docks academy update - october 2020

What a rollercoaster the last 6 months has been for the Docks Academy.

After months of building works, preparations and blood, sweat and tears (literally), the doors opened on 4th March 2020 with comedian Lloyd Griffith playing to sold out audiences… only for a worldwide Coronavirus pandemic to force us to close our doors indefinitely just 16 days later.

The last few months have been no laughing matter. We have been hunkering down and keeping a close eye on the performing arts industry as it got skittled by COVID-19. But now we’ve had enough of hunkering. We have weathered the storm with determination (and a generous grant from the Arts Council – more on that later) and we’re raring to go.

In this, our first ever update, we talk rearranged gigs and collaborations with tap dance supremos but to kick things off, how about news of our first live performances since March?

Docks Academy Lock-in featuring Lloyd Griffith, Paul McCaffrey and Daliso Chaponda

comedy is back!

After weeks of planning, we were thrilled to announce a limited run of safe and socially distanced comedy events in the Docks Academy. We are starting where we left off – with comedy. The Docks Academy Comedy Lock-in will take place on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd October and include two performances on each day.

Leading the charge will be the Grimbarian who needs no introduction – he’s one of our own – Lloyd Griffith. Lloyd has helped us plan these nights from the outset and has managed to secure two other brilliant comedians to join him:

Paul McCaffrey (whom you may have seen on Live at the Apollo, Russell Howard’s Good News, Impractical Jokers or Stand Up Central) and Daliso Chaponda (Britain’s Got Talent finalist and Amanda Holden’s golden buzzer act comedian) will complete the line-up.

Tables can be booked for groups of two, four and six people and our bar staff will be on hand to provide table service for drinks throughout the evening.

Three out of the four shows are now SOLD OUT, but a small number of tickets are available for Wednesday’s 6pm show.

Buy a ticket

jack evans collaboration

Did you see the awesome video we dropped on social media earlier this month of the tap dancers at Docks Academy? Well we were fortunate to be chosen as the venue for Jack Evans’ next creative tap video.

Jack is an award-winning choreographer and with his friend and choreographer Kate Ivory Jordan, created the Billie Ellish dance concept video which we shared waaay back that got tonnes of positive engagement.

Jack brought a team of dancers with him to Grimsby and a camera crew and we provided the Academy’s 3,000 square metres of space for him to create and film his next masterpiece.

The piece, called ‘D E Ɔ E ⅃ E Я A T E’, is only the second performance to have taken place in the Academy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watch the video

live performances: an update

Okay so as of right now, live performances at full capacity in the Academy still aren’t allowed by the government. Over the last few weeks, you may have seen that many of the acts we had booked in to play in 2020 are now being rescheduled for new dates in 2021. That’s because tickets for our music and comedy programme have been selling so well that we cannot safely accommodate the number of people with tickets. However, we are able to put on socially distanced events (such as the The Docks Academy Comedy Lock-in), and we are exploring doing the same with music. We are desperate to get back on our mission to bring a rich mix of culture to the Church. In short: watch this space.

All but two of our upcoming events (excluding Red Herring Comedy Club) have now been rescheduled for 2021. Check our events calendar by clicking the button below to buy tickets. New dates are yet to be announced for OMG It’s the Church and Mud Morganfield.

View our events calendar

arts council of england funding

We were thankful to receive a grant from the ACE Emergency Response Fund for arts organisations back in May. This money has supported us through lockdown and will continue to do so until the end of October 2020.

Arts Council of England and National Lottery set up the fund in the wake of COVID-19 to help organisations like Docks Academy navigate their way through the choppy economic waters.

The fact we got funding means that the government officially recognises Docks Academy as an important cultural hub for the people of North East Lincolnshire… and beyond. We are really grateful to all you Lotto players – without whom this fund would not exist.

This funding is a lifeline to us and other arts organisations lucky enough to benefit from it. We would not have been able to continue operating or planning without it.

gorilla marketing video drop

A couple of weeks ago, when you were casually flicking through your social media feeds, you may have seen a video of a Gorilla in a Docks Beers hoody playing the Academy drums to Phil Collins’ classic ‘In The Air Tonight’ – no biggy.

Well that was just a bit of fun to help get the message out that Docks Academy is currently being used for socially-distanced drinking.

From Friday through to Sunday each weekend, there are 15 tables available in the Academy for groups of 4-6 people to enjoy a pint (or two) and see the 3,000 square foot space that’s going to be hosting live music, comedy and exhibitions just as soon as Covid-19 clears off. Want to book a table? Click here.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the chap under the mask isn’t Lloyd Griffith, it’s actually JJ Foulds, our AV technician at Docks Academy.

Watch the video

grassroots music at docks drive-in

Those of you who came to Docks Drive-in in July would have seen the videos of some of our area’s best bands.

Between showings of our movies, we played videos by Last of the Wonder Kids, Lola & The Cosmic Getaway and Blighters from Grimsby and Serial Chiller from Hull on the big screen to sell out audiences.

The videos were collected and curated by Docks Academy and not only provided great local content while people were waiting for their films to start, it also gave these grassroots local musicians the chance to get their stuff heard by a totally new audience.

Follow us on social media

That’s it for now, but in the meantime you can keep up to date with all the latest information from Docks Academy by following us on social media.

Instagram @docksacademy

Facebook @docksacademy

Twitter @docksacademy