Our story began 30 years ago when a group of visionary artists took over the empty space that used to be the Lord Palmerston Pub, an important site of community organising for decades, and turned it into Camden People’s Theatre.

 

That means we’ve been here since the release of Oasis’s first album, since Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, since China first got connected to the internet. We’re as old as Amazon, The Lion King and the smartphone - but we’re not looking back, we’re looking forward, to an incredible year of activity in the space where artistic innovation meets local involvement meets engagement with the ‘now’.

Over the last 30 years, we have supported some of the nation’s most exciting emerging artists, delivered an annual programme of ground-breaking experimental work, and delivered extraordinary community projects made with and by our local residents. 

Last year we supported 226 artists / companies to deliver 302 performances, we gave out 1356 hours of in-kind rehearsal space, and 60 of our artists received commissions. 72% of those artists were in the first 4 years of their career, and showed work to over 17,000 audience members. Though we’re one of the smallest theatres, we are one of the biggest emerging artist support hubs in the city. 

 

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Caption: Artists that we support in the early stages have included Cash Carraway, Frankie Thompson, Nouveau Riche

We’re not just a building, we are a home for all of the artists and community members that engage with us. It's these individuals who make us what we are. We are proud of the way that we work with artists, but we know that its tougher than ever to sustain a career as an artist right now. So we’re determined to step up. 

For our 30th birthday we don’t want gifts for ourselves, we want to support the artists and community members that make up the heart of our theatre. We’re aiming to raise £100k to expand and transform our programmes, so we’re ready to continue delivering groundbreaking work for the next 30 years. 

We’re excited to announce that we’re already £40k into that target, with generous support from Foyle Foundation who have laid the foundations for our work to continue.  There are three ways we want you to help us raise the rest.

1) Become one of the 30 for 30

We’re looking for 30 people to donate a minimum of £1,000 across our 30th year, giving us £30k to expand our regular commissioning programme. These 30 people will be safeguarding paths into the industry for diverse emerging artists in London, and will follow the work they help us commission as it grows.

Donate Monthly

BUTTON: £84/month (£1k/year) - This gives us an extra seed commission to ensure an emerging artist can develop a new show.

BUTTON: £169/month (£2k/year) - This pays for an emerging artist to complete a residency to develop their commission and get it ready for productions.

BUTTON: £252/month (£3k/year) - This pays for an emerging artist to take their commission, and produce their first 3 week run of a show in our main space.

Donate Annually 

BUTTON: £1000 Annually 

BUTTON: £2000 Annually

BUTTON: £3000 Annually 

To keep updated on how much progress we’ve made go to our LinkedIn.

2) Donate £30 for our 30th

We’re going to find 1000 people who can donate just £30 each, dividing up support between our emerging artists, community and youth programmes. These donations will support Camden Youth Theatre, our community workshops and allow us to offer more in-kind rehearsal space for artists. 

BUTTON: Donate £30 - This could pay for all of the materials for one of our community workshops, curated by our community steering group.

BUTTON: Donate £60 - This could pay for a 1-1 session with our drama therapist for a young person in Camden Youth Theatre. 

BUTTON: Donate £90 - This could allow us to give an emerging artist a day of rehearsal in our space. 

To keep updated on how much progress we’ve made go to our LinkedIn.

3) Become an advocate for CPT

This is the first time we’ve launched a fundraising campaign like this - and we know it’s ambitious. But we also know that this is the time to step up for the artists we work with, and those we’re yet to discover. To help us reach this target we need to reach new people - so we need you to spread the word about what we do.

You could share our content, tell your friends and work colleagues about our work, encourage people to check out this page. 

Every person that learns about who we are, is another person that might contribute to the target. 

Join our mailing list or follow us on socials to keep up-to-date with the year as it unfolds.

 

If you would like to discuss a donation, donate in another way, or have any questions, please get in touch with kaya@cptheatre.co.uk 

 

Updates

 

 

Thank You