It’s not my cup of tea: why I was wrong about the Devoted and Disgruntled Roadshow

‘It doesn’t sound like my cup of tea’, said my friend when I asked if they were attending the Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol. I followed up with the immortal words, ‘I don’t think it’s my cup of tea either’. I take back those words: I was a fool. I have a feeling that when I look back, my first D & D Roadshow will go down as one of the most important moments in my creative life.

The Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow is run by Improbable theatre company and has been touring since 2005. Each stop is a  one or two day event which allows you to ‘join the nationwide conversation about the future of Theatre’, but if you are like me, when you first read the name of the roadshow you fear it will be a load of people moaning about the erosion of funding and generally airing grievances, rather than finding solutions. I felt I was Devoted, but maybe naive, and wanted to learn why others were Disgruntled. I was also unsure of the set up and afraid that I would have nothing to contribute.

The Devoted & Disgruntled banner

'Whenever it starts is the right time.'

I thought it was a drop in, drop out weekend, and it can be, but it turns out, it’s a good idea to get there at the beginning of the day, especially if you’ve never before attended an Open Space event. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t realise this is how it works, so we didn’t start the day according to the timetable, but as you soon learn: Whenever it starts is the right time.

The wonderful Phelim McDermott of Improbable immediately puts you at ease and explains how the weekend will work and soon people start to ‘call sessions’. A session can be about anything from What's The Point? When Did You Last Feel Truly Inspired By An Experience In A Theatre? to Earning Money V Making Theatre. How Do We Do Both? and beyond. The person who has called the session then selects a space-and-time Post-it from The Wall of Space and Time and when all that’s done, you can browse the wall and decide what you want to attend.

The 'Wall of Space and Time'

I even found myself co-leading a session on the second day as, having listened to a lot of people, I felt there was an underlying question many people wanted to discuss. I called a session entitled Four Stars: Is the traditional review still the Holy Grail?, which I merged with two of Alison Farina’s sessions about success, as we felt they overlapped. You can read Alison’s report here and mine, which is presented as diagrams, which can be found in my blog post Devoted and Disgruntled Report Diagrams.

Some of the sessions called at the Bristol stop of the Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow

Reports are created by the person who called the session (usually) and they create them, after the session, in the ‘Newsroom’. You can read the reports from the event in Bristol or any of the events across the UK on the Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow website. Although most are specific to Theatre many are relevant to The Arts in general. Reading the reports, you can see that some people left the roadshow still feeling disgruntled, but the roadshow is not the end of the discussion as the website allows conversation to continue.

Some intrepid reporters in the Newsroom

'Whoever comes are the right people.'

I soon realised my preconceptions were wrong and I was in a group of Devoted people who wanted answers and collectively wanted to create change. Yes, there were people who got things out of their system and there were discussions about funding, but instead of the constant negative, downward spiral I feared, in the sessions I was a part of, these things were discussed and suggestions for change and development became the end result. This is not to say that definitive answers were found, everyone has different opinions, so individuals have to decide if they have found a solution.

A session in full swing

I attribute the openness and reduction of moaning to the model used for the events. The events are Open Space and if you have never attended an Open Space event, I cannot describe them better than Devoted & Disgruntled:

‘Open Space Technology (OST) is a form developed to support groups to self-organize and collaborate around any question of shared concern. It gives all participants the chance to propose a starting point for discussion, take part in any of the conversations or flit between them all. It is particularly effective in dealing with complex issues where diverse and conflicting views are present.’

‘What is Open Space?’ on the Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow website.

There is also a live Twitter feed at the event which shows tweets marked with #DandDR. So us Twitterers were determined to spread the word, but something happened that none of us expected:

Yes!

That’s right, for a brief period on Saturday 30th June 2012, #DandR started trending in the UK! If you’re not on Twitter, this will probably mean very little, but it was a huge achievement for a relatively small group of people (combined with the brilliant people who weren’t at the event but read and retweeted our tweets), to have spread the word so far that for a moment even Twitter took notice.

'Wherever it happens is the right place.'

As part of the Open Space ethos, free tea and coffee is available, and conversations that happen whilst refueling with caffeine are just as important as those that happen in the space. As are the ones that happen on the website, on Twitter and Facebook, in Renatos over pizza and a pint or in the car whilst getting lost on your way to Long Ashton...don’t ask.

The Tobacco Factory Theatre was also the right place for the event and I would like to say thank you to Ali Robertson and Carrie Rhys-Davies for enabling the Roadshow to come to Bristol. I also have to say a huge thank you to the Improbable team who made it all happen and decided to include Bristol on their tour.

Seth Honnor's 'excellent continuum of cultural destiny'

'Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.'

Considering some people were still Disgruntled at the end, why do I feel it will be so important for me? In the same conversation I referenced at the beginning of this post, I said to my friend, something that I’ve previously discussed on my blog, ‘the reason I am going is because every now and again I like to push myself and do things that ‘aren’t my cup of tea’ or that scare me, just to see what happens’. In the Open Space I opened myself to change and some of the people I met and the discussions I was a part of unlocked something creative in me that has been locked for a long time: it reminded me of the possibility of Theatre and reawakened my desire to make things happen.

'When it is over, it is over.'

Some of the Reports on the wall at the end of the weekend

In the style of Sesame Street: this blog post was brought to you by the five rules of Open Space and the letters D and D.

