Justice Plan - Race
Our Targets
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Targets for 2024-2027;
The following targets are based on the demographic census of London and England at the time of writing. Currently, 14% of England is from the Global Majority and 46.2% of London. As a company that serves the country, and regularly tours to its capital city, our ambition is that our work represents the average of these two percentages, which is approximately a third:
A third of our shows will have one of the principal actors from the Global Majority across this period
At least a third of our casting in this period will be from the Global Majority
At least a third of the creative team members engaged across this period will be from the Global Majority
At least a third of the writers we commission in this period will be from the Global Majority
At least a third of Headlong’s freelance directors will be from the Global Majority
At least a third of our core staff will remain Global Majority by the end of 2027
At least a third of our Senior Management Team will remain Global Majority by the end of 2027
At least a third of Headlong’s Trustees will be from the Global Majority by the end of 2027
A third of Headlong’s Stage Management teams will be from the Global Majority by the end of this period
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Targets for 2024-2027;
At least a third of commissions in this period will be by Global Majority playwrights
A third of the new writing we produce will be by Global Majority playwrights
A third of the pre-existing plays we produce will be by Global Majority playwrights
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As a national touring company, we endeavour to make work with a wide-reaching appeal. However, we have some specific audience development goals based on ongoing and growing relationships with specific communities.
For the period 2024-2027 we aim to welcome more BESEA and Deaf audiences into our theatres, and more generally, welcome those under the age of 30. It is our ambition at Headlong that our work acts as a gateway for first-time theatregoers and encourages a new generation of theatregoers.
We will consider ‘Black Out Nite’ performances (as originated by Jeremy O’Harris) in the future, to help make more Global Majority audiences welcome. Headlong will also create a full audience development strategy in the period 2024-2027 and this will include a specific focus on how our Racial Justice Plan intersects with it.
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We recognise that the theatre critics of the mainstream media are majority white. We currently make space for less traditional forms of reviewing by inviting bloggers, YouTubers etc. to engage with our work and we will continue to do so.
Going forward we will be proactive in inviting a wider circle of critics to all of our press nights. We are committed to calling out racism in reviews of our shows and will continue to do so. Whenever possible we will promote artists from the Global Majority in press opportunities.
Targets for 2024-27;
Research different kinds of critics and engage with more than traditional reviewers for each project, continually looking to refresh and revise our slate
Commit publically to standing by our productions no matter the reviews. Whilst we appreciate them, we do not take them as the ultimate barometer of a production’s success but rather as part of a wider picture encompassing audience response and internal evaluation
Examine the statistics around who is reviewing our productions most frequently (in terms of demographics/lived experience) with the view to exploring a wider conversation as to whose voices are loudest when it comes to making value judgements on work, and the importance of more diversity in criticism
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We will continue:
To support directors who are living and making work outside of London through our Headlong Origins artist development scheme.
To commit to at least a third of our Origins directors being from the Global Majority, taking into account representation outside of London and the intersectionality of other Justice plans.
To monitor the recruitment process for this scheme and make sure that the recruitment advertising is seen by the largest number of people, including those who usually face barriers to this type of opportunity.
We are aware that stage management teams are not currently representative of the country. By providing paid shadowing and placement opportunities on our shows, we will not only provide opportunities for emerging Global Majority stage managers to gain valuable touring experience but it will also help to diversify the pool of stage managers.
Over the next year, our Community strategy will focus predominantly on young people. In 2025 we will launch our first Digital Young Company (DYC), working with young people between the ages of 18 and 21, who have not entered higher education. We will aim for a third of the participants to be from the Global Majority.
Targets for 2024-27;
For the period 2024 - 2027, a third of Origins artists will be of the Global Majority
Any available Assistant Director role will be offered to Origins alumni as a paid opportunity
Origins alumni will be considered for any available Associate Director role before external recruitment commences
All current Origins participants will be offered an observation opportunity
We will explore opportunities such as apprenticeships or placements with Associate Partners’ Heads of Production
We will recruit early career/graduate ASMs of the Global Majority on each show we lead produce, to work alongside experienced DSM/CSMs, providing them paid work and experience opportunities
A third of the DYC during this period will be of the Global Majority
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Targets for 2024-2027;
We will continue to monitor and improve how we support employees and freelancers from the global majority at Headlong, especially on tour, from both a practical and pastoral perspective. Including but not limited to: offering taxis late at night, vetting digs where possible, making sure WHAM staff have experience with Afro hair, adding phonetic spelling to contact sheets
We will make sure that we are creating a supportive and welcoming work environment that enables people to bring their whole selves to work
We will continue to make sure that we are providing safe, discrete reporting options for all our employees and that there is a diversity of staff to reach out to, who are clearly signposted
We will continue to implement changes recommended by the Anti-Racism Touring Rider, including providing regular Anti-Racism training for all employees
We will continue to follow UK Theatre’s 10 principles for safe and inclusive workspaces in theatre
We will join the theatre Guardian Scheme
We will make it clear to our freelancers that counselling (or other therapies) is available to anyone if they felt they needed it or would benefit from it during the process of making a show
We will make sure that no interview panel at Headlong is ever all white
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We will allocate necessary human and financial resources to implement this plan
We will continue to hold fortnightly internal Justice Meetings with the whole staff team to monitor our progress against this plan and reflect, build upon and share new learning
When possible, we will collaborate with external consultants to review our anti-racist practices and provide us with critical feedback
At least once a quarter a board member will attend our Justice meetings to help embed progress and share accountability at every level of the organisation
Likewise, at every Board meeting a staff member will report to the Trustees on any Justice related updates at Headlong
Please click below to view our full Justice Plan. This is a working document and will remain under constant review.
We support Theatre Action’s #PullUpOrShutUp, and below is our employment data. It covers data since 2017, which is what we have current access to. We will continue to review historic employment data going back as far as possible and will be using this to inform our practices in the future.
Previously we have not recorded comprehensive data on employee’s socio-economic status, we will address this. Additionally, we believe the categories in which we currently ask people to define their ethnicity need rethinking. As a direct result of this action we are reviewing how we collect data to make sure it is fit for purpose going forward.
IT’S OUR FIRM BELIEF THAT MAKING GREAT ART IS INEXTRICABLY LINKED WITH THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE.
We have been fortunate to work with talented ethnically diverse colleagues, but not nearly frequently enough. Our hope is that through structural change we can address this imbalance, earn trust in our existing relationships, and begin meaningful new ones in the years to come.
As we tackle structural inequality at Headlong, the intersectionality of justice will be present throughout our planning, encompassing disability, class, LGBTQI+ communities, religion and gender. However, in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, we are specifically addressing systemic racism at Headlong in this document, which is the first part of a larger Justice Plan. This is a work in progress.
