Evaluation Report

Phyllida Shaw, November 2007

3. The legacy

This report has been written two months after the last performance and it is too soon to know what even the medium-term impact of the project might be. In the short term, The Novocastrian Philosophers’ Club has left a useful legacy.

It has helped to strengthen the working relationship between the Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute as they develop their ideas for a North East Institute.

Both organisations may now be more inclined to take risks with their programming of public events. The Lit & Phil now has a premises licence and is now able to host and promote a wider range of events.

The Lit & Phil recorded a slight increase in membership numbers during and following the production, which may be attributable to people’s greater awareness of the organisation, either as a result of seeing the production or reading about it.

It has established a creative relationship between the Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute and Northern Stage and engaged directly with the Northern Stage Performance Group, several of whose members are keen to maintain a relationship with the host organisations.

The Northern Stage Performance Group had a positive experience of working with a professional production team and attracted positive reviews for their work.

The Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute each acquired a commissioned work of art, made by Nicola Gartland and Anna Hedworth of xsite culture (a ‘box book’ larger than, but similar to, those received by every audience member).

A set of photographs, commisioned by xsite culture, by Sally Ann Norman are on public sale and are available for reproduction by the Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute for promotional purposes.

It produced a resonant and popular theatrical event which, perhaps because it was seen by fewer than 500 people, was site specific and cannot be replicated elsewhere (i.e. it had rarity value) is likely to have secured a place in Newcastle’s theatrical folklore.

This evaluation has identified a number of factors that have resulted in the success of the project in achieving its objectives. Chief among these are:

• the care taken by the Lit & Phil, the Mining Institute, Northern Stage and the producer to identify individual and shared objectives;
• the support for the project from the Presidents of the Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute;
• the day-to-day involvement in the project of senior staff: notably the Librarian of the Lit & Phil and the Development Director of the North East Institute;
• the care taken by the producer and her team to facilitate clear communication between the different parties and to address issues immediately they arose;
• the skill, experience and size of the professional ensemble;
• the structure and balance of the production, enabling every member of the company to feature at some point during the performance.
• the flexibility to allow the director, the producer and others to participate in some performances, in character, giving them a different kind of perspective on their work and creating variety for the core players.
• the professionalism and conviction of the Performance Group, blurring the line between the professional and non-professional actors.
• the commissioning of xsite culture artists Nicola Gartland and Anna Hedworth to make the afternoon tea installation in the Committee Room (see www.sallyannnorman.com/xsite/lp/), the books in the form of gift boxes and the permanent works for the Lit & Phil and the Mining Institute.
• a web presence (www.novocastrianphilosophersclub.co.uk) linked to the Lit & Phil’s website, which strengthened the company’s sense of identify and acted as a high-quality promotional tool for the production.
• the length of the run, which gave critics time to review it and potential audience members time to read reviews and buy tickets.

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