Montage Theatre Arts

General information

Who we are and what we do
Montage Theatre Arts (MTA) works with 400 children, adults and older people per week aged 3 – 89 years, with 72% of participants aged 5–25 years and audiences of up to 18,500 per year.

Montage Theatre Arts is a registered charity based in Deptford and works at present primarily within the Borough of Lewisham and has done so since 1998. Within Lewisham, 27% of children under 19 live in households with no adult in employment and which is one of the 20% most deprived in the UK. On average 35% of Montage attendees each year are from low- income families. Many are LAC, LCC, LDD, LC with additional learning, behavioural and medical needs. Currently 55% of participants are black or minority-ethnic in a borough where 43% of the population is BME.

The organisation has a respected track record for offering excellent and vital opportunities for children, young people and adults from the local community and is Lewisham’s only revenue-funded arts organisation in the Brockley Ward.
The core activities excluding stand-alone projects are:
• 30 classes per week over 3 terms for 350 local young people,

• 4 courses per week for over 50 older people with participatory events/shows for 500
• Summer Holiday Programme – 8 courses, 4 weeks for 270 CYP aged 3 – 14 years

• Holiday workshops year-round

• Volunteer programme: recruits, trains and manages 30 young people each year

• 15+ large intergenerational community events annually

• Progression routes: 4 children currently in NT’s Emil and the Detectives and Matilda. MTA students have achieved full-time places at Tring Park School, Brit School, Royal Central School, Trinity/Laban Dance Centre, Lewisham College and Greenwich Theatre’s Musical Theatre Course.

• Annual participation in national, regional and local performance events including UDANCE, National Theatre Connections, Lewisham People’s Day

• Youth Committee/Peer-led projects

• MTA provides 10 classes for 170 under 5’s each week in singing, dance and drama

• the use of local facilities: schools, college, church, community centre

• Supporters: 18,500 people attended MTA activities in 2011/1218,500 people attended MTA activities as participants and audiences, including Music For Youth, Cultural Olympiad Opening Ceremony, Southbank Centre, UDance - Sadler’s Wells, QEH.