house southeast theatre network’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

The house southeast theatre network is a venue network and touring initiative run by Farnham Maltings, which is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview

house southeast theatre network is committed to increasing its representation of diverse voices and experiences. We will do this throughout our programme of activities; encourage best practice, ensure the inclusion of underrepresented voices, and foster a welcoming environment for all.

Our ambition:

house southeast theatre network celebrates the diverse communities making up the South East region, each with unique lived experiences not always reflected in theatre audiences, the workforce or stories represented on stage.

We are committed to addressing the imbalance of voices within our team and the broader theatre sector, by expanding audience development through targeted programming, training opportunities, and peer-to-peer learning, alongside establishing advisory groups to guide key areas of the network and to facilitate ongoing dialogue and collaboration.

Our commitments:

• Strengthen the appeal of theatre programming and live performances in the South East by working with artists and our network partners to diversify who is on our stages and in our audiences.
• Platform and champion underrepresented voices through training and peer-to-peer learning.
• Encourage and advocate best practice and understanding of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across the house network.

Our actions:

PROGRAMMING

• Ensure our yearly programme of touring work, is both representative of and appeals to the diversity of the South East and broader UK population.
• Provide audience development support and expertise to complement and encourage our partner venues' efforts in attracting new audiences and retaining and encouraging return bookers.
• Create resources to support venues with limited capacity to reach new audiences.
• Collect anonymised postcode and audience data to analyse the development of audiences across house programmed shows.
• Quarterly Advisory group meetings, where diversity of opinions and experiences will feed into how and what we programme for our network, reflecting venues and their audiences.

LEARNING

• Provide up-to-date, relevant training opportunities for network members to ensure EDI is a continual priority.
• Offer peer-to-peer networking opportunities to support cross-venue communication and collaboration.
• Communicate and celebrate what network members are already championing within their venues.
• Signpost to other institution and organisations' resources, methods, guidelines, and industry standards.

BEST PRACTICE

• Our annual dedicated training programme for venue members and the house team will ensure we are up to date on the latest legislation and industry standards, to best answer queries, or signpost where to seek specific guidance.
• To ensure our decision-making is inclusive for all members, we will conduct feedback on our events and services. This will be integrated into our practice and future delivered work, to ensure our members and external partners are respected and reflected in our projects.
• Will we have a dedicated budget line for access and inclusion within house projects and productions to ensure any additional needs or access requirements are met, and any barriers are removed so that everyone can access our projects.
• We will collect anonymised Equal Opportunities information on our freelance workforce to assess if the opportunities available through house are reaching a diverse range of people, and to help us review how we can improve our reach and accessibility.