Gathered in a studio space within Birmingham Repertory Theatre are a group of people who have either discovered an incredible anti-ageing product, or are bucking a serious trend. According to audience-monitoring charity Audience Agency, younger people are in such short supply at the theatre that the typical crowd’s average age is 52 years old. This lot, it seems, are the exceptions.
The group are taking a week-long theatre course that’s part of ŠKODA’s Driver’s Seat Initiative, which works in partnership with the Prince’s Trust, to give people aged 16–25 not in education or employment a leg-up. The initiative includes starter courses in all sorts of digitally-focused creative industries that you might expect the younger generation to opt for instead of fusty old theatre, so what’s the allure of this most analogue of mediums?
“It’s an evolving art form, which fascinates me,” says 21-year-old Freddie Apperly. “What’s considered the norm of theatrical practices today, could be old school and prehistoric in 20 years’ time.” Considering the proliferation of immersive theatre, and the cross-pollination of mediums evident in entertainment such as Secret Cinema and escape rooms, it’s hard to disagree with him.
For Laurie Weston, 22, a grounding in theatre is the ideal way to pick up transferable skills. “It’s a great way to learn collaboration and teamwork,” he says. “You’ve got actors who bounce off each other, then you’ve also got people who design the set, sound and lighting who all have to work closely together to get the cues right.”
Backstage in the costume department of Birmingham Repertory Theatre
To other young people, the very fact that theatre isn’t a primarily digital medium is all part of the appeal. “Curiosity drove me because I just wanted to know how it works,” says 18-year-old Harry Bell, who’s keen to get backstage to find out more about sound and lighting. “I went to see Chicago with school – now, I can’t remember a thing about Chicago, but I just remember thinking: ‘How are they getting those actors’ voices from there to my ears?’ I wanted to know how it worked, the acoustics of the theatre, I wanted to understand that.”
As well as a reputation for appealing to older generations, theatre also carries an image of inaccessibility and elitism at a grassroots level. And while today’s would-be thesps are well aware of the barriers to entry, it seems these are not enough to put them off. For 20-year-old Danni Manley, it just means being more selective about the doors you try to shove your foot in. “I went to apply for drama schools, but you have to pay to audition and I couldn’t afford them all, so I only did two out of three,” she says. “It’s quite annoying. It doesn’t put me off, it just makes it harder.”
Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s auditorium
It seems the group aren’t alone. Despite the stats declaring people aged 65 to 74 the biggest theatre box-office-botherers in the UK, youthful interest is on the rise. Between 2012 and 2015, the largest growth rate in theatre bookings was in the three youngest age categories, with sales among 18–25-year-olds up 16% (pdf). Could it be that a generation that prioritises experiences is beginning to appreciate a medium built on visceral and unmediated energy? Course leader Holly Bateman thinks so. “It taps into that mindset of doing things rather than owning things,” she says. “I think the other thing about theatre is that you get to play and be playful. And there’s so little time to be playful in education, but also just generally in life. I think it’s really quite squeezed out.”
Bell, for one, is taken by a medium that offers an alternative to the polished, nipped and tucked output of most digital media consumed through a screen. “With theatre, you can’t really fix anything in post,” he says. “You have to get it right, there and then. That’s definitely something I want to do, without a doubt in my mind.”
To find out more about ŠKODA’s Driver’s Seat Initiative visit skoda.co.uk/dsi
