Performance in the Pub is a regular pay-what-you-can night of solo, DIY and punk performance put on in the gig-space of a pub in the heart of Leicester. I set it up and run it as an experiment in response to a lack of innovative programming in the larger venues in the city, and an attempt to connect with the thriving DIY and gig culture already inhabiting Leicester. PitP reaches out to entirely new audiences in an accessible, entertaining but still provocative way. The pay-what-you-can model in particular reaches out to first-timers, and reflects a shift in other creative spheres (influenced by digital models in particular) in the relationship between artists and audiences.
Previous acts have included award-winning performers such as Chris Thorpe and Hannah Walker, Third Angel, Laura Mugridge, Kieran Hurley, Victoria Melody, Tassos Stevens and Daniel Bye. Event donations average just over £5 and the event tends to break even.
The night has provoked an incredibly warm reaction along current and entirely new theatre-goers, as well as receiving regular mentions in Lyn Gardner’s Theatre Tips. This quote, in particular, from a local gig-goer, sums up the audience makeup and reaction; “I’m not a theatre goer *at all* and it’d normally be something I find intimidating, but @performancepub proved…that there’s more to theatre than stuffy pantomime and shakespeare and it can be all kinds of entertaining & provocative =)” – @frivolousshrig, on Twitter.
Follow @performancepub on Twitter, click here for the facebook, and check out performanceinthepub.co.uk for up-to-date news and for tickets for the next event.