Diversity and Accessibility Policy

Improv for Everyone

Hoopla aim to make impro open and accessible to everyone.

Hoopla aim to provide a fun, friendly, encouraging, trusting, safe and supportive environment where people can enjoy learning, performing and watching improv.

We believe that everyone can enjoy learning, performing and watching improv regardless of their background. We aim to provide the best training, resources, shows and community that we can to support all improvisers and audiences.

We aim to provide a supportive and welcoming environment to people of all ages, genders, ethnic backgrounds, physical abilities, cultural views, sexual orientations, religions and nationalities, and are currently working to encourage greater diversity and accessibility in the improv scene.

Half- Price or Free Courses

We don’t want price to be a barrier to improvising. Therefore we offer half- price or free improv courses to people in the following categories:

–  Unemployed or low- income.

–  Full time student.

–  Key workers.

–  Over 60.

–  Under 23.

–  Homeless or in sheltered accommodation.

If you fall into any of those categories, or have another reason for needing a lower cost course, please email us at classes@hooplaimpro.com.

Gender

What we’re already doing:

• Over half of our teacher team are female.
• When casting new shows we ensure at least half the cast are female.
• We helped produce all- female groups including The Playground, All Made Up and The Pina Colliders. We also book a number of other all- female groups like Breaking & Entering, JCB, The Glenda Jackson Collective and more.
• We helped produce and continue to promote The Playground, a night of all female improv. The show isn’t marketed as “all- female” as we felt the improv should speak for itself rather than “female” being the angle.
• We ensure a balance in genders across each season when booking groups. Due to group availability this isn’t currently possible to ensure night by night, so some nights will be more male, some nights more female, but over the whole run of nights we have a pretty good balance.
• We use targetted advertising to especially connect with female improvisers and help our courses and audience achieve and equal gender split. This does vary from course to course, so some are more male, some more female.
• Our social media following is around half male half female.
• We make sure women are equally represented in our social media posts, photographs and web content.
• We have a number of female diversity officers available for improvisers to speak to.
• We are introducing a code of conduct policy for our teachers and improvisers.
• We are introducing more training for our teachers on how to cope with sexism and how to create a supportive environment.
• We are introducing diversity officers who monitor courses and shows at random to check the code of conduct policy is being followed.
• We monitor each course as it books up to make sure each course has an equal gender split.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• To get more feedback directly from female improvisers via our diversity officers.
• To better promote our code of conduct policy at the start of each course and with performing groups.
• To put on more free training, workshops, and discussions for improvisers.
• To talk to transgender groups to understand better how to incorporate them in the impro scene.

Race, Ethnicity, Religions, Nationalities, Cultures

What we’re already doing:

• We run a free monthly night especially for BAME performers to help inspire others. Groups and performers that develop at this night are also then booked for our other nights.
• Our courses currently have quite a good mix of backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicity etc. This is especially true for our beginners improv courses, which are very international.
• Where possible we try to prioritise booking groups that have greater diversity in the cast or may be of interest to new communities.
• We individually encourage improvisers of different ethnic backgrounds, by sending them casting calls or putting them in touch with performing groups.
• We have a new diversity officer of asian origin who is going to work with us to improve engagement with people of different ethnic backgrounds.
• We have a code of conduct in place for improvisers, teachers and students to help prevent racism in the improv scene.
• We make sure people of different backgrounds are represented in our social media posts, photographs and web content.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will chat to improvisers and community groups from black, asian and ethnic minority backgrounds and work out how we could support those groups more.
• We will advertise out of our usual circles (google, facebook, twitter) to access new communities.
• We will put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.
• We will better promote our code of conduct policy.
• We will put on some free training, workshops, and discussions for improvisers.

Lesbian, Gay, Bi- Sexual, Transgender

What we’re already doing:

• We have LGBT people available to talk to on our list of diversity officers.
• We have LGBT people on our core teaching team.
• We have LGBT people in our core show teams.
• We have introduced code of code policies and training for our teachers.
• We are putting on shows as part of Pride London in connection with Zeal.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will put on more LGBT events.
• We will talk to LGBT improvisers to find out if there is anything else we can do.
• We will directly advertise to an LGBT audience for courses and shows.
• We will put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.

People who have a physical disability

What we’re already doing:

• We’re gradually moving our worskhops out of non- accessible buildings and into fully wheelchair accessible buildings. We use The Nursery, Kobi Nazrul Centre, St. Hugh’s Hall and Theatre Deli which are all fully accessible. We also use Poor School which can be wheelchair accessible if we know in advance.
• We have training days with our teachers where we swap notes on how to fully incorporate wheel chair users in workshops.
• Wheelchair users and people with other physical disabilities can be fully involved in workshops, as we talk and work with them to find options that work for each exercise.
• We have a number of optional show venues to enable wheelchair users to be in end of course shows.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will talk to wheelchair users who have done our courses and get feedback on how we could improve things.
• We will recruit diversity officer who is also a wheelchair user and able to advise us.
• We will advertise out of our usual circles (google, facebook, twitter) to access new communities.
• We will put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.
• We need help with how to make our show venue accessible, we don’t currently know how to do that.

