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Birmingham Rep in Centenary Square, Birmingham
View from behind the audience of the standing ovation for Nativity! The Musical. The stage is visible with the cast taking their bows.
News

2022 at The Rep

2022 has been a bumper year for The Rep, across our three auditoria, in and around Birmingham, across the UK and on the airwaves. Here’s a round-up of some 2022 highlights in numbers…

Grimeboy production image: Alexander Lobo Moreno as Blue holding a microphone in the foreground with Kieran Hamilton-Amos as GrimeBoy in the background- credit Graeme Braidwood

The Rep on Stage 2022

  • More than 325,000 audience members for Rep productions in Birmingham and across the UK
  • Over 220 performances at The Rep
  • Over 50 5 star reviews for Rep productions
  • Almost 50,000 people have seen Nativity! The Musical this year
  • 5 Rep productions on stage and screen this Christmas: Nativity! The Musical, The Snowman, Jack and the Magic Beanstalk, Bugsy Malone, The Play What I Wrote
  • Over 140 actors were employed in Rep productions
  • Over 1,000 children and young people performed on The Rep’s main stage across professional, schools and youth theatre performances
  • 25th year of The Snowman in London’s West End
  • 22 freelance stage managers were employed in Rep productions
  • 13 dogs applied, 10 were auditioned and 3 were cast in Nativity! The Musical
  • Rep productions have toured to over 40 UK cities
  • Grimeboy toured to 12 community venues across The City, generously supported by the Sir Barry Jackson Trust.
  • 1 international production with Counting & Cracking from Australia, visiting Edinburgh International Festival and Birmingham Rep
Backstage image from the workshop. One of our technicians is painting an element of a set.

The Rep Behind the Scenes 2022

  • 1 brand-new foyer space including 2 new bars, 1 new café and 1 central front door onto Centenary Square thanks to the £2.75million Open House refurbishment
  • The Rep’s set workshops used over 24400m2 of plywood – which would fill our stage 170 times over and 2720m of 3×1 timber planks, which would stretch from The Rep to Edgbaston cricket ground when laid out – all of which is reused and recycled for different productions or projects – nothing makes its way to landfill
  • Rep productions used over 2,000 costumes – with 400 for Nativity! The Musical alone
  • The Wardrobe team dedicated over 400 hours of work per week during Bugsy Malone, and over 600 hours per week for Nativity! The Musical
  • Over 50% of costumes are refurbished, altered or reused for previous productions for sustainability
  • The Rep posted on social media over 3,000 times
  • 3182 packed lunches, 5834 cups of coffee and 1722 cups of tea delivered by The Rep’s catering teams during the Commonwealth Games
  • 52 Digital/Tech items were sent to the Re-use service for the Air Ambulances
  • The Set of Playboy of the West Indies went to Tulleys Farm to be used in their Halloween Maze: the island and a large vase used in Tartuffe went to Imagine Theatre to be used in Cinderella at the DeMontfort Hall
  • Aluminium Cladding from set designs was donated to GreenPeace
  • Jack and the Magic Beanstalk reused 80% of their materials for Scenic Arts
  • Would You Bet Against Us? was The Rep’s first Green Book Show: 91% of set had a future life, 100% costume had a future life, 97% props had a future life, and 97% of the tech
Production image from The Play What I Wrote. Tom Hiddleston and Dennis Herdman are both wearing dressing gowns and facing each other. Tom has his hand on Dennis's face.

The Rep on Screen 2022

  • 2 Rep productions filmed for BBC broadcast, The Play What I Wrote and Tartuffe
  • Approximately, more than 4,000 people watched a limited time paid broadcast of The Play What I Wrote online, raising funds for The Rep
  • The Play What I Wrote was broadcast to thousands of households on BBC Four on 18 Dec followed by free streaming on iPlayer
  • 25 film crew from Method in Motion worked behind the scenes to film Tartuffe for broadcast on the BBC in 2023
  • 115,000 views of Bugsy Malone flashmob on TikTok
Team Rep outside the front of The Rep building wearing pride t-shirts and holding balloons and a banner that reads 'A Theatre for Everyone; The Rep'

Team Rep 2022

  • 102 permanent staff employed by the Rep
  • 82 full time permanent staff
  • Over 1,000 hours dedicated by The Rep’s volunteers
  • 42 freelancers employed in administration roles
  • 10 employed through disability confident scheme, launched in October
  • Ramps on the Moon employed 6 artists with disabilities and 4 interpreters
  • 20 artists took place in a Foundry event for Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists
  • 450 writers applied for the second year of Sky Comedy Rep
  • 12 early career progression opportunities for emerging creative professionals through the Learning Department
Little Amal walking in front of The Rep.

The Rep in the Community 2022

  • Over 70,000 participations in Rep Creative Learning activities with young people and communities across the West Midlands
  • 200 young people took part in Young Rep workshops across the city every week
  • 725 Young People performed in the Uncommon Riches Festival: 291 from Commonwealth Connections schools, 259 from 15 Partner schools, 160 from Young Rep, 15 from Open Theatre
  • 45 Community members performed in the festival
  • 18 Birmingham-based community groups helped welcome Little Amal
A large group of young, diverse people. They are all holding various props in relation to saving the planet, including puppets of sea creatures and plaques saying various phrases including 'save our future!' and 'Let's make our world Greta'.

The Rep as a Charity 2022

  • The Rep secured its ongoing status as an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation, securing £1.8m for three years
  • Raised £2,750,101 for our Open House redevelopment, crucially managing to ensure the project was completed ahead of the start of the Commonwealth Games
  • Raised £36,000 to fund the creation of our new Creative Learning Hub, our first dedicated space for activities with young people, our adult drama group and community groups. Generously supported by HSBC UK and the 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust.
  • Secured a donation of £156,000 from the Joyce Farley Education Trust to create the ‘Joyce Farley Bursary Fund’, which will allow us to cover the costs of offering free activities to schools and young people in Small Heath and East Birmingham over the next 3-4 years
  • A glittering 50th birthday Gala raised over £20,000 featuring a special menu designed by Michelin starred Brummie Chef Glynn Purnell