Igniting artistic vocation

About 15 years ago, Frantic Assembly decided to run a workshop for professional performers. We hired a nightclub for two days to make work inspired by the site and invited applications. We planned to accept 20 applicants. We had hundreds of people apply – only two were men.

Something was not right. Our approach had connected with boys in schools, so where were they? Why weren’t they making the vocational leap? It is not as if there’s any lack of male actors, but where were the men wanting to explore the potential of theatre through physicality?

I didn’t grow up wanting to be involved in theatre, let alone this ‘physical theatre’. It wasn’t on my radar. I pretty much got pushed through a door by someone who thought I should be there. Once there, I realised I had useful crossover skills. Encouraged by others, my perception of my own limitations and abilities changed and eventually I found my place and my voice. It was lifechanging, and based solely on one person pushing me through a door.

No wonder so many with potential don’t make that vocational leap. There must be thousands of people from socioeconomic backgrounds like mine, with the same potential, who find the door is shut. No, it’s not that – it’s that they don’t even know the door is there. 

Trials not auditions

So, Ignition was born. What’s the point of just asking people who already know about this world to be part of it? I wanted to go looking for people who did not know their potential yet, in places no one else was looking –  sports groups, martial arts clubs, street dance, parkour.

The tactic was to get people to a free introductory workshop, wasting no time in getting moving and making work. It would be fast and energetic, celebrating collaboration and demonstrating achievement. Having had this Taster, they were invited to a Trial to be part of the select Intensive course. 

Note the use of language, more understood by those who play sport. Trial. Not audition. We had to strip the experience of any of the negative baggage people might expect of theatre. The idea of an audition is a vision of hell for most people. It is exposing, brutal and potentially humiliating. We had to make sure that our experience was nothing like this.

The tactic worked and, since our first pilot programme in 2008, we’ve welcomed thousands of young men into this world. Since 2019, Ignition has been open to everyone aged 16 – 24.

Not letting the door swing shut

Once selected, our Intensive team is brought to London where we make a show in just four days. To begin with nothing and create something for a public audience in that short time is daunting, exhilarating and hugely rewarding. It shows us what we are capable of and, invariably, it’s more than we ever knew.

It is important that once the door has been opened it does not just swing shut again. Over the years, Ignition has developed to provide training and experience to participants throughout the year and not just to those that make it to the Intensive. 

It is equally vital to show these young people the world beyond Frantic Assembly. We invite artists and workshop leaders to work with them through our venue partnerships and create connections and opportunities with educational and training establishments.

Young people who have come through Ignition have found the confidence to find work in all areas of the arts. There are actors, dancers, writers, poets and composers who cite their experience with Ignition as formative and inspiring. There are also many who applied their experience outside the arts. 

Helping people find their voice

Ignition’s success in bringing in new blood from underrepresented groups has been far greater than I ever imagined. It’s perhaps because everyone who engages with Ignition becomes an example of its value and a passionate advocate for it. They are the visible proof that makes a difference, that there is a door to enter and that you are welcome inside. 

Our current production of Othello boasts five Ignition graduates, three actors, an associate director and a choreographer. As rehearsals begin, Ignition Tasters are about to launch around the country. Our hope is that they are the spark that shows someone the value of the arts, and of their value to the arts. It will be a welcoming experience, led by people who have made a similar journey.

All aspects of Frantic Assembly, from Ignition through our learning and participation work, to the stage productions exude that openness. It has not got any easier for working class people to engage in the arts. So it’s vital that we help those who need to find their voice and those who have the skills to reshape the arts. Especially those people who don’t even know it yet.

Scott Graham is the Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly. 
 www.franticassembly.co.uk/learn-and-train-1/ignition
@Franticassembly

Othello opens at Leicester Curve on 19 September and tours until 11 February. For further details and to book tickets visit www.franticassembly.co.uk.