People who have a mental illness or learning disability

What we’re already doing:

• We’re running free courses ongoing at St. Mungo’s Broadway Recovery College, a charity for homeless, vulnerable, unemployed or lower income people. These courses are free and open to all.
• We’re receiving training as part of the St. Mungo’s work on working with homeless people, drug users and people who have a mental illness or learning disability.
• We have a diversity officer who is a trained mental health nurse.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will promote the St. Mungo’s work better to get more students coming along and also connect more of our teachers to that organisation.
• We will encourage other improvisers to volunteer to teach, so that the recovery college could put on more courses.
• We will volunteer at Cardboard Citizens or similar theatre companies that also work with people going through tough times.
• We will better promote the availability of our diversity officers.
• Our diversity officers will give our teaching staff, and the wider improv scene, more training on common mental health problems and learning difficulties.
• We will put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.

Unemployed or Lower Incomes

What we’re already doing:

• Our courses are already cheaper than most other major improv companies in London.
• People can pay for courses by installments, and we are happy for the second payment to come later in the course if this makes it easier.
• We also do concessions or free places for people on lower incomes.
• We only charge £5-£7 for shows, and give free places to students on courses and their friends, to make shows available for all.
• We run a large number of free shows and workshops each year.
• In addition to courses we also keep a number of lower priced drop- in style workshops available.
• We’re running free courses ongoing at St. Mungo’s Broadway Recovery College, a charity for homeless, vulnerable, unemployed or lower income people. These courses are free and open to all.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will promote the St. Mungo’s work better to get more students coming along.
• We will also volunteers at Cardboard Citizens or similar theatre companies that also work with people going through tough times.
• We will advertise our concessions or free places better.
• We will to advertise out of our usual circles (google, facebook, twitter) to access new communities.
• We will put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.

Homeless or living in vulnerable situation

What we’re already doing:

• We’re running free courses ongoing at St. Mungo’s Broadway Recovery College, a charity for homeless, vulnerable, unemployed or lower income people. These courses are free and open to all.
• We’re receiving training as part of the St. Mungo’s work on working with homeless people, drug users and mentally ill.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• We will promote the St. Mungo’s work better to get more students coming along.
• We will encourage other improvisers to volunteer to teach, so that the recovery college could put on more courses.
• We will also volunteer at Cardboard Citizens or similar theatre companies that also work with people going through tough times.
• We will to advertise out of our usual circles (google, facebook, twitter) to access new communities.

Older Ages

What we’re already doing:

• We are able to adapt all our workshop exercises to suit older people if needed.
• We don’t have an upper age limit on any of our courses.

What we are aiming to do over 2019:

• Older people are currently under represented in both courses and shows.
• We will advertise out of our usual circles (google, facebook, twitter) to directly advertise to older people for courses and shows.
• We will partner with other theatre companies that work with older people.
• We will volunteer more with homes and community centres.

Younger Ages

What we’re already doing:

• We don’t currently do much for younger ages due to limited resources and experience.
• We informally meet with teachers to swap notes and give advice.
• We are unable to have under 18s on our public evening courses due to legal and insurance limitations.

What we are aiming to do after 2019:

• We will have a more formal meeting with Lucy Fennell from Improv for Schools, and other improv teachers interested in working with younger people, and set up a coordinated effort.
• We will set up, or join an existing, improv for younger people organisation external to Hoopla so that all improv companies are coordinated in offering improv to younger people.
• We will run ongoing fundraising shows and crowdsourcing events to fund the above organisation.
• We will apply for arts council funding for the above organisation.
• Once funded the new organisation could provide free improv workshops to schools to help give younger people access to improv.
• We could put on free taster sessions at community centres and similar to access different groups.

Out of London

• We don’t currently do much out of London due to limited resources but we may be able to start taking workshops out of London in 2020.

Different Economic Backgrounds

• Although we do cater for different income levels (see above) we could do more to bring improv to different parts of Britain and different economic backgrounds. We don’t currently have the resources to do this in 2019 but it is something we will look into doing in 2020 along with a project to bring improv to more places outside of London.

This document is open to feedback

Our Code of Conduct & Diversity Policies come from recent consultation with various improvisers, performers, students and diversity officers.

We also received advice and information from other theatre companies, organisation and unions.

We are now at the stage of receiving public feedback, and we’d appreciate your thoughts. If there is anything you would like to add or change please contact us.