RAT LAB intro session #1 THIS SUNDAY!

It can feel almost impossible to get artistic projects off the ground in this climate: from funding, to programming, to audience engagement, the cards are stacked against us higher than ever.

If you’re a survivor, the picture is even more extreme.

Everyone knows fundraising is exhausting - but what if you've experienced homelessness or poverty or spent too much of your life chasing up benefits applications, and asking for money feels like begging?

Everyone knows programmers aren't keen on taking risks at the moment - but what if you’ve been neglected your whole life and not getting any response to your e-mails makes you feel physically unsafe? What if someone wants your lived experience, but wants to do their own thing with it rather than valuing your artistic purpose?

Audiences are hard to build now that so many people have less money and free time. And when the people you’re trying to reach have historically been excluded from mainstream arts spaces, or are people who need to (and possibly don't want to) open their eyes to uncomfortable truths, even getting the invitation to them can be an Everest - let alone convincing them to come.

 And that’s not even mentioning all the additional factors that come to bear with work inspired by lived experience.

How much of my true story do I want to bring?

How do I figure out how to bring other survivors on the journey?

How do I find collaborators who have the skill sets I need and will stick with me through the tough times?

Our founder Nell Hardy discovered these barriers the hard way when making her first couple of shows, and urgently wants to prevent other survivors from having to go that journey alone in the ways that she did.

RAT LAB is a professional development programme for theatre-makers who experience post-traumatic stress, who are in the early stages of working on a theatre project that aims to create change in an area that matters to them.

Each year, 4 survivor theatre-makers will get:

• monthly coaching with Nell to work through the decisions and challenges that come from the process;

• monthly days together as a cohort with morning workshops on subjects chosen by the group, and afternoons dedicated to research and development sessions to expand on their initial creative ideas;

• we are aiming to provide an opportunity to present your ideas at whatever stage they are at by the end of the year to invited and public audiences: we are still fundraising and what form that will take remains to be seen.

We will invite the wider RAT community to participate in the monthly afternoon research and development sessions facilitated by the 4 theatre-makers - so that they can benefit from the insight and contributions of other survivors, and so survivors at different stages of their creative lives can gain an insight into the processes that go into arts in activism.

We are treating this first year as a pilot, and over the first three months we are opening the whole day each month to any survivors who want to attend.

We will go through some introductory sessions on identifying what to consider when planning an arts in activism project, facilitation skills, and how to talk about your work.

Our first session is this Sunday, when we'll be going through a list of things to consider when you first get the idea for a theatre/arts project led in some way by lived experience and want it to affect change.

In the first part of the day, we'll draw up a (near-)complete list, and categorise the considerations according to if they're personal, artistic, logistic, ethical or strategic (or what mix of all of the above). In the afternoon, we'll try out different ways of responding to specific challenges and scenarios that might come up in relation to some of the considerations.

We don't have all the answers and don't believe there is just one way to tackle any task or challenge: these sessions will be as much an opportunity for survivors to share ideas among each other as they are about passing on observations from our experiences of making work. We hope they will help you figure out what kind of artist you are and what your own priorities are, as well as passing on knowledge and skills.

We would love to know in advance if you’re planning on coming via the form below, so we know what numbers to expect and can prepare for the needs in the room - but we will not turn you away if you come unannounced, so if it is more comfortable for you, please feel free just to rock up on the day.

You'll find us this Sunday at Old Diorama Arts Centre, 201 Drummond Street, Regent's Place, London NW1 3FE, from 11am-5pm. The morning session is 11am-1pm and will be more discussion-based, the afternoon session is 2-5pm and will be a bit more active- come to either or both, whatever works for you.

Massive thanks to City Bridge Foundation for funding the project, and to Old Diorama Arts Centre for their constant support.

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