Venturing behind the stage curtains with Monique Foulger

Monique Foulger works as an associate producer at Opera Holland Park, as well as being a founding member of InGiving. In this episode Monique delves into how she got into the world of opera, the magic of creating spectacular theatre performances, and how a short work experience became a full-time job.

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Transcript

Matt: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome back to a new series of the teach, inspire, create podcast. I'm your host, Matt Mosley, [00:00:15] chief examiner for art and design at UAL Awarding Body. Each episode, I speak to artists and creative industry leaders about their experience of teaching and being taught. Who or what inspires them and we explore creativity in their work with the hope of [00:00:30] showing you that there are infinite ways to be creative in the arts.

Matt: Today, my guest is Monique Foulger. She works as an associate producer at Opera Holland Park, as well as being a founding member of InGiving. In this episode I'm going to be [00:00:45] talking to Monique about how she got into the world of opera, the magic of creating spectacular theatre performances, and how a short work experience became a full-time job.

Matt: There is a transcript available for this episode. Please click the link in the episode description [00:01:00] so you can read as you listen. 

Matt: Hello Monique. Thank you ever so much for joining us on the Teach, Inspire, Create podcast today.

Monique: Hello! Thanks for having me.

Matt: Well, we're super grateful for you being here. We usually start off the [00:01:15] podcast by asking people a little bit about where creativity kind of first came into their life.

Matt: Do you have a particular memory or a moment?

Monique: I think I grew up in a fairly creative family. An [00:01:30] artsy sort of environment, but not particularly theatre-y. So I can't remember specifically when I started going to the theatre, but I know that at some point I really fell in love with it. And I think the good thing at that [00:01:45] time, when I was doing GCSE drama and A level dramas, we went to so many shows on school trips, um, which was really nice and I think over that period of seeing such a variety of shows, I just completely [00:02:00] fell in love with it. So it's probably as a teenager where that love really came in.

Matt: Was there a standout show? Was there one that you saw that you can sort of remember thinking, actually, this is something I'd like to do.

Monique: Yeah, there was a show that really sticks out in my mind. I was probably 16/17. So yeah, it was a show called 365 at the Lyric Hammersmith. And I remember it really well because it was maybe the first thing I had seen that was quite gritty. So it was about a group of teenagers leaving the [00:02:30] care system I think and there was just one scene where there was a little single bed in a grotty flat and someone got out of it and then like 40/50 people also got out of the bed. So they must have come through a trapdoor and [00:02:45] I remember that being the first bit of stage magic that I'd seen that just blew my mind and has stuck with me ever since. [There are] all these hundreds of shows I've seen but that was the first time I thought, look at what you can do on a stage right with no [00:03:00] special effects!

Matt: So at the time, did you then think you were going to head down the performative side of things?

Monique: I'm not sure. I really liked performing for fun. I don't think I'd ever thought I'm going to be an actor. When I went [00:03:15] to university, I think I chose to study drama and theatre studies because I just loved it. I loved watching it, I loved reading plays, and I liked performing, but I don't think that was ever the main goal from what I remember and I don't think I had a career in [00:03:30] mind going into university.

Matt: So you just wanted to be in the environment in and amongst it.

Monique: Yeah.

Matt: And so what was your next step? So you did A level drama and then you went on to do a degree?

Monique: Yep. So then I [00:03:45] went to university of Kent and did drama and theatre studies, which at the time was this four year course, which is in between a BA and a master's called an M Dram, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore, but university of [00:04:00] Kent was so brilliant.

Monique: You did those three years and you chose what you would do in that final year. And there was standup comedy, directing, physical theatre, dramaturgy, all sorts of things. And I chose [00:04:15] something called creative producing, which is understanding theatre as a business. And that was something that hadn't crossed my mind, more practical stuff. And it just really interested me. And so I did that [00:04:30] and then it was obvious to me that working in arts administration and producing was definitely something I was going to do.

Matt: What's dramaturgy?

Monique: Yeah, dramaturgy. I tried to do dramaturgy, and not enough people chose it, so they called it off that year, which worked out [00:04:45] well for me.

