EAST
MEETS
WEST

A network for the East and West Midlands independent theatre community.

THE LATEST

The East Meets West Blog, featuring all the latest news, articles and opinion pieces for the East Meets West community.

New Resources

By Team Quake|2019-08-22T13:05:51+01:0022 August, 2019|East Meets West News|0 Comments

We've added another bunch of useful articles, downloads, links, templates and tools to the Resources page! Go take a look, and if you have a resource you think we should add, let us know! [...]

“We are all unique in our offer to audiences, but together we are stronger.”

Debbie Kermode
Artistic Director of Midlands Arts Centre
speaking at the 2017 Symposium

THE NETWORK

East Meets West aims to reduce barriers and encourage collaboration between and within the East and West Midlands’ independent theatre communities.

Mobilising everyone working in the industry from artists to programmers, general managers to technicians, the network hopes to cement the foundations of a more proactive, democratic and supportive community.

Who is the network for?

East Meets West is for everyone working in the professional independent theatre sector within the Midlands.

By theatre we mean the whole gamut of live performance from dance to circus, spoken word to live art, immersive to more traditional, plus all of those indefinable bits in between. If you describe what you do as theatre in some way, East Meets West is for you.

By everyone we mean Administrators, Composers and Musicians, Designers, Directors, Dramaturgs, Evaluators, Facilitators, Funders, General Managers, Marketers, Performers, Producers, Production and Stage Managers, Programmers, Technicians, Theatre-Makers, Writers… and anyone else who helps to get independent theatre in front of audiences. We support Artists, but we also know that others working in the sector need a support network too.

Whilst we recognise the enormous contribution amateur artists, organisations and societies bring to the cultural landscape of the Midlands, East Meets West is intended for those working within the industry in a professional capacity.

Most members will live and work in the East or West Midlands. For our purposes, an Eastie is based and making work in: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire or Rutland — and a Westie is based and making work in: Birmingham, Dudley, Herefordshire, Sandwell, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton or Worcestershire.

If you don’t live in the Midlands you can be an Honorary Member. All we ask is that you have a vested interest in work being created in (and not just touring to) the Midlands.

You need to be aged 16 or over to join the network.

East Meets West is an inclusive network and we want to reach and welcome as wide and as diverse a membership as possible. We’d love to hear from you and join forces to help more people engage with the network.

To ensure membership of the network maintains its integrity, all requests to join need to be approved by our Moderators. Once members have been approved, the information they post isn’t moderated before being published but is subject to regular monitoring.

How do I join the network?

You can join the East Meets West network by registering here.

Is it free to join the network?

Yes! Thanks to support from Arts Council England and our venue partners, the network is free to join.

Is my data secure?

East Meets West and its curators are committed to protecting your personal information. It’s your information, it’s personal, and we respect that. It is very important for us that we can maintain the trust and confidence of those who interact with us.

Before singing up you should read our Privacy & Data Usage Policy, along with our Terms, Conditions & Community Guidelines.

WELCOME TO YOUR
NEW ONLINE COMMUNITY

CREATE A PROFILE

Tell the community about yourself, the work you make and the opportunities you’re looking for.

FORUMS

Ask for advice and comment on the discussion forums.

EMAIL BULLETINS

Subscribe to regular email bulletins so you never miss updates.

OPPORTUNITIES

Post and find opportunities within the region.

ACTIVITY STREAMS

Write status posts and view activity streams.

MESSAGES

Send private messages to other members of the community.

EVENTS

List and search events happening within the region.

REGIONAL PROGRAMMERS DATABASE

Coming soon: A brand new hub for all your programming information needs

MEMBERS DIRECTORY

Looking for collaborators? Search the Member Directory.

THE REGIONAL
PROGRAMMERS DATABASE

The Regional Programmers Database is a new hub that clearly and consistently captures pertinent information that will be a big help when you’re researching Midlands venues and preparing to get in touch with programmers.

Each programmer we profile will provide key information about their spaces, the kind of work they’re looking for, their seasons and scheduling timeframes and the best way to get in touch with them.

Programmers will be honest and transparent about how they work, and in return, we will encourage artists to use the information provided wisely and with respect.

We’ll also pepper the site with video interviews with regional programmers so that you can hear some key insights into how programming decisions get made across the region.

It’s all about making conversations between artists and programmers easier and more efficient — for everyone involved.

THE 2018/19 PROGRAMME

For 2018/19 Team Quake has developed a fun-packed programme of events, activities and initiatives designed to tackle challenges identified by members of the East Meets West network at our 2017 symposium.

Expect picnics, workshops, buddy schemes, artist and programmer meet-ups, another symposium, and much, much more!

The 2018/19 Brochure gives you an overview of the main strands of the programme and includes information on how you can get involved with everything that’s happening.

DOWNLOAD THE 2018/19 PROGRAMME

“East Meets West was a fantastic opportunity for me as an Artistic Director of a venue to get to hear the key issues for companies in our region.”

Sarah Brigham
Artistic Director of Derby Theatre
on the 2017 Symposium

EAST MEETS WEST SUPPORTERS

Our 2018/19 programme wouldn’t be happening without support from all kinds of directions.

Arts Council England has made a huge contribution to this phase of East Meets West’s development, not just in terms of a substantial funding award but also through working with us to strengthen the reach, impact and future life of the network.

We’ve got two amazing Core Partners this year whose generosity, enthusiasm and commitment are indispensable. Very appropriately, there’s a wonderful Westie — Debbie Kermode at mac birmingham — and an exquisite Eastie — John Kirby at Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester.

Alongside them, we have a growing number of Supporting Partners — venues, organisations and individuals who are joining forces with us to pull the regional independent theatre community together ever more tightly.

More than anything, East Meets West is kept alive by you — the members of the network who use it, contribute to it and invite their colleagues to be part of it. Thank you!

FUNDERS

CORE PARTNERS

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

LITTLE EARTHQUAKE

Little Earthquake (aka Team Quake) curates the East Meets West network as part of our wider activity.

Founded in 2005, Little Earthquake is a theatre company based in Birmingham led by Co-Directors Gareth Nicholls and Philip Holyman, and produced by Zoë Roberts. Our events invite audiences to scupper their expectations and escape the ordinary.