Touring consortium launched by BAC

Battersea Arts Centre has launched a new touring scheme that will visit parts of the UK with low cultural engagement, over the next three years.

Led by the south London venue, the Collaborative Touring Consortium will involve six regional areas including Hull, Torbay, Darlington, Gloucestershire, Thanet and Great Yarmouth.

A grant of £649,000 from Arts Council England and £360,000 from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation is funding the scheme, which will see each partner area curate a festival of local work alongside three shows from BAC.

The tour, which will take place twice a year, begins this autumn and its inaugural programme will feature Kate Tempest’s Brand New Ancients, the Paper Cinema’s Odyssey and Polarbear’s Mouth Open Story Jump Out.

It launches in Hull on September 7, where venues such as a local church and festival tent will be used to present the shows.

David Jubb, artistic director at BAC, said: “We are hugely grateful for the support received from the Arts Council and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. They have provided us with the opportunity to work with national partners to develop methods of reinventing the touring mould, rethinking the way theatre can make a positive impact on areas which do not have much access to cultural engagement.”