Monique: Dramaturgy, it's like doing all the research and the historical background and understanding a piece. So, if you did a play that's very specifically set in the Napoleonic War or something, you'd have a [00:05:00] dramaturge really, you know, delve deep into making it accurate.

Matt: Yeah, to give it a realistic context?

Monique: Yeah.

Matt: And I'm interested in what you were saying about the sort of entrepreneurial element of the course and the arts in general because I think [00:05:15] sometimes that's something that's maybe overlooked in creative courses. How important is it do you think for students and young performers artists to develop those attributes in themselves?

Monique: I think it's really important. Thinking that the arts is just a [00:05:30] fun, frivolous thing that drains money and has no purpose is not helpful. And I think, yeah, studying drama and all the focus being on being a good performer or having artistic opinion on something. It's [00:05:45] important to develop good artists, but you have to also understand about how the business works because it is a business, a massive business, especially in London that's thriving.

Monique: And I see all these people now working with freelancers who don't understand about doing their [00:06:00] own tax or how to market themselves. And so even the people who are coming out as actors, they need to have this understanding, I think of business ideas and how to sustain themselves.

Matt: So what's a good way for a sort of young [00:06:15] performer to get some experience in that just literally putting on shows and trying to market them, sell tickets.

Monique: Yeah, I think that's tough. 

Matt: That would be pretty terrifying to me, I think. Yeah.

Monique: Yeah. But we do have that. I think in the pandemic, a lot of singers, [00:06:30] on my side of the business started wanting to do their own stuff, just create some work. So they all turned producer to do these things.

Monique: And once or twice I've had great conversations with them where they've said, wow, there's so much more to this than I realised. [00:06:45] 

Matt: Yeah, it’s not as easy as I thought.

Monique: Which is great! ‘Cause maybe we don't make it look difficult, which is good. But also I was like, that's good for you to know that when you turn up on day one to rehearsal, so much work has gone into getting to that point.[00:07:00] And it just gives them a bit of context about the industry they work in.

Matt: There's just so many different roles involved in putting on a production. I mean, we could skip forward now maybe to just talking a little bit about what production is. What is a [00:07:15] producer in a performance art piece?

Monique: Yeah, I would say a producer is someone who brings together artists, all the strands, to sort of facilitate the creatives to make the art. [00:07:30] So starting from a blank sheet of paper, we choose the shows we're going to do. And from that, we book a director, conductor, designer, lighting designer, the team, all the chorus in an opera is a lot of [00:07:45] people. And then the more logistical things.

Monique: So rehearsal rooms, pianos, piano tunings, drawing up the schedule, starting with a budget. How are we going to afford it? If you were in a smaller [00:08:00] scale team or you're a single producer, you'd be literally raising the money as well, putting in applications. We're a bigger team, so there's a department which does that, but we still need to make sure our books balance and our productions make financial [00:08:15] sense. It's all of those elements. And then as you move nearer to the production starting, so for us, because we're a summer festival, around this time of the year is when we'll meet with directors and designers and talk through their concept ideas and greenlight them or [00:08:30] not. But we start to have those creative discussions, set up costume arrangements and sort fittings, sort of all these logistical things that have to happen so that everyone else can turn up on day one and just do their thing.

Matt: [00:08:45] And what does the producer do when the performance is actually on them because obviously you've you know, you've worked incredibly hard. Do you get to sit back and enjoy it or are there more duties for a producer to do during that period?

Monique: In theory, I'd say the job should be done. [00:09:00] 

Matt: Right, yeah. 

Monique: It's never really done. I think the summer is a really busy time. It's kind of, I say, firefighting as issues are coming up all the time. So, we're very present in the rehearsal room. If someone has been [00:09:15] struggling a little bit, either vocally or physically, personally or there's personality clashes, or chronic lateness or anything and then it's just keeping on top of everything, and yeah, illness [00:09:30] and jump ins, people having to sing that evening when they weren't meant to.

Matt: And you mentioned as well about choosing pieces to perform. I mean is there a criteria for that? How do you make those [00:09:45] decisions?

Monique: So, our season is normally four or five new productions, and we like to balance it out so it's two that are just definitely going to sell.