Links

Devoted & Disgruntled Roadshow

The Reports from Devoted & Disgruntled Bristol

My Report

Devoted & Disgruntled on Twitter

Tobacco Factory Theatre

Tobacco Factory Theatre on Twitter

Devoted and Disgruntled Report Diagrams

These diagrams form my report on the Devoted & Disgruntled website for the session entitled Merge Alert PART 2 (with diagrams): #1 - How Do We Measure Success And How Do You Know When You Have Achieved It? #2 How Do You Get Where You Want To Without Kissing Ass Or Being A Twat? #3 The 4/5* Review: Is This The Holy Grail? 

Alison Farina and I decided to team up and combine our questions as we felt they overlapped. Many questions were answered with further questions, not because there were no answers, but because ultimately the answer to each is dependent upon the individual, only they know what is ‘correct’ for them.

To illustrate the session I have turned my notes into the diagrams below. The diagrams are a mixture of questions, answers and musings from the group.

These diagrams have been created from my notes alone, so it's worth cross referencing with Part 1 of the report, written by Alison.

Brewing Up a Theatrical Storm

It's not a picture of someone drinking at a brewery, it's actually 'Rum &Vodka' which runs Wed 14th - Sun 25th October

Googling ‘Brewery Theatre Bristol’ it’s a bit disappointing that, so far, the opening of such an important space appears to have flown under the radar. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting it to make the News at Ten, and I did find a short article on Original FM’s website, but for there to seemingly be no online article from any Theatre commentators is a real shame.

With so little online reportage (I am excluding Theatre Bristol’s coverage – they do appear in the search results!), you may wonder why I think it is so important. I don’t blame you. How can an audience or a city understand what it could mean for them if they have no idea of what is happening?

'Full Twist' runs Wed 28th October - Sun 8th November

If you live in the Southville area, on one Thursday night you may have spotted several people dotted around North Street wearing badges and red carnations, pointing other people down the road, towards the old brewery: they were our chaperones. It was a bit like being part of a secret society, we were directed to the rear of the building where we found ourselves in a bright open space with graffiti art on the walls and freshly made bread and cheese on a table (I never quite made it to this table as I spent most of the night talking, but I did hear some very good reports). The bread is from the bakery that will reside in The Brewery and be a quirky addition to the experience. The space I have just described is not the theatre space, but the rear part of the building, where additional plans are afoot.

I arrived just in time to hear a very funny talk from the Tobacco Factory Theatre Manager, David Dewhurst about the new venture. He made the speech instead of Artistic Director Ali Robertson, who was preparing for his own ‘launch party’ as his wife had gone into labour earlier that day. After this we were finally allowed into The Brewery.

It is brilliant. It’s a small, black, ninety-seater, studio space with huge potential, which puts me in mind of The Green Room in Manchester. In addition, as an audience member, joy of joy, there are no pillars. I would also venture to say (having tested them briefly) that the seats are rather comfy. But why is a small theatre space in Southville potentially so significant?

'Gizmo Love' runs Wed 16th - Sun 27th September

Think of The Brewery as the BBC3 of theatre in Bristol. The Tobacco Factory has been producing some great work and developing its standing over the last few years, but the closure of the Bristol Old Vic really allowed it to blossom by throwing light on its work and giving it the space to grow as the city’s main theatre venue. Like BBC1 or 2, there’s a large capacity (250 – 300+ for this space, depending on the type of performance and use of space), and is great for established companies. However, this can present a problem for new, un-established companies, without a recognised piece or a strong following. These companies need a space with a smaller capacity that can allow them to run for longer to develop the work and audience support. This is where the similarity with BBC3 lies. Think of the number of shows that have been trialled and allowed to grow their audience before transferring to the ‘main channels’, including my current favourite, Bristol-based Being Human. The Brewery will hopefully work in a similar way and this is why it is so important to Bristol: it can encourage and support development in a city with a strong tradition of companies creating nationally and internationally renowned work.

'Mrs Gerrish's Christmas Stocking' runs Wed 2nd - Sun 13th December

Anyone who attended Tom Morris’ talk at the Bristol Old Vic will know that he has similar plans to develop small spaces within ‘his’ theatre, which is equally as exciting, but the spaces he wants to utilise will be very different to The Brewery, and at a time when it feels like the city is on the cusp of change over the coming years, there is plenty of room for all of these much needed performance spaces. In addition, whilst Tom Morris and Emma Stenning have very exciting plans for the future of the Bristol Old Vic and its place within the community, George Ferguson, Ali Robertson and the Tobacco Factory team are already engaging with the community rather successfully and this new venue allows them to develop that further and bring new work to their loyal audience.

I have compared these Bristol venues in isolation, but the reality is that when the Bristol Old Vic reopens we must see each one as a component of a whole, and support them as a whole (without excluding other venues in the city such as the Alma Tavern) because that is the only way they will achieve their full potential and enable our city to continue to culturally flourish.

I opened by bemoaning the lack of local and national coverage of The Brewery’s launch, but after discussing its importance, I wonder if it is better to slip under the radar? That way the theatre can do its own thing and there’s no expectation of the outcome. However, people won’t support it, if they don’t know it exists and despite the current lack of coverage, the national press have been particularly supportive of Bristol and the Bristol Old Vic, so I hope that it won’t be long before word gets out and audiences everywhere are aware of its arrival on the theatre scene and head over to check out their exciting new programme.

Links:
Tobacco Factory
Bristol Old Vic