Never over and definitely not out...

When Mark and I formed Ardent Theatre Company, one of our priorities was to create a programme for young performing arts graduates, based outside London, who couldn’t afford to access the opportunities that were on offer but beyond their reach. We wanted to help by finding ways to bridge the gap and make the obstacles that lay in their way, slightly more accessible.

And so, we created the ARDENT8 ensemble, an eighteen-month program that supports eight graduates to access the sort of experience that some can take for granted, but so many others cannot afford to.

I write this piece, sat a few feet away from studio6 at the new Theatre Deli rehearsal studios in the city, and in that studio are the current ARDENT8 ensemble who are about to complete their eighteen-month program. They are the second ensemble we have guided and supported, and like the ensemble before them, they have proved to be an extraordinary group of young people, who have given their all, whether it’s participating in an industry led workshop, engaging in a rehearsal for their professional production, or just having a good laugh over a sandwich at lunchtime. During this program, we had to navigate the pandemic and the distance, and there were times when we all questioned whether we were ever going to get back in a room together. But we did. And we made, ‘RETHINK,’ which we produced at the Union Theatre in 2021, which then went on to tour Leicester, Manchester and Poole earlier this year.

I can’t hear what’s going on in studio6 right now, but I just know that once again, the group inside that studio will be attentive, committed, kind and passionate – as they have been since they day they all got on a train from Dorset for the first time and arrived at London Waterloo for their very first workshop. They have been a brilliant ensemble to work with, and despite this being the final workshop, this is not the end in terms of our support at Ardent Theatre Company. They will always remain a part of this company for however long they choose, that’s the promise we make at Ardent, and we are currently working on ways that we can remain in contact, providing information about any opportunities that we may hear about, or continuing to engage them as professional artists on our own productions.

This is the last 8 that focuses purely on graduates from the Bournemouth & Poole College of Higher Education in Dorset. The new 8, despite still having a small number of participants from the college, are graduates from both Leicester and Manchester, and so as ever we turn a corner. We look towards the future and as Ardent Theatre grows so too must our commitment to graduates from around the country.

The creative industries in this country are being slammed on all fronts, and there is a sense from some that perhaps artists would be better off retraining in something that is more useful. To those people who think this, and are searching for ways to implement this, I tell them as loudly and passionately as I possibly can, go dictate somewhere else.

Ardent Theatre never makes a promise to anyone that we will make them famous or get them that audition they’ve always been searching for, but instead what we do promise is that you will get what we believe is an equal opportunity to access the industry through various industry-led workshops and a fully funded professional production. I believe this is the least they deserve. Keep training and keep believing. If you stop, that’s okay, but if you keep going, I commend you. You’re brilliant. And brave. So so brave.

To this current crop, I say, “thank you.” You have been quite simply, brilliant. Now be brave…