Monique: We're not going to have to put in too much stress about marketing it. And so they'll be two really [00:10:00] well known pieces. And then the others, there's a bit more flexibility to do something a bit more interesting, a bit more creative. In 2023, we commissioned our first ever main stage opera. So that was expensive to do.

Monique: And it was a new piece. We didn't know [00:10:15] how it would go. So it was taking a big risk on that. But it's more interesting. It had more appeal for a younger audience because it was based on a young adult fiction book. And so I think it's just creating a season that's really balanced. Different [00:10:30] languages, different amount of popularity of a piece.

Matt: You have to have that outward facing perspective of, you know, keeping an eye on what's happening in society and culture and trying to put things on that you think will resonate [00:10:45] with people that people want to go to.

Monique: Yeah, I would say so. And especially with operas, hundreds of years old art form, and it gets a reputation for being stuck in those years and not updating itself.

Monique: So it's [00:11:00] a big responsibility for everyone working in the industry now to make it fresh and interesting, which is why commissioning new works is really important. But there are certainly some pieces that now you would be more [00:11:15] careful to produce. I think there are some that have a worldview that doesn't match up with us now or how it portrays people from other countries.

Monique: And so there are people who were just refusing to [00:11:30] put on those works or there are people that are sort of updating the lens that we're telling the story through. So it's acknowledging that it still existed, it was written and the music is lovely, but the story's problematic, but how do we address that head on?

Matt: Well, it's great that you're commissioning new [00:11:45] work as well, though. You can't, I mean, it would be a negative opera just to forever, you know, repeat the same catalogue of material, wouldn't it?

Monique: Yeah.

Matt: So if we wind back to you, yeah, so you are at Kent completing your fourth year. [00:12:00] You mentioned that you had the opportunity to select classes. How important is that for a young person looking to study performing arts at HE about choosing the right course?

Monique: I think it's [00:12:15] important, especially in drama and theatre studies and probably the same in music and all the arts probably, is that you can really choose such different routes to go down. So when I went in my first year, I know that I picked a real [00:12:30] range of things.

Monique: I remember specifically a physical theatre module that was really out there. I mean, people joke about drama students just pretending to be trees all the time, but it was really conceptual, you know, [00:12:45] using your body to tell stories. And that wasn't really for me, but other people loved it. And then I did other really interesting ones like the history of American playwriting and later on in the degree was [00:13:00] definitely things like learning how to critique and things like that.

Monique: So it's really, really varied between quite academic and studying and more practical things. And so I would say anyone interested in doing drama and theatre [00:13:15] studies should really look at what a course can offer and the variety. And I think the variety is good and that's why I really enjoyed my time there.

Monique: It's because I got to do so many different things that at the end honed in on one thing that I really [00:13:30] liked and was good at and I think they can vary as well. Some of them, if it's just a drama course, it's likely to be really practical and just a theatre studies course. It's likely to be much more theoretical. So it's doing the research.

Matt: So you're looking for something [00:13:45] with that range so that you could make a decision about your direction.

Monique: Yeah, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

Matt: Yeah.[00:14:00] So now you've got that focus. How do you go from university to work, how did that happen for you?

Monique: I had a very lucky story, which I think [00:14:15] does happen in the arts. There's a lot of right place, right time with meeting people and finding work. But actually, in that fourth year at Kent, every week I think someone came in to speak to us.

Monique: My current boss, James, came in and spoke to [00:14:30] us in my fourth year. And he talked about producing, and I still really remember his talk, because he did something really interesting about casting. And I asked him if I could come and do a work placement, and I did a three [00:14:45] week work placement, which then turned into me coming to help for one summer season, which then in September, I got offered a production assistant job and I’ve been there ever since.

Matt: You say, I mean, you mentioned that [00:15:00] it's lucky, but you've had the tenacity to have that conversation, to be that student that sort of puts your hand up to say, I'd like to know more. Can I come and spend some time with you? I mean, how important is that to [00:15:15] network and to kind of put yourself at the front of the queue?

