Regional Theatres as Placemakers: Covid Recovery, Communities of Practice, and Sense of Place.

Regional theatres not only serve but build communities, providing social relations and sense of ‘place’ in a shifting cultural landscape. This article builds upon findings of the research project Theatres Beyond the Stage: The Recovery of Regional Theatres as Placemakers in the East of England, which examined the relationship of four regional theatre venues to audiences and local communities in 2022 and 2023. This article explores how regional theatres have offered communities an antidote to an epidemic of isolation through building ‘communities of practice’ (Lave and Wenger) and serving a vital placemaking role, with theatre sites and venue spaces becoming much valued and meaningful places. Following a summary of the Theatres Beyond the Stage research, this article offers an account of the ecology of regional producing theatres, locating the partner theatres in the East of England within a national network of mid and large scale producing theatres. It considers the civic role of these theatres and their contribution to community recovery, suggesting that theatre users form ‘communities of practice’. Through community of practice processes ( engagement, ethos, shared repertoire, imagination), regional theatres become placemakers; drawing on theories of placemaking and ‘sense of place’, this article argues that regional theatres are sites imbued with meaning. The article concludes by suggesting that given current sector challenges it is ever more important to acknowledge regional theatres as community builders and placemakers, roles that have not only been revealed but dramatically emphasised by the Covid 19 pandemic.