Jess Farmer

On the 12th of October 2010 me the Creative and media group meeted Jess Farmer, the education officer at the west Yorkshire playhouse. She came into to tell us more about Off-stage choices in the West Yorkshire playhouse Friday. she started off by asking our names and our recent experiences of creative theatre or performances. she told us about what we are going to encounter in the Off-stage choices this included backstage tour, sound technician workshop, make-up work shop, set design work shop, marketing workshop and script writing workshop. This all sounded really fun and interesting I cant wait now. We asked her some questions on her creative process and so on:

Do you enjoy your job and what does it entail?

Yes, definitely. Every day is different. Some days I can be visiting schools, I could be in meetings, I could be running workshops/ sessions, I could be at my desk and  I could be planning days like Off Stage Choices. So its very different.
How long have you worked at the Playhouse and what has been your favourite project to date?

I have been working there four and a half years. I started working for myself, and then the offer came up for a job part time, three days a week and so I took it and continued to work for myself until a five day a week position came up. My favourite project would probably be Connections which is involved with the national theatre.

Have you got any upcoming events/ projects?

yeah, There is Aladdin in the summer which is really theatrical and exciting so that should be fun. We also have a young theatre makers project, which pairs with schools and professional theatres.

How do you connect with the different communities?

We have the Arts Development which is split into three groups, these being: Creative education, in schools and universities etc..., Company Performance, who basically go into schools and perform productions and Clubs, these are mainly aimed at the elderly and people with learning disabilities.

How has technology influenced your work?

Massively, in the theatre in general. We also have a website which has Youtube, facebook and twitter links to the website. What creative process do you go through when establishing a new project?

Everybody is involved because everybody is a creative manager. We decide what will work practically and artistically and what will encourage and persuade people to come.

How do you decide what it is going to involve?

Well we have connections with the different productions that are on and they help us decide. We sometimes start from scratch but others we build on an already written plays. Sometimes we get requests from schools and frequent visitors and expand from there. What began your interest into the theatre and what training did you have to go through?

Well Ive always loved creative arts and since I was about 7 years old I was involved in a local amateur dramatics club. I wanted to outreach to young people and I took my A level in Theatre studies. I also took a masters degree and part of this was based 'On Location' in very non traditional production places for example I worked in a prison running workshops and I worked with people with learning disabilities helping them to reach their creativeness, and so on...I was working free lance when the job at the playhouse came about, I took it and they were pleased with my training but I didn't really need the masters degree to get the job but it did look good on my CV. When I got he job I had to have the usual health and safety and child protection training. What merchandise do you sell and how does this affect you income? How do you promote it?

We use lots of different merchandise and I suppose you could count the restaurant and bar as merchandise too as it brings in more money and more visitors. Half our organisation is a charity which is funded by The Arts charity of England. And the other half is about making profit which of course includes the bar and the restaurant as I said before. Other f orms of profit are programs, tee shirts, teddies for the younger audiences, to persuade their parents/carers etc... What type of performance attracts which type of audience?

Well we basically do a balancing act. We have to appeal to all the different audiences in each production we do by making it fun for the children gripping for the adults and acceptable by the critics. Sometimes however this is not possible and we have to focus on one type of audience for each production. You tend to find the more modern a production is the younger the audience usually turns up and the more traditional a production is the older the audience can be. This however does not mean only a certain age range can go. Everyone can go whenever they like!

How do you go about pleasing them?

We cant always please everyone but we try our best. We also try not to do to many of the same thing and we try range our productions and try to expand peoples horizons and come to something they wouldn't usually. We do use safe options sometimes as we have to impress the critic as well. How do you know when a project is successful?

Well, we have financial targets that we have to reach and if we don't reach them, or we go over them then it is pretty self explanatory. We also have critics that view the show and give feedback, and we hand out opinion and comments surveys. Sometimes we may not have a very big audience but we could have amazing reviews from the critics.

What do you class as a failed project?

We never really get a failed project because everything leads to something positive. It is quite upsetting when the audience is low or the reviews are poor but we just learn from whatever we did wrong. What opportunities are there within the playhouse, and are there any you aspire to achieve?

Well I could move away from delivering and start my own projects or more desk and office work but I don't think I could leave my job. I love it so much it would be very hard for me to move to something new.
What do you think the benefits are of days like Offstage choices?

We can encourage more and more people to come to the playhouse for various different reasons, it's also good for us to get more feedback from a different audience. And it gets people involved in experiencing something they maybe never even heard of before. It enhances learning.