Monique: I think it's really important. I think it's a lot about personalities and who you like working with. And in the, in our summer season it's so busy and intense that you want people that you really [00:15:30] trust and you think get the ethos of the company. So we have lots of people coming to do work experience and we have a more formal internship program now and the people who stand out, you remember for a long time and then when you are looking for someone to come and do some [00:15:45] extra work or you've got a job vacancy, they're the front of your mind.

Monique: So I think getting out and shadowing or doing work experience is important in this industry.

Matt: One of the barriers that people often find is experience breeds [00:16:00] experience. If you can get your first bit of experience and sometimes you can get that momentum, but is there anything that people can do? If they are right at the start of it and they're just looking for their first opportunity, are there things that they can do to make [00:16:15] themselves stand out more to you?

Monique: I just think someone who's done their research and is enthusiastic will come a long, long way. So, if I get an email that's quite clearly a cut and paste, hi, I'm looking [00:16:30] for some work experience. You know, I just assume that's been sent to every single theatre and opera company in London. If I get one that says, Dear Monique, I've read about Opera in the Park, it sounds really interesting  [00:16:45] I'd love to hear more. Instantly you think, okay, they've spent two extra seconds. 

Matt: Yeah, doing a bit of a Google. 

Monique: Yeah, and it's amazing how many people don't do that, I think.

Matt: Right, that's interesting.

Monique: And even just, yeah, if you're going to really do your research, [00:17:00] look up a production that they've done, look at some images, try and see a show if you can, but I know that's got more of a cost barrier.

Monique: But I think just showing that you care and you're enthusiastic is going to go such a long way for the person reading it.

Matt: And with that in mind about [00:17:15] the cost of theatre tickets and that type of thing, are there cost effective ways that people can engage with theatre that maybe don't involve necessarily having to come to London and paying a West End theatre ticket price?

Monique: Hmm, [00:17:30] I would say that most theatres have accessible tickets, and how you find out about them is by researching, I suppose. So, I think it's really common now for everyone to have some sort of [00:17:45] accessible scheme. So I know we do free tickets for under 18s, and they get a free ticket for a parent to come with them as well.

Monique: And we have an under 30 scheme where they're quite discounted tickets. But you wouldn't know about it unless you went on the website and looked it up. So I think [00:18:00] looking up the theatres that you admire and seeing what they do. And other than that, those live cinema showings that are massive now, the national theatres, at home things and even online, I think on YouTube you can definitely find [00:18:15] operas. Loads of full scale, full production operas just on YouTube.

Matt: Yeah. No, that's good advice. Has opera actively identified that as a way to try and reach a younger audience, do you think? 

Monique: I think so. But it's still really expensive [00:18:30] to do to get it filmed. And then also to get all the permissions from everyone involved. The orchestra, the chorus, all the singers. It's not something that we would do, personally. But it's, yeah, the Royal Opera House and the Met they're [00:18:45] big companies that do that. And I think it's yeah, a good way to reach a totally new audience or just a more rural audience or the Met, they're based in the States so no one here is going to go [00:19:00] and see their shows. So that's capitalizing on a whole ready made audience that's not going to come live. So it's a smart business decision as well, I think, but definitely also, I think it will have reached a younger audience who maybe want to try it [00:19:15] out but wouldn't commit to going and see a full show.

Matt: What do sort of young people and teenagers say when they see their first opera? Do you ever get that kind of feedback?

Monique: Yeah, we do. We have a yearly schools matinee now, which is really lovely. So, [00:19:30] one show each year is just an auditorium full of kids and it's quite amazing actually. At the end, every single year without fail, they get full standing ovations, screaming and [00:19:45] clapping.

Monique: It's amazing. And the singers, they say, this is the only time I'm ever going to get that Beyonce treatment. I feel like an actual rock star.

Matt: A rock star. Superstar, yeah. 

Monique: Which is cool because they don't normally get that. And the kids, yeah, they just love it. The [00:20:00] performers always come out and chat to them afterwards.

Monique: And we do proper, more formal feedback as well from them. But it's amazing how many of them will say, I thought I'd hate it and I liked it. I really followed the story even though it's not in English and [00:20:15] it's sometimes quite convoluted stories sometimes. They really follow along and they're normally primary school kids but some secondary as well.

