Newcastle Theatre Royal And Lumo Launch Partnership To Connect More People With The North East
Newcastle Theatre Royal and Lumo have announced a new partnership built on a shared belief in the power of connection. Together, the two organisations aim to attract more people to experience the North East's vibrant cultural offer, while creating new opportunities for local talent and stories to reach audiences far beyond the region.
Through the partnership, Lumo colleagues will benefit from exclusive theatre discounts and offers, while both organisations explore opportunities to champion the North East as a place where creativity, culture and opportunity thrive.
As an independent charity operating without regular public subsidy, Newcastle Theatre Royal welcomes more than 300,000 visitors each year. Alongside presenting world-class productions, the theatre invests in creative engagement programmes, community partnerships and talent development initiatives that help create opportunities for people across the region.
The partnership reflects a shared ambition to strengthen the connections that help communities, businesses and creative talent flourish, whether that means bringing new audiences into Newcastle or helping North East stories and artists reach wider platforms.
Marianne Locatori, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal, said:
"We're delighted to be partnering with Lumo, another organisation that believes in the potential of the North East.
"Every year, people travel to Newcastle Theatre Royal to experience world-class productions, while our creative engagement work helps develop the next generation of talent closer to home.
"We want more people to visit our city, experience the incredible cultural offer we have here and discover the creativity and talent that exists across the region. This partnership will help us do exactly that."
Richard Salkeld, Director of Communications & Partnerships, Lumo, said:
"A theatre and a railway are both about bringing people together and opening up experiences. We want people from outside the region to come here, discover its culture, meet its people and see what makes it special.
"But those connections work both ways. The North East of England has extraordinary stories, talent and businesses, and we want to help them reach new audiences and opportunities within and beyond the region.
"This isn't just an off-the-shelf partnership. It's a celebration of our shared passion for the region."
Newcastle Theatre Royal is committed to ensuring people from all backgrounds can access and participate in the arts. Through programmes including its long-standing partnership with West End Schools' Trust (WEST), the theatre helps young people experience live performance, build confidence and explore pathways into creative careers. Recent productions such as Our Friends in the North have highlighted both the strength of creative talent in the region and the appetite for stories rooted in the North East.
By working together, Newcastle Theatre Royal and Lumo hope to create even more opportunities to showcase the region's people, places and potential to audiences both in the city and beyond.
The partnership marks the beginning of a longer-term relationship between the two organisations, with ambitions to explore future initiatives that support audiences, communities and the continued growth of the North East's cultural and creative sector.
