ARC’s artistic policy is to present work that is contemporary and relevant. By that, we mean we want to show work that helps us understand and enjoy the world as it is today. We want to look forward, to excite you about the future. ARC’s programme currently encompasses the following:
Drama, dance and spoken word
ARC presents some of the newest and most exciting performance work being made in the UK today. Our programme features nationally-renowned artists and companies, who are making work we believe is relevant to people’s lives today. This includes supporting the development of work by local and regional artists.
Often we bring work to ARC that challenges perceptions of what performance might usually look like, that offers audiences a different kind of experience to more traditional forms of theatre.
We don’t generally book work that is based around classic texts or adaptations, or that has historical themes. The majority of our programme is set in the modern day.
We prefer to work with artisits and companies during the development of work, which enables us to find ways of engaging audiences alongside the creative process, before presenting the final show. This means we are unlikely to be interested in booking a finished piece of work.
Ultimately, we present work we are passionate about, so there are exceptions to everything.
We select artists and companies to work with based on the content and style of their work, if we feel it is a good fit for our programme. We attend festivals and showcases, meet artisits, listen to recommendations from other professionals and see as many individual performances as we can, all of which identify people we want to work with.
Our drama, dance and spoken word programme is usually booked around 12 months ahead. If you are an artisit or company interested in being part of our programme, please email details to Annabel Turpin at the earliest stage of developing your work. Let us know how you think it fits into our programme, and how you can support us to engage and develop audiences, and we will tell you whether it is something we are interested in or not.
Performances for families
ARC’s family programme is mainly focussed on work for under 7s, although we book some work for 8 – 12 year olds. As well as extended runs of live shows for ages 3+ at Christmas and Easter, we present theatre, dance and puppetry performances on Saturdays approximately once a month.
Our family shows are usually booked at least 6 – 8 months ahead. If you are an artist or company interested in performing as part of this programme, please email details to Annabel Turpin.
Music
ARC’s music programme encompasses a wide range of music including rock, pop, soul, jazz, folk and indie. The Point is an ideal space for music, with a seated capacity of up to 400 and a standing capacity of 550.
If you are an agent or musician looking to perform at ARC and feel you would fit into our programme, please email details to Annabel Turpin.
ARC also presents a monthly series of lunchtime classical concerts in association with Master Musicians, featuring young musicians from across the world. Concerts are usually booked at least six months in advance.
Comedy and light entertainment
ARC has a fabulous reputation for comedy amongst audiences and comedians alike, so some of the best comedians around knock on our door wanting to perform here. You can see everything comedic at ARC, from aspiring newcomers at our seasonal Beat the Gong events, where the audience gets to judge whether new acts get ‘gonged off’; to circuit regulars at our monthly Catch 22 Comedy Club nights; to stand up favourites such as Chris Ramsey, Marcus Brigstocke and Jenny Eclair; to comedy legends like Lee Evans and Jack Dee, who have chosen ARC as a great venue to try out new material.
If you are an agent or established comedian looking to perform at ARC, please email Annabel Turpin.
If you are a newcomer interested in performing at Beat the Gong, please email Peter Vincent at Ten Feet Tall.
Film
ARC’s film programme features a range of mainstream and arthouse films, independent and world cinema. Our digital projector also enables us to screen live broadcasts such as NT Live and international ballet and opera productions.
ARC works with a freelance Film Programmer to schedule films screened on regular nights. However, one-off screenings take place on Monday nights, either as private hires or collaborations. If you are interested in hiring the cinema, please email Grace Allen
Cultural Shift
Cultural Shift is ARC’s strategic programme of activity, delivered in partnership with Little Cog, actively programming and delivering new and increased opportunities for disabled people in the arts. We are working to ensure our cultural landscape is vibrant and representative of the people living and working in our communities.
Within ARC’s artistic policy, we have worked with Little Cog to develop a specific policy around disability work. If you are a disabled artist or are approaching us about work that considers disability, illness or mental health, please read our policy and watch our short film first.
The aims of Cultural Shift are:
• to challenge negative commonly held perceptions about disability and disabled people
• to involve disabled people in the arts at every level
ARC, through its artistic policy is committed to supporting work which is contemporary in its approach and relevant to peoples’ lives today.
The work of disabled artists and participants in the programme may or may not have a disability focus, although we are ensuring that the work is disabled-led. Read the full policy here and read more about the stereotypes we are seeking to avoid perpetuating in our programme here.