Thank you so much to everyone who attended the Gathering earlier this month. We hope you found the event useful and inspiring. We certainly enjoyed ourselves and it was great to see Promoters and Performers networking together and hatching plans to tour some amazing shows to the Highlands & Islands in the near future.
Each year we adapt the format of the Gathering based on the feedback that you provide. Please help us to build on the success of this year’s event, and make the 2018 Gathering the best yet, by clicking on this link to give us your feedback: Gathering 2017 Feedback Form
If you weren’t able to attend the event this year, read on below for a summary of the 3 days.
THURSDAY – PROMOTERS DAY
Following feedback from the 2016 Gathering, we decided to give promoters a chance to catch up with each other on Thursday this year, before performers and other organisations arrived on Friday.
Novelist, playwright and performer, Alan Bissett joined us for part of the afternoon, facilitating a discussion around the question: Just how sustainable is rural touring? The appearance of his character “Moira” during the session kept the mood light, and the discussion gave promoters some food for thought for the rest of the Gathering.
We were also joined by three of the GET IN Youth Promoters – Kerry, Peter, and Joseph – who filled us in on all the different aspects of the project, how and why they chose to programme Kathryn Joseph, and what they’ve got out of their involvement in GET IN.
The day was rounded off with a delicious meal at Anderson’s Restaurant, and a thought-provoking performance of Guide Gods by Claire Cunningham.
FRIDAY – SHOWCASE DAY
This was the first Gathering to have an entire day dedicated to showcase performances, and we were pleased with the response we received from performers who wanted to pitch their work to promoters. The day began with excerpts and pitches from Let’s Circus, Paines Plough, Gunshow Theatre, Rosalind Masson, Right Lines Productions and Mary Ann Kennedy & Finlay Wells.
Following a delicious lunch served up by the fantastic Boat of Garten Community Hall crew, we were treated to performance excerpts from Indepen-dance 4, Rob Heaslip Dance and Iona Fyfe & Luc McNally, as well as an interesting presentation from Regional Screen Scotland.
Showcase Day ended (ahead of schedule thanks to the efficient stage management skills of Steve Bull!) with a couple of hours of Contact Time, so that promoters could connect with the performers they were interested in booking.
This was followed by a relaxed dinner at the Boat Hall, and a magnificent performance from Kathryn Joseph, with support from Nicky Murray & Chloe Rodgers, kicking off her GET IN Highlands & Islands tour.
SATURDAY – SURVIVORS DAY
Those who made it to Saturday morning were treated to an interesting and interactive workshop led by Ellie Griffiths from the Upfront Performance Network. The focus of the workshop was widening access for neuro-diverse audiences, and it gave everyone a chance to reflect on how they promote their events to audience-members who don’t necessarily engage with the usual marketing channels.
An inspiring way to end the 2017 Gathering!
All of the performers who showcased at the Gathering are included in our current Supported Programme collection. If you are interested in booking any of the acts, please click through to their Tourbook profile and click the “I’m Interested” button. Alternatively, email us at hello@staging.thetouringnetwork.com and we will put you in touch.
If you are ready to apply for a Supported Programme bursary, click here.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Emma, Annie and the rest of the team at Boat of Garten Community Hall for tirelessly looking after us so well throughout the event! Thanks also to all the performers who showcased and performed, Steve Bull for his efficient stage management, The Boat Hotel and all the other local accommodation providers, Anderson’s Restaurant, and Jassy Earl Photography and Beth Chalmers; photo + video for the fantastic photographs.