Sheldonian Theatre 350th Anniversary Community Engagement scheme (STACE)

About STACE

The Sheldonian Theatre was 350 years old in 2019. In celebration of this anniversary and to promote University-community collaborations, the Curators, on behalf of Oxford University, fund a scheme to support Oxford City community groups to use its Grade 1 listed building as a venue. The Curators provide up to three community groups each year with free of charge, or subsidised, venue hire of the Sheldonian to hold an event that is open to the public. 

Applications are encouraged from community groups who do not usually have access to the Sheldonian Theatre as a venue, and/or projects which involve University-community collaborations or those which bring new audience members into the Theatre, such as school pupils or other identified communities.

Applications will be assessed on the degree to which they demonstrate feasibility and community impact, and must meet at least two out of the following three criteria: 

• The applicant represents a community organisation that does not normally hire the Sheldonian Theatre for its events due to a lack of resources.
• The event will bring into the theatre members of the community who do not ordinarily access the building (such as school pupils or other identified communities).
• The event involves a meaningful collaboration between the University and a community group.

Past STACE events

These have included:

• Oxford Bach Soloists: St John Passion 300 – Bach, Wren and Oxford (2023)
• Oxford International Song Festival & St Frideswide Primary School: St Frideswide Epic (2022)
• Unlock the Chains Collective and TORCH: Still Breathing (2022)
• Oxford City Council and community groups: Oxford International Links (2022)
• LGBT History Month Lecture (2020)
• Orchestra of St John’s and members of the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra: Afghan Women’s Orchestra Concert (2019)

Past recipients

Discover more about how the scheme has already impacted community groups in and around Oxford, and the positive long-term effect it's had on their project.

Oxford International Song Festival 

Oxford International Song Festival was very grateful to receive a Sheldonian Anniversary Community Engagement Scheme award to provide free use of the Sheldonian Theatre to present a concert given by local school St Frideswide Primary School, as part of our annual Schools’ Programme in December 2022. With this grant, Key Stage 2 of St Frideswide Primary School presented a showcase performance of the song cycle the St Frideswide Epic for parents and staff – the collection of songs which each class had composed with support and guidance from our creative team in workshops across the autumn academic term. 

The visit to the Sheldonian was a highlight for participants and this grant therefore made a wonderful difference to the success of our project and the St Frideswide Primary School community. – Oxford Bach Choir

Oxford International Links
 

Oxford International Links were fortunate to be granted use of the Sheldonian Theatre for our twin cities' Showcase Day. We wanted a central venue to raise awareness of Oxford’s international links and to acknowledge the achievements of the relationships built over 75 years. The event was an invitation to the community, for people to find out how they can engage with our twin cities.  We had a packed schedule for the day including street performers on Broad Street, live music and singing, animation workshops, arts and crafts, coding, performance art and storytelling. Each twin city had a stall with volunteers on hand to talk about ways people can get involved. The Sheldonian Theatre is an iconic venue and was an incredible support to us to showcase our vibrant community groups, cultural partners, twin city groups, and international friends. We are incredibly grateful to the Sheldonian’s community engagement scheme for this brilliant opportunity. 

Orchestra of St John’s

The Sheldonian Theatre concert of the Afghan Women’s Orchestra (Ensemble Zohra) was the culminating event of a historic visit from the first all-female orchestra of Afghanistan to the United Kingdom in March 2019. Side-by-side with members of the Orchestra of St John’s and the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra, the young women played arrangements of both Afghan traditional songs and pieces of European classical music. An all-ages community choir recruited from across the city, joined the women for a moving performance of song to celebrate women’s rights. It was amazing to see so many members of the Afghan community in Oxford come together for this event.

The STACE award was transformative for the project – really giving these young women the opportunity to feel included and celebrated at the heart of the University of Oxford. Several still have dreams of coming to study at Oxford in the future. - OSJ