What in the name of Zequs?

21 March 2014...
On the same day we have had some rather disappointing news (we have had a rejection letter for funding from the Arts Council) we have decided to adopt a new attitude; just thinking 'We can', means just that.

A big part of making theatre, it seems, is about learning to be rejected but to keep soldiering on, despite feeling that the world is against you, that no one cares about your work or believes it has any value.

'Other Projects Preferred' is an extremely vague statement, and with the restructuring of the arts council due to cuts, it is hard to get more helpful explanative feedback.

'Hi, we were wondering if we could get some feedback on our bid?'
'Hi there, we don't really do that anymore. What did your rejection letter say?'
'Other projects preferred?'
'Oh, ok. That means that your bid was good, but there are limited funds, and other projects were preferred'
'Is there anything we can do to change the bid to make it seem more appealing?'
'Not really. It's a lottery at the end of the day. It depends who is on the board, and what they think is more urgent. You could put it back in again as it is and it might get funded next time'

Really? Is that our future? We might be ok? We might be preferred next time?

That's a bit too risky for us. Risky and uncertain.

We can't be reliant on public funding.
Being realistic about the future of the arts, and the arts council we need to be independent.

Over the next few weeks we will be updating you with new ideas for sustainable practice, whilst staying true to our passion for making work and our mission as a company. We will welcome your feedback, and appreciate any ideas you might have.
It's important that we make this pretty little four year old company into something that will be around for years to come, regardless of the financial status of UK funding bodies.

We are in the middle of a fundraising campaign to help take our mental health awareness piece House of Tragic She far and wide.

Added to the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe festivals we are also set to perform at the Love Arts Festival, The Northern Ireland Mental Health Music and Film Festival, The Scottish Mental Health Music and Film Festival.

Currently we are taking this show all over the country without any help from any funding bodies, but with the wonderful support in kind of some inspirational and generous organisations: York Saint John University, York Theatre Royal, Stage@Leeds, Hoot Creative Arts, Slung Low, York Mind and Out of Character.

We are also crowd funding http://www.zequs.com/campaign/house-of-tragic-she#.UyywAc9FDIV to help us afford to do this.

We are aware that many of our beautiful friends and supporters have already been more than generous over the last year, parting with their hard earned cash to help us make this thing happen.

As a last push we would ask that you might be able to share information about our campaign to as many people as you possibly can. It's a 30 day campaign with a £1,000 target.

Any gesture is welcome, the smallest donation makes a big difference.

With all our love and gratitude for your support,

The Lips
Over and Out.