The two-women team at the helm of a pioneering Scottish arts centre have huge ambitions.
Lesley Davidson and Karen Townsend, co-directors of Beacon Arts Centre, want to uplift deprived communities, champion women's voices, and galvanise the arts in Scotland.
But they have warned that crucial funding is needed to achieve that dream, and continue the important work they are already doing.
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"We want the Beacon to have a name across Scotland," says Karen, who is creative producer at the Greenock venue following an extensive career in Scottish theatre.
"We want to take risks with challenging programming, with young theatre companies," says Lesley, who became general manager after having spent 20 years at Glasgow Citizen's Theatre.
"We want people from Glasgow to come here as well. They wouldn’t think twice about going to Edinburgh for a show. This is only 30 minutes away. We want to put The Beacon on the Scottish map.”
The Beacon is more than a theatre. It's a hub with a mission to provide equal access to the arts in the most deprived area of Scotland.
"This building and our team are a resource for Inverclyde," said Karen, "We are just custodians, it belongs to the people of Inverclyde. We are here to support them.
"An area with an arts hub is a more successful society. It's been proven again and again. It's the quality of people's lives in Inverclyde which does have its challenges."
Lesley says: “Why should they have to go to Glasgow and Edinburgh to see opera or a play? I think it’s important it’s on their doorstep.”
Since opening in 2013, The Beacon has supported the local community and emerging artists with youth theatre, free performance spaces, and outreach and engagement work.
It also nurtures young talent through training programmes, and runs a 'pay it forward' scheme which subsidises the cost of tickets for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to see a show.
The team has plans to help fund the cost of transport, another financial barrier to people accessing theatre, but there's only so much they can do.
Karen said: “We are really concerned if we don’t get an improvement in funding it’s going to be the local people and the creative industry that’s going to suffer.
"It’s got to the stage that we are on the edge at the moment. We can’t deliver any more with the funding we have at the moment.”
Lesley adds: “We have always made it work with the small amount of money we have, but it’s getting to crush point now.
“We have a skeleton staff, a small brilliant staff but that limits things. Every penny is a prisoner, we are pouring over budgets and finances all the time. The cost of living is going through the roof."
They hope they are successful in round two of funding they have applied for with Creative Scotland.
As a charitable organisation, they currently rely on funding from the government body and Inverclyde Council, as well as grants from other foundations and funds.
Another ambition is to continue to champion women in the arts, spotlighting female talent from actors to directors and technical staff.
"It's important we highlight female talent at The Beacon," Lesley says, "There are a lot of projects we would really like to put our weight behind.
"Especially female writers, or all-female casts. It's brilliant to see that and we would like to see more of it."
"We have got a few things in the pipeline, but it's all budget-dependent. We are going to make it happen. It's something we really want to get behind. We are not special, all theatres are struggling right now."
But the pair agree they must be doing something right already to support women in the industry.
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Karen said: "We took a photo of our staff backstage and we realised that actually out of eight crew members, five were female. That's very unusual.
"We also have female directors, assistant directors, deputy stage managers. We're getting something right here."
While the admin side of theatre has always had more women than men, Lesley says the backstage representation of women needs to be "highlighted and improved upon".
"There's a lot of women working in theatre but not a lot of women in senior roles," she says, "I think it's still a male-dominated area.
"People have met me and gone 'Lesley, I thought you were a man'. But there are more and more women in operational roles which I think is great if I say so myself. We are very good at organising."
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Karen says: "It's vastly improving. I think historically there have been some barriers in that senior management role.
"You are expected to be available 24./7. Having to almost pretend you don't have children sometimes. Men don't seem to have that juggling act.
"Luckily this is shifting, and the childcare issue is improving. Instead of being an inconvenience you just manage, I think women are able to be more open about it and say: 'I have this issue, how are we going to solve it?'"
While neither of them say they have faced overt sexism in their careers, Lesley says: "I have come up against men who don’t take you as seriously as you should and you have to prove yourself to them when they don’t have to prove themselves to you. I find that very irritating."
She believes there is still a "long way to go" for women but "it's getting there".
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"I know I have stopped myself going for senior roles in the past," Lesley says, "I hope women don’t do that, I hope they throw their hat in the ring because we are capable.
“One woman particularly championed me and knew I could be under confident. I’m so glad that she did. It really was a boost that kind of mentoring was really good for me.
"I’d always champion women to get themselves an older female mentor in the industry and learn from them.
“You have strong female leads to look up to. I think that’s important. We want to be that for the next generation.”
Find out more about The Beacon Arts Centre at beaconartscentre.co.uk
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