Crowdfunder launched

Two performers have launched a crowdfunding campaign to establish a permanent home for improv in Brighton.

Heather Urquhart and Jules Munns are part of the city’s well-established Maydays troupe, who also founded the AndAlso company.

They are now planning a new space in the heart of  the city with four training studios, an office, podcast facilities and a black box theatre.

While they are in the last stage of negotiation for a ten-year lease on suitable premises, they are asking supporters to help raise money for building work, lighting and sound equipment and other fees.

Already they have raised more than half the £10,000 they are seeking.

On their video on crowdfunding website IndieGogo, Urquhart said: ‘We love improv so much, and we've been doing it a long time. We've dedicated our lives to it because we think it brings benefits to so many people outside of performance. It helps with confidence, creativity, friendships, well-being, you name it, and what we want to do is spread the love that we have for improv with as many people as possible.’

‘Which is why we're opening our own place in the centre of Brighton,’ Munns added. ‘We’re going to call it The Ampersand, which is the grown up fancy name for an "&" symbol, and it's going to allow us to research and teach our classes and to do improv in spaces which are purpose-built for that rather than being maths classrooms, which is what we use at the moment.’

Munns previously ran a successful campaign to raise £6,000 to set up The Nursery improv theatre in London, 

Earlier this year, the Bristol Improv Theatre was saved from closure after attracting more than £25,000 in crowdfunding, while London’s Hoopa improv raised almost £10,000 to keep going after the pandemic.

The Ampersand is set to open at 12-14 Church Street, Brighton – next to the NCP Theatres car park – soon.

Published: 8 Nov 2024