Our Mission, Vision and Ethos
Our Mission
The REP's mission has always been to produce excellent theatrical experiences, to entertain, enlighten and engage audiences and, wherever possible, to reflect the diversity of Birmingham and the surrounding region. This supports our vision, which is to 'Inspire the city of Birmingham to a lifelong love of theatre'
Making theatre from scratch remains at the heart of the theatre's work. Birmingham and the Black Country have historically been known as the workshop of the world. They are now celebrated as great cultural workshops too. Birmingham City Council vision has put cultural ingenuity at the centre of regeneration and The REP is a force at the heart of that vision.
We have built many links with cities and cultural partners across the UK and Europe as well as Cape Town, Chicago and Seoul, as people have come from around the world to understand the bold and visionary cultural policies pioneered in our city. Many of our productions go on tour, championing the name of Birmingham and the region and contributing to the continued international reputation of our cultural industries.
The REP is one of Britain's leading producers of new theatre. We commission newcomers and new groups as well as established theatre professionals. We support the development of new ideas for productions through linking our creative team across many diverse communities of professional and emerging artists. Some new works start life here and go on to become tours or films or transfers to other theatres. For instance, East Is East by Ayub Khan-Din was premiered at The REP in 1996, published and adapted into a multi-BAFTA award winning film in 1999 and returned to The REP in 2009. Frozen by Bryony Lavery was commissioned by The REP, produced for the main stage in 2000, transferred to The National Theatre, won TMA best play award, was produced on Broadway and nominated for 4 Tony Awards.
Our Vision
Birmingham Repertory Theatre's vision continues to be:
- TO INSPIRE A LIFELONG LOVE OF THEATRE
- TO BE A LEADING CULTURAL DESTINATION IN THE REGION
- TO BE A CREATIVE HUB AND MAGNET FOR ARTISTIC TALENT
Our Ethos
The REP's ongoing commitment to Diversity and Equality is central to our Strategic Plan and evident in Artistic, Learning and Participation, Staffing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies and policies
The REP believes that:
Theatre offers a richer and more potent experience when a diversity of perspectives is reflected.
Support and development of culturally diverse artists will address the in-balance in mainstream arts provision.
All audiences, whether actual or potential, deserve a challenging, diverse and stimulating programme of work.
The arts have a duty to take positive action to enable equality of access and to respond to changing demographics.
The diverse nature of Birmingham's communities makes a positive contribution to our cultural offer.