Westacre Theatre

Westacre Theatre is a very special theatre tucked away by a lake in the heart of West Norfolk - and one I've now had the joy of working with for several years, wearing more hats than I can comfortably list in one sentence (but I'll try).

I devise and deliver the marketing and communications strategy for each season, including the "Live by the Lake" Summer season campaign I created to capture exactly what makes Westacre different: theatre, outdoors, by a beautiful lake, unlike anywhere else in the region. From there, the work runs right through the business - writing and designing the theatre brochure, planning and promoting every season of events, creating digital content for individual productions, running Google Ads campaigns, and keeping the booking office website current and working hard.

I write and pitch press releases and manage media relationships, helping Westacre's productions reach audiences well beyond Norfolk - including securing press coverage when their NT Connections production, Fishville, was selected to perform at The Lowry in Manchester. I also planned the theatre's summer launch party, an event designed to bring the community in and the theatre's ambitions to life in one evening.

Alongside the back-of-house work, I write grant and fundraising applications, support the National Bursary Scheme, and lead school outreach and youth engagement - work that matters as much to me as the glossier campaigns, because it's how the theatre builds its next generation of audiences. I also created Westacre's new brand identity, giving the theatre a visual language as distinctive as the work on its stage.

The theatre's social media reach has grown significantly under this work, now reaches an audience of nearly 3K. Westacre continues to build its reputation as a destination theatre in its own right.

Save Us From Extinction | Crowdfunding Campaign

When Westacre needed to fund a major extension to secure its future, I created and led "Save Us From Extinction" - a high-profile crowdfunding campaign with a £500K target. I wrote to the theatre's patron, Sir Stephen Fry, to ask him to lend his voice to the campaign, and then wrote the script he voiced - a genuine career highlight. He said yes to all of it - recording a heartfelt voiceover from my script, which I built a full piece of content around, and sharing the campaign with his, then: 780,000+ Instagram followers.

The campaign sadly didn't reach its original target. Rather than push on regardless, I worked with the theatre to pivot - refocusing the ask on something smaller, achievable and essential: replacing the ageing summer tent that houses Westacre's much-loved outdoor season, an uninsurable structure putting £40,000 of annual income and the theatre's entire youth and education programme at risk. That reframed campaign succeeded, and the new tent is now in place for the theatre's summer season.

It's the kind of campaign that draws on every part of my advertising background - the ambition to ask for something big and get a household name behind it, and the strategic discipline to know when to change tack and protect what matters most.

Services: Marketing & Comms Strategy · Copywriting · Brand Identity · Content Creation · Press & PR · Paid Digital (Google Ads) · Event Planning · Grant & Fundraising Writing · Crowdfunding & Campaign Strategy · School & Youth Outreach

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