The Rose Theatre, located in Kingston-upon-Thames High Street and backing onto the River Thames, has been a vibrant culture hub since its opening in 2008, putting on some incredible productions in its 16 years.
Its annual Christmas productions, which have previously included ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Snow Queen’, are beautifully crafted, with vibrant costumes, intricate set design and entertaining audience engagement.
Tickets are currently selling fast for 2024’s production of ‘Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist’, a festive story for all the family, featuring members of the Rose Youth Theatre with a professional cast.
Created by Olivier Award winner Chris Bush and directed by UK Theatre Award winner Elin Schofield, this is sure to be another amazing watch.
By speaking to a member of the Rose Theatre Box Office, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in the creation of each production.
When asked about how the Rose Theatre supports the local community, particularly young people, he described how theatre ‘provides a platform for local voices and stories’, such as ‘our Learning and Participation department’, which ‘encourages community engagement and brings people together’.
It ‘holds multiple classes 7 days a week, year round’, extending ‘all the way up to those in their 80s’.
An example of this is the Rose Players, an introductory acting group exploring different practitioners, improvisation and vocal techniques.
One of the biggest challenges the Rose Theatre faces is the ‘use of the space.
The unique design, inspired by the design of Shakespeare’s Rose, can often create challenges to audience sightlines as the seating curves’.
This affects how the production is ‘designed’ and ‘spaced by directors and choreographers’, to enable the audience to have optimal vision of the action onstage.
‘Funding comes from a combination of ticket sales, grants and community donations’.
Donations to the Rose Theatre have a huge impact as they not only ‘cover production costs and maintain facilities’ but can also ‘support outreach programmes’ to involve the community in theatre.
These include ‘tailored workshops for nearby schools, and a bursary fund to ensure that no aspiring young person needs to worry about any financial struggle to be involved’.
‘As all theatres are currently struggling’ due to reduced audience attendance after the Covid-19 pandemic, rising production costs and increasing competition from other forms of entertainment, ‘community donations and private donors are more essential than ever to ensure that the theatre industry continues to thrive’.
