Recent research has revealed young people from working-class backgrounds are being “blocked” from entering the creative industries – and we wholeheartedly back the call for action to prevent this.
A report from the Sutton Trust, published in November 2024, found stark overrepresentation in the arts for those from the most affluent backgrounds, which it defines as those from “upper middle-class backgrounds” and said the creative industries remain “elitist” and inaccessible.
We have been working for the past 20 years to create opportunities for underrepresented groups in the arts – and have been talking to colleagues in the live arts in Cornwall to advocate for change across the board.
Rebecca Mordan, our artistic director and founder said: “This is a sad and sorry state of affairs that we’ve been aware of, and working to challenge for many years. Barriers to entry come in many forms – from the overt to the subtle – and result in a cultural sector that neither represents who we really are as a society, nor speaks to everyone within it.”
She added: “We wholeheartedly back the call made here for action to be taken, and have been undertaking our own work to open up opportunities here in Cornwall.”
We are a feminist production hub and theatre company, and we started over twenty years ago, to provide opportunities for women in the creative arts. Our mission is to tell underrepresented stories and to give a platform to the voices less heard.
Over the years, we’ve carved out a unique space within the national arts agenda. One of the few feminist theatre companies in the UK, we have provided opportunities for hundreds of people to continue their careers in the creative arts.
In the last 12 months alone, we’ve worked with over 100 creative arts freelancers across the UK, with a 98% female freelance workforce.
As a touring company, we have created dozens of paid and voluntary opportunities for women – playing at six festivals including Glastonbury, Green Man and Cornwall-based The Great Estate, creating over twenty new shows touring their home county of Cornwall (as well as touring nationally) and running multiple Mayven festivals.
Over our 22 years in the arts industry, we estimate we have provided over 4,000 opportunities for people in the creative arts workforce in total. Watch this space for more to come in 2025 and beyond.
