INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY & ACCESS ACTION PLAN

ACTION PLAN

The Gate will take the following actions to achieve the purpose and desired outcomes of this IDEA policy. These actions will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

1. GATE VALUES

In order for the Gate’s IDEA Policy and Action Plan to be values-led, it is essential that the goals of IDEA are reflected in the Gate’s official values. After consultation with the wider Gate team, the Gate’s official values will be revisited to ensure the IDEA policy is represented in them.

2. GATE BOARD RENEWAL

The Gate is fully focused on addressing the composition of its Board, to ensure that it becomes more diverse and, over time, to bring about the appointment of new/replacement Board members, who will broaden the diversity of the Board membership, aligning also to the Gate’s strategic plan to increase access to the Gate and reflect our audience and stakeholders.

3. GATHER DATA

A key task in the roadmap to expand inclusion, diversity, equity and access, is to gather data to assess the status quo. In 2026, tailored surveys will be distributed to the following stakeholders:

• Cast, creatives and crew: all artists who have worked with Gate since January 2023.
• The Gate staff and its current Board and Committee members.
• The Gate’s current audience subscribers to its newsletter, as well as ticket holders for all productions from 2023, 2024 and 2025.
• The Gate’s GATEWAYS Community Engagement Programme participants and partners.

4. SET TARGETS

To achieve greater diversity on and off our stages, the Gate will set the following measurable targets, and make them publicly available, to indicate our progress and ensure accountability:

5. CONSULTATIVE PROGRAMMING

An increase in the diversity of global majority/people of colour and disabled artists is not just about targets. It is about ensuring that the way in which we programme, develop and commission work, is done consultatively, and in an artist and minority-led way. Activities that will occur in the second half of 2025, and the first half of 2026, that demonstrate this action:

The Canon

Given the current artistic leadership is white, we are planning a creative development on black American canonical text(s) at the end of 2025, that will bring together some of Ireland and the UK’s leading black actors and creatives to explore, firstly, what it means to programme landmark black work for audiences that have a minority of global majority and black members; and secondly, how it can be produced in a way that ensures the team would have optimum resources met to deliver.

Arts Disability Ireland

As the Gate has yet to develop or produce a disabled-led work, the organisation plans to consult with ADI to determine the best ways artist development funds can be invested in artists with disability, that leads to greater inclusion and equity for these artists, in larger producing houses, such as the Gate.

Commissioning & Creative Developments

With the uplift in funding from the Arts Council, and the generous support of philanthropic donors, the Gate has been able to significantly increase its investment in the development of new work and of artists, through its world-class new work pipeline. This pipeline is one the Gate’s key pathways to greater diversity. It is through more early investment in and development of artists with disabilities artists from the global majority, LBGTQ artists, and artists from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, that equity can be delivered.

6. TRAINING & EDUCATION: The learning never stops

A curated training and education programme for the Gate Board, staff, artists and arts workers is crucial to embedding the intent and ability to diversify the Gate. In 2026, training and education sessions will occur through the lens of people who are experts in, and/or those with lived experience of the protected characteristics. The Gate will weave its artistic programme into training sessions. Annual refreshers on IDEA will be budgeted for and planned, given the evolving nature of and conversations about IDEA globally and in the arts sector.

7. CONTINUE GATE CRASHES PROGRAMMING STREAM

Introduced in 2023, the Gate Crashes stream of programming, was specifically developed to be a more agile, responsive form of programming, separate to the mainstage programme, to diversity both the artists working with us, and the audiences coming to the Gate. Examples thus far include: Only An Active Apart from 2023, created by acclaimed international trans artist, Justin Vivian Bond, and queer opera singer, Anthony Roth Costanzo; our LGBTQ Pride Gatecrashes featuring a broad range of performances by black, lesbian, gay, queer and trans artists and advocates; and in December 2025, the planned presentation of Pavee Point’s 40^th anniversary celebration.

8. CAPITAL INVESTMENT INTO ACCESS

The restrictions on accessibility due to the heritage nature of the Gate Theatre building, for people and artists with disability, is well-known. As well as the Gate committing to exploring capital works to the building that would one day change those for the public, the Gate will invest €50,000 in 2025 into improvements for our audience members with disability, through the generous philanthropic support of the Fidelity Foundation UK. This will include: an upgraded elevator service, a new hearing loop for the auditorium, captioning and audio description equipment, and importantly, training in captioning and audio-description work for the Gate’s Guest Relations’ team.

9. RECRUITMENT STATEMENT

The Gate will publish the following Recruitment Statement with each job advertisement, along with a link to this IDEA action plan, to assist with diversifying core staff:

The Gate Theatre is an equal opportunity, inclusive employer and welcomes applicants from all sections of our community. Inclusion, equity, diversity and access (IDEA) is a key part of our Open Gate ethos.

We will not discriminate against an applicant (internal or external) on the basis of their gender, age, race, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, membership of the Travelling community, or family status.

We appreciate that people have different needs and encourage applicants and interviewees to let us know what arrangements and format they may prefer.

If you have a disability and require any accommodation/s, during the recruitment process, including the application itself, please let us know in advance and we will be happy to assist.

10. EXPLORE EMPLOYMENT ACCESS PROGRAMMES

The Gate will explore and aim to implement a selection of employment programmes aimed at both diversifying the workforce, and creating equitable opportunities for all potential employees. These will include:

• The Department of Social Protection’s Wage Subsidy Scheme.
• A bespoke Apprentice Programme, informed by the Department of Further Education’s guidelines.
• Down Syndrome Ireland’s National Employment Programme.