Monique: But the primary school children really don't have the preconceptions maybe that the adults have which [00:20:30] is just assuming that they won't like opera at all when they've never seen it.

Matt: It's irresistible isn't it that the incredible power of an opera singer in sort of full flow. It's like sort of nothing else really, isn't it?[00:20:45] Do you have a favourite opera?

Monique: That's a good question. I [00:21:00] Yeah, it changes all the time and I think when I'm working on one I just really fall in love with it, hear the music all the time and get really into it.

Matt: Because opera wasn't your first sort of theatrical love, was it? 

Monique: No, I'm very, I keep saying I'm new to opera, but I've been in it for [00:21:15] 11 years, but it feels new to me. I love the some of the Russian and Czech repertoire. I think they're like most Luscious, big romantic sounds. It's just really beautiful. So Eugene Onyegin, [00:21:30] Tchaikovsky. I loved that one. And then the big classics the, like, Puccini and Verdi do gorgeous music. I'd say Eugene Onyegin was probably my favourite.

Matt: And what about theatre? What about [00:21:45] wider? Do you have a standout sort of play or a musical theatre piece?

Monique: I grew up listening to Les Mis, which I love. It's so great. I've seen that a few times. And [00:22:00] theatre, it's interesting, when I go to see theatre I'm much more interested in seeing something I don't know at all, so I like new writing, or just something I haven't seen. Quite different because I think in opera I would know a piece that I like and that would [00:22:15] form a reason to go to it, whereas less so with theatre.

Matt: Yeah. That's interesting. Does seeing new things inform your producer work do you find?

Monique: Yeah, definitely. 

Matt: So is it important to stay contemporary and current?

Monique: Yeah, [00:22:30] definitely. And it's really nice because in our team, if someone's gone to see something and they loved the lighting design or the choreography, we'll make a note of who that person was. And it's good to just see who's out there in terms of creatives and,  [00:22:45] what's being made and I would say what's really important is to just know what's going on and what state the industry is in and who's in the audience and how well things are selling and I think keeping on top of all of that is important as well [00:23:00].

Matt: You describe Opera Holland Park as a place, what it's like.

Monique: Yeah, so we're in Holland Park, which is in Kensington, which is a really nice park and every summer we build a temporary [00:23:15] theatre on the ruins of a house that was bombed in the war. So it's a really old house and we put a stage in front of it.

Monique: So the backdrop is the house and it's covered with a [00:23:30] big canopy. It seats about 850 people underneath it. So it's covered, but it's got open sides. And the whole site – I think it feels quite festival-y, so we've got bars that are made out of shipping [00:23:45] containers, and it's really green, and on a gorgeous sunny day when you've got a drink and you're just hanging out on the grounds listening to some opera, it's a really nice place to be. Less so when it's raining.

Matt: Yeah, it's lovely that it's open air though, isn't it? When you're producing, does that affect [00:24:00] how you might design the performance?

Monique: Yes, definitely. Because if you have just a black box theatre, you can do anything with it. But we're really affected by the natural light. So, it doesn't get dark until [00:24:15] halfway through our performances, which is really interesting, actually.

Monique: And that's something that designers and lighting designers have to really work with. And having that house at the back, also, it's either a feature or you can try and cover it. But some of the best shows we've done have used [00:24:30] the old house in the design, which is really interesting. And, yeah, being aware of being outside.

Monique: So there have been some interesting designs that have played on that. So we have set the piece maybe in a London park and it [00:24:45] makes sense. You hear the bird sound, but it's natural. You can't get that in a black box theatre. So, we have four or five shows each summer, and normally two of them open around the same time, at the end of May, and they run in rep with each other, so it'll be [00:25:00] like a Tuesday to Saturday one on one off.

Monique: And then there's a week’s break in the middle which is a lovely pause for everyone and then in the middle of July we open normally our next two shows which again run in rep with each other. So that means [00:25:15] that we have set changes every single day so it's quite tricky for our crew. And also we don't have what most theatres have because we're a site specific space.

