‘Shining A Light’ Series: Organising Together for Action on Sexual Harassment

We are so proud to be launching the ‘Shining A Light’ series, hosted by Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre. Our work over the past 6 months with drama schools, youth theatres and other groups has proved that we need to create a space where young people in our industry can come together to understand what harassment is, the impact it can have on ourselves and our peers and how we can work together to create the culture we’d like to see reflected in the arts industry.

At Houselights we believe in keeping our courses accessible so that there are fewer barriers for those that want to be part of a positive change in our industry.

We're working to raise £600 so we can provide full financial assistance to participants who would not otherwise be able to attend the course. We are hoping to cover travel costs for participants who require financial assistance but do not need a full bursary.

It has never been more pressing to create spaces for creatives to learn about the impacts of harassment and to understand how they can implement safe working practice in their craft.

Tell me more about this upcoming course...

Houselights are raising £600 to run a brand new short course on creating safe working environments in the theatre. 'Shining A Light' course is open to students, young people and freelancers in the entertainment industry. The course is made up of three workshops, taking place over three consecutive months. The same cohort will got though the workshops together, understanding what sexual harassment in the theatre can look like, the impact it can have and how to get to grips with practical tools that they can use to support the creation of safe working environments in their drama schools, youth theatres, professional productions.

Sounds great! How does it work?...

Applications for the first run of the course will be open in the coming weeks. Each cohort will be approximately 15-20 people. The application is short and simple, designed for anyone in the industry who wants to engage more with this issue and wants to get to grips with some tools to challenge harassment when they see it. Upon finishing the course, participants will be eligible for micro-grants to help support campaigning activities or to enable people to take those discussions further, whether that be to support a film screening or talk - whatever the group feels is the best way to reach their peers and friends.

Each session is two hours long, and participants are expected to attend all three sessions. Online and in-person resources will be available for all sessions.

Session 1 - Tuesday 24th September 2019*

Session 2 - Tuesday 22nd October 2019*

Session 3 - Tuesday 19th November 2019*

Plus all participants are invited to attend our social which will take place pre-Christmas. We anticipate funded projects will take place in the months following.

Depending on the success of our first run, we'll be running the course on a rolling basis throughout the year and hopefully outside of London, too!

Why are you doing this?...

Houselights have been working with freelancers, performers, drama school students and many other people across our industry. We've been running workshops on understanding harassment in the theatre, talking on panels about how people can access support, working with drama school teaching faculty looking at how they can implement their sexual harassment policy in the rehearsal rooms, as well as working with major unions and arts organisations to support them in developing their sexual harassment provisions and support structures.

It’s vital that we reach as many people as possible through this work and we recognise that whilst visiting classes in drama schools is useful, we need to maximise our reach. Anyone in the industry can apply for our Shining A Light Course. and the one session per month structure is designed to fit into busy schedules with relative ease.

Costs:

The entire course costs £30 per participant, including handouts, resources and refreshments. There will be financial assistance available, covering the full cost of the course where needed. We are committed to making the course as accessible as possible and if we are more than happy to talk confidentially about covering travel costs or any other associated costs of participation.

If you have any questions about the course or your donation please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Rachel at [email protected].

Thank you! Together, we’ll continue making change.

*These dates are subject to change by a few days either side and all sessions will take place in the evening.