The Egg Theatre in Bath has had good news about two grant awards, which will let it encourage online engagement and outreach work.

The first, from INNOVATE UK, will enable The Egg to develop online platforms for young theatre makers to share training forums, virtual rehearsals and technology driven performance opportunities. Part of a £40million programme supporting the UK’s next generation of innovative businesses, The Egg was one of 700 successful projects from more than 8,400 original applicants.

This money will enable The Egg’s team of in-house producers to take the next step in theatre training, creating connections between young artists and the profession and developing models for remote working that solve professional challenges for the sector, improving financial and environmental sustainability in the industry.

It is planned that these initiatives will benefit The Egg well into the future, making its award-winning programme of theatre training accessible all over the world as well as for the young people in the immediate catchment area.

The second grant, Arts Council England Emergency Funding, enables The Egg to continue developing new work with exceptional artists so that as soon as theatres are ready to open, they have got work to share. This will include some filmed performances, ongoing script and artist development, and working with other local cultural and educational partners to support the most vulnerable families in Bath & North East Somerset.

This part of the grant will continue the Egg’s work as a member of the Bath Cultural Education Partnership (with Bath Festivals, Holburne Museum, House of Imagination and Bath Spa University), working with artists to co-design new creative activities that will be delivered to the families in B&NES who have been most significantly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.

Director of the Egg, Kate Cross, says “Covid-19 has presented theatres with a crisis from which only the strongest will recover. These projects demonstrate that The Egg is one of those strong ones, determined to get back on its feet. This will only be made more credible with the kind of funder and benefactor support we have gratefully received so far.”