18 years ago, I thought it would be fun to run some workshops in the West End. I didn't know that Theatre Workout would take over my life in ways in such an amazing way!
Theatre Workout was founded 18 years ago today. It was born out of a desire to give school groups the best possible theatre experience by creating opportunities to work with professional actors and learn about the show's they were going to see. As London is the theatre capital of the world, more needed to be done to experience theatre, not just watch it.
Since 2006, Theatre Workout has grown to cater for over 8,500 students a year, but we know we have barely scratched the surface as there are many schools visiting London every week who don't even know we exist, and that theatre workshops are even a thing. However, as a micro company, we are exceptionally proud of everything we achieved:
Theatre Workout has created the official education programmes for 38 major West End plays and musicals and an unrivalled range of bespoke masterclasses, working with thousands of schools, and giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people opportunities to experience theatre which they would have never had otherwise.
Sadly, Drama is still not on the national curriculum, and many of the students we work with don't get to do it at school. That's why we helped create the Drama & Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA) in 2020, and why we're now working with funding and fundraising organisations to help more schools pay for workshops, tickets and theatre trips.
With our anniversary starting on day one of World Theatre Week, and the DTEA's Seize The Day initiative, we want to champion the transformative potential of Drama and Theatre, celebrate how workshops like ours can impact a young person (we know it does because everyone who works for us has experienced it), and work towards creating many more exciting opportunities for the future.
Founder and Director of Theatre Workout, Adam Milford said:
To all the shows and other partners we've collaborated with, thank you for believing in and trusting us over the years. You've given us some amazing opportunities and we've loved all of them.
Finally, to my family, thank you for putting up with me and for listening to all my mad ideas - most of them panned out, so they weren't so mad after all.
I've learned a lot in the past 18 years, made some terrific friends, and am truly honoured to have made it so far!
Theatre Workout is excitied to see what the next 18 years holds in store.