Monique: We don't have big machinery that just [00:25:30] brings things on, or a stage that just revolves around, or even much space in our wings to store it. So everything that's built there has to be really specifically done to fit our stage and gets turned around every single day, [00:25:45] and it's quite, quite a big undertaking.

Matt: It's very exciting though, isn't it? I mean it sounds like a really dynamic, energetic kind of place to work. I mean, what are your highlights of your job now?

Monique: I love the variety [00:26:00] of my job. So it changes so much across the year. So now I’ve got quite a normal desk based job in normal work times in the summer. It's a lot more evenings and weekends and it's really sociable and there's people everywhere. And [00:26:15] I'm in the rehearsal room one morning and then I go to the theatre for that evening.

Monique: But I couldn't do that all the year round. So I love that at this time it's more administrative, I'm working through things and also seeing it [00:26:30] go from just the title of an opera that we've decided on to opening night and it's there and it's in front of an audience. I love that process of being involved in creating this thing and every element of it really.

Matt: Thinking about [00:26:45] what you were saying about all the different elements of putting on a production and the complexities and the challenges, do you have a particular production in your mind that you've worked on that has really stuck with you?

Monique: Yes, there are lots of them that have and are really fond [00:27:00] to me.

Monique: But there's one from last year, we did Tosca, which is one of the really well known operas, very well loved. And we updated it to 1960s, which sometimes [00:27:15] audiences don't like because it's, you know, non-traditional or they feel that you're doing something crazy with it. But it was such a great idea that it was set in Italy, with a backdrop of, like, lots of political [00:27:30] unrest, and it looked amazing, and it really worked that updating. There was nothing in the text which went against that setting and the thing I also really loved about it is it had a little Fiat car that is [00:27:45] a big part of the production. Spoiler alert, at the end of the piece she jumps off the castle but in ours she set fire to the car sort of goes up in flames.

Matt: Wow.

Monique: And it [00:28:00] was, how it was done. And so sourcing this car was a big part of my role last year cause it needed to be period. It needed to have the steering wheel on the other side and it [00:28:15] needed to be drivable and movable on stage and it needed to be someone and it needed to be someone who would let us have it at not a crazy price.

Monique: So we found this car dealer, guy who collects [00:28:30] classic cars and he had the perfect one, which looks nice and beaten up like it wasn't box fresh. And he was brilliant as well because he loves opera. I think he was in his late twenties and just started this business with the support of his family [00:28:45] and came along to the shows and really loved it.

Monique: So that stuck in my mind because that was a big coup to finally have the car, which had been playing on our mind for months. And sometimes I see that as a puzzle, you [00:29:00] know.

Matt: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of creative problem solving going on, you know, and lots of different threads all being solved at the same time. I mean, what sort of skills do you think you've developed through [00:29:15] your work as a producer?

Monique: Problem solving is a massive one and one that I really like and I think I've always been a bit of a problem solver anyway. But yeah, being faced with something changing or [00:29:30] quite often we have a scheduling issue, which on paper makes no sense because someone can't be in two places at the same time.

Monique: And I see that as a real challenge, but I really enjoy it as well. And I've honed those skills quite a lot now, I think, where I can [00:29:45] come up with a solution to a problem really quickly and easily. And before announcing to my boss that we have a problem, always coming with solutions. That was a life lesson.

Monique: And other skills. I think being a good communicator, [00:30:00] keeping people in the loop, spotting problems before the problems arise is a big one. And just being really organized because juggling maybe five productions at the same time and having two in rehearsal and two on stage. [00:30:15] And also probably starting to think about what's going on next year and getting contracts out.

Monique: It's just a lot of projects at the same time.

Matt: Are you able to give us any, a story of maybe a challenge that you've faced and solved as a producer?

Monique: When a [00:30:30] director and a designer, they come to us with their first idea for how they want to put on the show. And they do that not with the hat we have on, which is budgets and logistics.

Monique: And there [00:30:45] have been many times when they've wanted to do something that's just not realistic. It's not going to be able to, like I said, be turned around one day on and one day off, or the budget is crazy or the concept, the idea that they've had is [00:31:00] so left field or controversial or something and they're always difficult conversations to have because they can feel quite precious.

