Some of you may have heard of Komedia Productions, but we bet that a large number of you haven’t. This is why we put together an interview with Charlotte Vivian, Komedia Production’s Development Director, discussing what exactly Komedia Productions is, why it was formed, and what they offer in the ways of Kids Workshops and other events.
Komedia Productions is a charity that aims to make the arts accessible for all, especially young people and families who, for various barriers may not be able to engage with the arts . They work with a wide range of artists to ensure that young people from all backgrounds can see themselves represented and find their place within the arts. In doing so, encouraging young people with special educational needs, disabilities or those from communities facing barriers to develop in confidence, be themselves, make friends and have a lot of fun.
Komedia Productions is partially funded through donations, so when you book a ticket for a show at Komedia, you can make a donation to Komedia Productions too. These donations go directly to the charity and their art projects. Komedia Productions also receives arts funding, in-kind donations, and sponsorships to deliver their vital work.
Now, over to Charlotte Vivian.
Can you tell us what Komedia Productions does?
Komedia Productions was formed alongside Komedia Brighton in 1994 to support the Komedia Kids programme. From the beginning, it’s focus was on making theatre more accessible for children and young families. Since then, we’ve been working with Komedia and the Brighton & Hove community to run creative kids workshops and events, from comedy to theatre and beatboxing. All to allow young people and families of all backgrounds to discover and explore the arts.
We work with local schools and charities, and partner with arts organisations to put on a wide variety of events. This gives our young people a chance to perform and utilise the skills they learn over the course of our workshops. The main goal is to build confidence. A lot of the young people we work with are neurodivergent or have other disabilities. We work to build a safe space where they can be their true selves and build relationships with other young people with shared experiences.
Who are the people behind the charity?
Komedia Productions is a very small team of people, run mostly part-time by me, Charlotte Vivian, in a freelance role and supported by a board of Trustees. But the team is growing and we have introduced two part-time employees, a Project Assistant and Marketing & Admin Coordinator. All artists we work with are freelance. We aim to continually grow, support more young people, artists, and audiences and – funding allowing – plan even more events for 2025.
How did you get involved with Komedia Productions?
I worked at Komedia for 14 years in various roles, then I left and went freelance, did lots of different things working within the arts and education. In 2019, I joined Komedia Productions to support developing and building the charity. When I started, the charity and Komedia were relatively separate entities, but I’ve worked on bringing it more into the venue and raising more awareness.
What’s currently happening at Komedia Productions?
There is always something going on with Komedia Productions. We run a number of kids’ workshops throughout the year, covering a wide variety of local areas. The most recent and popular of these are the comedy workshops. We also have the regular kids programme at Komedia that runs across the year.
Comedy Kids Workshops
We work hard to ensure that the comedy workshops are all free to attend and accessible. This is achieved through funding or grants we receive and allows us to supply amazing workshops to young people who would not usually have access to such opportunities. We work in close partnership with The Crew Club, Hangleton & Knoll Youth Project, and Brighton Youth Centre.
The longer comedy workshops run for 6 months at a time, taking place every week. We encourage young people to become more confident and true to themselves, make friends, and enjoy learning about the art of comedy. The young people also have the opportunity to take to the stage and demonstrate their talents at the end of the workshop.
We run a comedy workshop called Laughter Crew at the Crew Club in Whitehawk every Wednesday. One has also been running in Hangleton since September 2024 and runs till the 10th of February 2025. The kids from the Crew Club and the Hangleton Project will come together and do their own comedy show at Komedia on the 10th of February 2025, which is very exciting.
We also work with Brighton Youth Centre and BFest to deliver workshops across the year, and in October 2024 delivered a programme in partnership with Brighton Dome Comedy Festival – offering young people the opportunity to perform in the Dome Studio. The workshop programme is delivered by local comedian Tom Veryzer and we have a range of guest comedians coming in to deliver sessions including Komedia favourite Michael Akadiri and Victoria Melody.
Music Workshops
We have worked with international beatboxer SK Shlomo on a project with local schools, leading to young people performing as part of SK Shlomo’s show at Brighton Dome studio. We are planning to expand our workshops in 2025 to include more music, theatre, and comedy. If young people do not want to perform, we offer them the chance to work backstage instead, so they gain experience of working in a live venue.
Sundae Club
Sundae Club runs every year from October to April at Komedia, from 11am until 2pm. The entire venue is opened up, with a theatre show in the Studio and crafting workshops down in the main Basement. Everyone comes together at the end for a performance by a live band.
Local artist collaborations
We’re currently working with local dance company Ceyda Tanc and Theatre Fideri Fidera, supporting them to take their new early years work ‘Evim’ out to local communities.
Family Productions
We work closely with local theatre company Fideri Fidera who offer a range of family shows at Komedia across the year.
Their 2024 Christmas show Franky is for families and young people aged 3 to 8. It’s an interactive show with songs and music that engage with the audience. We offer local charity partners complimentary tickets to encourage those who don’t usually engage with the arts to experience live theatre, for free.
What does Komedia Productions see for the future?
There’s a real gap in the market for the young people we work with, who are performing comedy but can’t go and watch gigs because they are aged 12-17. We’re looking to develop an in-house, young-person comedy gig for them. If they can do more regular open mic nights, they can get the experience needed to become a professional comedian.
Leading on from this, we also want to offer higher level courses, to continue supporting young people after they’ve completed the initial courses we currently run. We want to give them bigger platforms and opportunities to take the stage, or allowing them to become workshop leaders themselves.
Finally, what’s your favourite thing about working at Komedia Productions?
For me, it’s when we start a project and you see a young person come in who has very low self- confidence, who finds it difficult to engage, and then at the end of the project, you see them on the stage delivering their comedy. It’s just giving young people opportunities to be creative, be themselves, and to watch them flourish is amazing. I’ve genuinely had kids tell me that our course has changed their lives.
To have that kind of feedback is just so amazing. We get such positive feedback from families, partner organisations, and the young people themselves. Now we just need to shout about what we do more.
Offering a safe space for young people to develop their creative skills at their own pace, build new friendships, be their true selves and have a lot of fun along the way is hugely rewarding.
Komedia Productions
If you’re interested in what Komedia Productions has to offer, want to support their work or encourage a young person to sign up for their Kids Workshops, then visit their website to get started!
