playhouse can be collaboratively produced, with the Everyman providing the staging, sound, costume and a number of the creative team. This enables us to serve the play, the artists, and our audiences in a way we couldn’t working separately.”

Mo Mytton, Chair of Trustees at the Playhouse, commented: “It’s fantastic that the two venues are working together. That way, both charities can offer an even greater benefit to the community. It is really important in such challenging times that organisations work together for the greater benefit of the public, but as we can see with Inspired by Holst this can help the charities too’.

Paul and Kieron both look forward to continuing co-operation and developing Arts in Cheltenham on behalf of the two venues.