Matt: There’s a lot of artistic integrity and things like that involved because they’re very invested in their concepts and their vision on [00:31:15] this.

Monique: It's just being sensitive. 

Matt: I wanted to segue if we can into another [00:31:30] aspect your project your InGiving project. Could you tell us a bit about that?

Monique: So in the pandemic, when I was furloughed and at home with not much to do, and it felt like the world was falling apart, I just wanted to do something positive and I didn't [00:31:45] know what that was going to be.

Monique: And I heard about an existing fundraising initiative called 500 reasons where 500 people each give a pound every week and a committee [00:32:00] chooses where to donate that money and it just sounded like such a simple but effective community fundraising charitable initiative that I wanted to set up my own.

Monique: So it's very much [00:32:15] based on that and it's called InGiving. And when I started it, I spoke to the guy who runs 500 Reasons. He was really supportive about spawning other similar groups. So it's exactly that. It's really [00:32:30] simple that in the bank account, 500 pounds come in and a committee of five of us who are in the group decide where we're going to donate it.

Monique: It will always be an individual or a family or a small charity. So the [00:32:45] idea is that it's somewhere where 500 pounds is going to make a significant difference. So it won't go to a big charity where that's a drop in the ocean. We want it every single donation to feel really impactful. And the [00:33:00] suggestions of where we donated to come from within the 500 people.

Monique: So they send me in suggestions all the time. I've got a list. It's normally about 70things on it that just stays rolling and the committee chooses what [00:33:15] what we want to give to that week. And it's really, really lovely and it's the highlight of my week, every week sort of I write up the email of where it's gone send it around to everyone and it's just really nice.

Matt: Amazing. It's for anyone that's thinking, Oh, [00:33:30] I'd like to give that a go. How do you go about building a community like that? Did you use social media to create the platform? How did you get 500 people together?

Monique: It took a while. Yes. Social media was the big one. I think at first I just posted it on my channels and [00:33:45] probably got 60 people that I know signed up, friends and family. And quite a lot of people in the opera community from that and then it was just asking them to share and trying to use social media as much as [00:34:00] possible, which was really effective. But when I was getting a bit desperate, because I think it took about four months for me to get to 500, I was personally writing to everyone I knew which was a bit intimidating, I think, asking people for [00:34:15] money and your own initiative, but just going through my phone contacts with a cut and paste message of just, I'm doing this thing, it's really great if there's any chance you want to join. 

Matt: I mean, it's a wonderful design because it's such a, what feels like a fairly [00:34:30] nominal amount of money, isn't it? You know, most people can probably spare a pound a week, can't they, to do something. Have you got one or two that kind of really stick in the memory where the money's had a big impact?

Monique: Yeah, so many. There's [00:34:45] been lots of those specific individual stories. But also what I really love is I've discovered all these tiny charities. And one of my favourite ones is called Furnishing Futures. It's this woman who, I think she was an interior designer initially, [00:35:00] and she just helps furnish people's houses, so it could be that someone's moved into a council flat, or their fridge has broken, or anything, and they can't afford to just make a house a home, I think [00:35:15] is her big thing. So it's, maybe they've got the basics, but they haven't got those nice things that make it a nice place to live in. And so she goes and sources furniture. She gets donated things for free and she runs it all on her own. That's just her thing. [00:35:30] And then it's grown to be a small charity. And so I really loved that one.

Matt: That's wonderful. I mean, next time you're short of people, do let me know. I'd love to become a contributor. I wanted to segue quickly back to opera, if we may. [00:35:45] You mentioned that it's hundreds of years old. It's one of those kind of art forms which has become, maybe associated with a slightly elitist community, but it seems like it's conscious in terms of trying to sustain [00:36:00] its presence as a really viable performing arts medium.

Matt: What is opera doing to engage a new younger audience and what do you think it could do if it's not doing that?

