Current Fundraising
We are very excited to be fundraising for a magical new film to partner our 2023 live show, The Song of Home.
The Song of Home was a live promenade performance that we created in partnership with English Heritage. The performance was free-of-charge, and took place on 17th December 2023. We hit 80% of our maximum capacity for this intimate show, which took place in four venues across Abbotsbury, including the iconic St Catherine’s Chapel.
In light of the cost of living crisis, we wanted this festive event to be open to everyone, regardless of their income - this is why we didn’t charge for tickets! We were absolutely blown away by the generosity of local people, trusts, and audience members who participated in our appeal and enabled the performance to take place.
The next step for us is to produce a short, stand-alone film based on the live show… but with lots of exciting new material! The purpose of the film is to reach those with access issues who could not attend the performance, and to ensure that people further afield are able to enjoy the work of the fantastic artists involved - this is not just a film of the live performance, but its own artistic product!
We started work in December 2023 with the filmmaker Christopher Braime of Studio Falkland Lodge. As well as two public screenings, we plan to distribute the film to Dorset care homes in Christmas 2024.
We now only have £6,000 to raise, so you can be sure than even a tiny contribution can make a huge difference to us!
“Thank you again for the most wonderful performance. We absolutely loved it, the voices, the locations [and] the story!”
What does Outland do?
We perform music theatre in rural places
We promote ‘endangered myths’ from the places and communities where we perform, celebrating UK heritage and keeping the oral tradition alive!
We create work with and for local people and communities
We bring professional musicians outside of London in a bid to decentralise arts provision!
We want our work to generate excitement about the arts, encourage community cohesion, and reduce rural isolation.
We are a registered charity (No. 1194099)!
“…this project is distinctive in aligning opera with oral cultures and site-specific performance in a way that should be both artistically innovative and will serve the need for cultural access in less populated areas of the country.”
Why is our work so important?
We work in places with lower access to the arts than elsewhere in the country - Outland Opera has found that, amongst those whom we have already engaged through our initial R&D work, most have never seen an opera, with over 60% saying that they need to travel for an hour or more to access arts events.
Arts access makes people healthier and happier - The cultural, economic, and mental health benefits of arts engagement are well-documented (Harter, 2007; Hibbin, 2016; Tilden, 2014). The most recent data shows that 1 in 5 people in Dorset are at risk of loneliness, which is expected to increase in the next 20 years. Loneliness increases the risk of mortality by between 26%-50%. It also increases the likelihood of developing of coronary heart disease, stroke, and dementia, for which loneliness is as severe a risk factor as diabetes, hypertension and physical inactivity. By placing physical community at the heart of our work, we provide opportunities for people to meet each other and work together, reinforcing a sense of belonging and community cohesion. Promoting local history and stories highlight a common experience for members of the community: that they all share a love for the same place.
“I just want to say how much we enjoyed the evening, especially the stories of the old days - they really opened up the village for us in a way that’s not been possible before”
What would we spend your money on?
People: 90% of the money that Outland receives is spent on paying our arts professionals a living wage - that’s our singers, composers, writers, designers and instrumentalists! It’s becoming more and more difficult for artists to earn a living in the UK… and we think that’s really sad! Not least because without professional artists producing professional-quality work, the rest of us can’t enjoy the proven benefits associated with better arts provision.
Post-production: We’re excited to say that our film is already half-way to being produced! We shot the initial scenes whilst our performers were on site at Abbotsbury in December 2023. We are now looking for additional funding to cover filming, editing and sound design for the film
Public screenings: Before making the film available online, we will host a film screening in Dorset at a local arts centre. A second screening will then take place in London.
Care Home screenings: In rural locations, many elderly people are living on a low-middle income and can be extremely isolated. Accessing the arts can be very challenging due to disability or a lack of access to transport. This group is often also digitally excluded, which means they are unlikely to access our work online. We will therefore plan a series of, at least three, care home screenings in Dorset with an accompanying live concert performance from one of the performers included in the film.
“The creative exercises really made me believe that I could write something myself - very clever!””
