QUICK NOTES ON THE NIGHTINGALE

The Nightingale programmes theatre and dance performances from all levels of the profession provided the work is made on a base of integrity and excellence.

We only programme work which we have seen, or work which we are involved in developing.

Many performances that we develop here begin as a 2-10 minute presentations at one of our Scratch Nights.

The development of new work and the ongoing development of artists are the two primary aims of the venue.

Our May Festival Season is booked by the end of November each year.

We do not hire the venue for performances or classes.

We do not provide a script reading service, but are an associate venue to New Writing South who do.

Prodigal Theatre is the resident company of the venue.

Our full manifesto for the venue follows below.

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In January 2007 the Nightingale's actor-managers Prodigal Theatre re-wrote the venue's Manifesto having received confirmation from the Arts Council of England, South East; Brighton & Hove City Council and the National Lottery Awards for All of three years worth of funding. This has allowed them to place the development of new work and the ongoing development of artists as the principle activities of the venue. The Nightingale is the City's only development house for fringe theatre & dance. Details of the Nightingale's development ladder are included in the manifesto below.

INTEGRITY, SPACE AND TIME

Developing Artists and their Work

From February 2007 and with the support of the Arts Council of England, South East; Brighton & Hove City Council and the National Lottery, Awards For All; the primary activity of this venue will be to support the ongoing development of artists and the development of new work.

We will programme and select for development work which is based on quality and integrity, not a particular aesthetic.

We will programme and select for development work from all levels of the profession: student and graduate artists, new and emergent artists, established and touring artists, international artists and Masters.

We have created a model of development for the future based on the past three years of experience in supporting artists through this venue.

Our Scratch Nights build upon the BAC model to offer a platform where 2-10 minutes of work in progress can be presented to the public, and where the performing artists then receive mentored feedback from the audience.

A Scratch Development is a period of 5 – 10 days of rehearsal space given as “In-Kind” support.  The result is a rough draft of a complete piece. The aim is to ensure the company has time and support to investigate the ideas they have, and a supportive environment in which to work.

Industry showings can follow periods of Scratch Development and allow artists to present their work to an audience of funders, producers, bookers and other artists who may become involved in the future development of the work.

Public Presentations can follow immediately on the next two nights after an industry showing, or may be undertaken instead of one. The opportunity to present to an audience a work which is developed but unfinished can be enormously important in determining the direction of a performance.

Full Performances will follow an independent application for funding to which the Nightingale will commit a further 10-30 days of rehearsal space as “In-Kind” support, along with help in publicizing a fully developed show.

Each of these steps may be undertaken in order, but some may be repeated and others missed altogether. Our model of development will remain flexible and responsive to the needs of each artist we support.

Mentoring

 In addition to giving space to the development of work, we will also employ artist colleagues to work as mentors on the projects being developed here.

They will support; advise and question the artists that they mentor, lending their experience to make the most of a development period.

They will help us to retain a necessary distance to a piece of work in development, and this will enable us as a venue to resist the creation of a “house style”.

The Audience

We seek to promote and develop work which respects; challenges; and changes its audience. Work in which the audience becomes creative through the act of witnessing.

The venue continues an ongoing dialogue with its audience through events such as work-process demonstrations, post-performance discussions and open rehearsals.

Fringe Theatre

Above all the Nightingale remains a Fringe Theatre - a theatre which also works hard to dispel the myth that the term “Fringe” indicates poor production values or low quality.

A Fringe Theatre is a venue which; by remaining on the edge of what we consider “mainstream” retains its independence and provides a space for the development of new ideas.

A venue which works with integrity to provide the time and space in which work of excellence is created.

This is the Second Phase Manifesto of the Nightingale Theatre.