Polka Theatre has announced that 9,000 free tickets will be made available to schools during the 2025–26 academic year as part of its long-running Curtain Up! scheme.
Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Curtain Up! is a pioneering subsidised ticket programme that has provided over 76,000 free tickets to schools across more than 20 boroughs since its launch in 1994.
The initiative, supported initially by The Vivien Duffield Foundation and now by The Garek Trust and other donors, aims to remove financial and logistical barriers for schools, particularly those with high numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For many children, a visit to Polka Theatre marks their first experience of live performance. The Wimbledon-based venue is dedicated to producing theatre for children aged 0–12.
Lynette Shanbury, Executive Director at Polka, said:
“A positive experience for a young child will set the tone for their relationship with theatre for the rest of their life – that fact hasn’t changed in 30 years! Polka has led the way in children’s theatre for decades – we were the first to pioneer this kind of scale of free theatre tickets for schools, the first to introduce what are now widely known as Relaxed Performances, and the first to expansively offer work for the very youngest. It is urgent that we keep finding ways to bring theatre into children’s lives – schools are the perfect partners to make this possible, so we need to find a way to work together to give children this opportunity. Otherwise, we are going to see generations of children grow up without creative confidence, without vital life-skills and without even knowing that theatre can be part of their lives.”
Polly Simmonds, Head of Creative Learning, added:
“Theatre has a transformative and lasting impact on children’s lives. We know the incredible change theatre can make to children’s wellbeing, their ambitions and their futures. Schools are struggling financially and organisationally to bring children to the theatre, so through Curtain Up! we remove the financial barrier.
Celebrating 30 years of the scheme is an incredible achievement and we are so pleased to be able to give away a further 9,000 free tickets over the next academic year. Enabling children to attend the theatre, often for the very first time, is integral to Polka’s mission – empowering children to navigate their world through inspirational theatre and creative experiences.”
In addition to free tickets, participating schools can receive travel subsidies, post-show Q&A sessions with creatives, and classroom resources linked to the productions.
Last year’s Curtain Up! schools reported that 42.2% of their pupils were eligible for Free School Meals, 51.3% spoke English as an Additional Language, and 60.8% were from Global Majority backgrounds.
Feedback from schools has been overwhelmingly positive, with many highlighting the life-changing impact of the experience on their students.
More information can be found here
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