Thank you for a brilliant session tonight. Top notch speakers and a really positive outlook for progress this year 🫡

Is there a place to sign up or are all members welcome to pop along?

I'm still so new to the Manchester scene and already I love it. I've learned so much and had some incredible opportunities, but if you've been living and working here, l'd love to hear your story.
Where did you go? What did you make? What can we do moving forward?

9/9

I've heard it from musicians, artists, theatre makers, dancers, all sorts.
And the story is the same every time. There USED TO BE options.
Theatres used to open their rooms.
Studios were far more accessible.

8/9

But I would have to bank on getting a full class every fortnight and charging £40 a head every time just to cover venue costs alone.

I am WELL AWARE that I've not discovered anything new here.
Artists across Manchester have been crying out for affordable studio space for years now.

7/9

Actor's Gym is trying to make high quality artistic practice and collaboration as accessible as possible. Going into this I was
hesitant to charge ANYTHING that went beyond venue costs, even
now we are going to be keeping prices as low as possible.

6/9

I wont name names, but for a single two hour class, I was quoted...

£100p/h for 4 hours minimum

And at another venue,

£625 for 2x 2 hour classes

5/9

Eventually we did find a venue that offered its space for free that met our needs, and we are hugely grateful, but beyond that we really needed a purpose built rehearsal space that we could form a lasting relationship with, and that doesn't come cheap.

4/9

We needed some amount of privacy. Acting work is by its nature
vulnerable, and being watched by
onlookers, or having to fight over
noise from elsewhere in the venue
isn't ideal.

3/9

We were looking for something specific. We needed space to host upwards of 15 people comfortably with room for them to work, and most bar spaces are full of chairs and tables that often can't be moved. No good.

2/9

But I would have to bank on getting a full class every fortnight and charging £40 a head every time just to cover venue costs alone.

I am WELL AWARE that I’ve not discovered anything new here. Artists across Manchester have been crying out for affordable studio space for years now.
7/9