Monique: I think, yeah, it has this image problem. So, much [00:36:15] as all of the opera companies are trying really hard to make their ticket prices accessible and get people in, somehow it feels like there's, it's not just a price barrier. It's also this class issue with people just assuming [00:36:30] it's absolutely not for them. I think all the work with Accessible Tickets, the schools’ matinees, getting young people in a massive part of that. And then also diversifying the canon of work we're [00:36:45] producing. So more contemporary stories, things in English and trying to reach out to people by doing different things.

Monique: But the other thing that's a big conversation is the argument about not trying to dumb down what it is, because there [00:37:00] are people thinking, Oh, well, to get young people into opera is to make it less opera. And I just don't think that's doing anyone any favours. So it's still, I think it's really important to still have really high production values, to [00:37:15] still create it on a big scale with full orchestras and chorus and the plush visuals, because that's what is so amazing about opera, is, that trained voice that can hit the back of a 5,000 [00:37:30] seat theatre with unamplified and the way it can make you feel through the music. So I think it's creating new routes to get people in like new works, things in English and accessible tickets. But at its core to [00:37:45] keep what it is alive, I would say.

Matt: And so, just thinking about anybody that might be listening to this who's thinking, oh, I love, I love opera now. What should they do? What would be the first thing to do, do you think?

Monique: I [00:38:00] just think trying to experience as much of it as possible. So, recordings or YouTube videos, like I said. If you can get to any live cinema screenings. And if you can go see it live, that is really amazing. And I would just, yeah, see as much as [00:38:15] you can.

Monique: And then you can formulate your own opinion on what you like, what you don't like. That's the other thing we say is sometimes people see one opera and then they say, I don't like opera. And that's like, yeah, we say that's like going to see a film and saying, I don't like film [00:38:30] because you didn't like that one.

Monique: And you wouldn't do it with other art forms. So opera is a big umbrella term for this style and you should give it more than just one go, I would suggest. And then it's [00:38:45] fine if you hated it. If you saw five and you hated it, fine. But there's a lot of variety within opera and I would encourage people to just give it a listen.

Matt: Be open to things, yeah. 

Monique: Yeah, definitely. And I think it's okay to not like things. My favourite [00:39:00] interview question when I'm interviewing people for jobs is to say, what's something you saw recently a film or a piece a play or a piece of music or whatever. And did you like it or not like it? And [00:39:15] I'm always so much more impressed by how someone can talk about something that they didn't like because it means that they've been open and they formulated an opinion on it.

Monique: And I think that's a person who's been critical and given something a go. [00:39:30] And I think that speaks volumes.

Matt: So every time we have a guest on the podcast, what we like to do is to ask them to offer a provocation or a call to action or something, a thought for our listeners to take away [00:39:45] with them. We just wondered if you had anything in mind that you'd like to offer.

Monique: I've said it a few times over the course of this, but I think just seeing and absorbing as much as you can is a massive one. And being really [00:40:00] critical. So maybe next time you see something live, or even a film, try and look at an aspect of it maybe you haven't considered before. So the costumes, or the lighting, or it could be anything like that, or maybe the [00:40:15] casting. Maybe, oh, that's interesting, why would they cast that person? And I think when you start watching things, really critically is when you can start forming bigger opinions on what you do or you don't like or how you would do something if [00:40:30] you were given the opportunity or what you would change and I think yeah starting to watch things with a critical eye, give that a go.

Matt: Great! Get out there, see some stuff, use your critical lens. I love it 

Monique: Yeah, [00:40:45] 

Matt: Brilliant. Thank you very much. 

Monique: Thank you. Thanks for having me

Matt: Thank you for listening to this episode of Teach, Inspire, Create. Thank you to [00:41:00] Monique for welcoming us into the world of the opera, for giving us an insight into her career, and sharing her journey into being an associate producer. If you want to know more about Monique and her work, you can visit the Opera Holland Park website, [00:41:15] operahollandpark.com. Or if you'd like to know more about InGiving, visit her Instagram @ingiving500. You can find links to these in our episode description. It's great to have you back for this new series. And [00:41:30] if you've enjoyed this podcast, then please subscribe and share with someone else. And please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. It's so helpful to us to understand what you think of the show and how we can keep improving things for you. Thanks for [00:41:45] listening! Until next time, take care.