The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".
The company is established for charitable purposes to promote, maintain, improve and advance the education of the public by:
- the creation and promotion of touring theatre productions
- the commissioning and development of new plays
- strengthening links between the written, oral and musical traditions of Highland and Gaelic Scotland
- the creation of workshop and education programmes which support the above
Many volunteers give up their time to help out with the company. We are greatly indebted to these volunteers for their commitment and support.
2024-25 was an extremely busy year for Dogstar. The company delivered a number of successful projects, including three touring theatre productions with accompanying Creative Learning work in schools. There were also significant developments in nurturing playwriting in the Highlands & Islands. The company also took charge of the interpretative writing for the new Inverness Castle Experience. The Artistic Director worked with the Producer and the Board to plan and write a major grant application to Creative Scotland for Multi-Year Funding. The failure to be granted this 3-year funding at the end of January was a great disappointment and the one negative event in an otherwise highly successful year. The company’s governance was stable, with board membership remaining constant, providing good support to the Artistic Director and Producer.
Catch the Sparks
Following on from the great success of SPARK – The Highland New Play Festival in January 2024, we received a substantial grant for a programme of work aimed at nurturing playwriting and theatremaking in the Highlands & Islands. Entitled Catch the Sparks, the programme was designed to provide new opportunities for budding playwrights and theatremakers in schools and adult groups across the north Highlands and Islands, to assist with the development of Dogstar’s international work and to provide commissioning opportunities for new and established playwrights.
An application was submitted in November 2023 and we were informed in March 2024 that it had been successful. Work commenced in April 2024 with the programme running until late 2025.
Creative Learning in Schools
Dogstar appointed specialist Fiona Moon to lead our engagement work in schools. This took the form of short residencies in six secondary schools, ranging from 1.5 to 4 days in length, a total of 39 half-day workshops with 115 pupil participants, with an additional 250 engaged as audience members. Each group was taken through a process of how a play or piece of theatre is constructed, and each used this knowledge to then write and perform an original play. Every student reported having learnt new skills in relation to playwriting and theatre making.
The project aimed to:
Teach a mixture of practical theatre making skills and writing craft
Produce a new short piece of theatre with each group of students
Enable students to explore aspects of their own lives, how they see the world and their place in it through theatre
Develop an increased understanding and appreciation of theatre among students and staff
Raise understanding of how theatre is made and encourage a sense of possibility of pursuing theatre post-secondary education, addressing a geographical gap by increasing Highlands based writers and theatre makers of tomorrow.
These goals were met, along with several unexpected or additional outcomes:
Increased knowledge/CPD for teachers
Learning new skills/games for both facilitators
Ripple effect learning – students who weren’t part of the project were then taught many of the games and exercises used with the group by the teachers and participants
Belief or attitude shifts in some participants detailed in their feedback
Opened up a space to discuss pertinent and important issues in a safe and supported way
Creative Learning Programmes for Adults will take place in Autumn 2025.
Playwriting Commissions
New plays were commissioned from writers Anna Halas, Jack MacGregor, Jack Hunter and Isla Robertson. Further seed commissions will be commissioned in 2025.
The Fallen Angels of the Moine
We were very happy to be able to carry out a short tour with George Gunn’s Highland spaceport fantasy The Fallen Angels of the Moine during late August-early September. Dogstar first created this production in February-March 2022 at the tail end of the Covid pandemic, when we could only film the performance. The opportunity to present it to Highland audiences arose via Creative Scotland’s Extended Programme Fund. The production acted as a vehicle to stimulate interest in our playwriting and theatremaking workshop programmes. Attendances were high and audience reception excellent.
The Tailor of Inverness
The company’s flagship production was revived in 2024, after a 5-year hiatus. The play ran for 4 weeks at London’s Finborough Theatre during May & June, receiving its usual powerful response from audiences and critics. We were lucky enough to have a full-page essay about the play, written by Matthew, published in The Guardian shortly before we opened in May.
The production was revived again in the autumn after receiving invitations from Sweden and France. In Sweden, we performed to full houses at the Skellefteå Storytelling Festival in northern Sweden, also playing in the neighbouring city of Umeå. This was our second visit to Skellfeteå with the show. It was there for the very first Storytelling Festival in 2009. Our trip to France was a first for Dogstar. Our invitation was from the University of Savoie-Mont Blanc in Chambéry, where the show was part of a theatre conference. We also presented the show in Chambéry’s Cité des Arts venue. Rehearsals for these performances took place in Evanton, Easter Ross, where we presented a free open dress rehearsal for the local community with around 100 attending. In addition, we presented three sold out performances at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre between our foreign trips. Overall, in 2024 the production played 37 times to around 2,700 people.
The continuing demand for and, sadly, increased relevance of, The Tailor of Inverness, especially in light of the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine along with several other wars around the world, has led to the likelihood that the production will tour again in 2026 or 2027.
The Testament of Gideon Mack
Work to develop the company’s major new production continued throughout 2024. The creative team, led by director Meghan de Chastelain, was completed: Designer-Kenneth Macleod; Composer-Aidan O’Rourke; Movement & Intimacy Director-Sasha Harrington; Lighting-Kate Bonney. Over 50 actors were auditioned for a final cast of 8 – Kevin Lennon, Molly Innes, Blythe Jandoo, Matthew Zajac, Anthony Strachan, Rebecca Wilkie, Katja Searle and Fraser Seivewright. We also had an excellent production team led by Susie Normand. The production opened at Eden Court Theatre Inverness on February 15th and toured to 11 mid-scale venues across Scotland until March 15th, playing to over 5,000 people with most performances sold out and an excellent response from audiences and critics.
An excellent Creative Learning programme for schools accompanied the tour, led by Vicky Macrae and Jack Macgregor. This took place in 8 secondary schools across the country, with 208 pupils participating with their teachers.
We hope to revive this production.
Multi-Year Funding
Our Stage 2 application and 2025-28 Business Plan were submitted in April 2024. We received the disappointing news that the application was unsuccessful at the end of January 2025. This led to some protest on social media from sympathetic friends and members of the public. The columnist Lesley Riddoch also wrote a column in the National newspaper questioning Creative Scotland’s refusal to support Dogstar with Multi-Year Funding. Board member Duncan Macinnes and Matthew Zajac met with representatives of Creative Scotland at the end of March, where a defence of the application process was made by CS officer Bernie Reagan. We were urged to apply for Transition Funding which CS had earmarked for the company, either for winding the company down or to enable the company to strengthen its resilience and develop a longer-term fundraising strategy which might lead to a wider range of income streams.
Inverness Castle Experience
Dogstar was asked in January 2024 to take charge of the interpretative writing for the new Inverness Castle Experience (ICE) visitor attraction currently being built in Inverness. We worked with design consultancy Mather & Co. and Audio Visual specialists Ay-Pe, all under the auspices of Highland Council’s project managers at High Life Highland. We assembled a team of local writers to meet the requirements of this interpretative writing project, allocating the project’s wide-ranging graphic, audio and audio visual stories to each of them. Calum Macleod was appointed as lead Gaelic writer and translator, working with Matthew Zajac and our producer Jess Lusk as the core team, with Jennifer Henderson, George Gunn, Isla Robertson and Rosie Hart completing the writing team, all of whom made substantial contributions to the project. ICE is due to open in late 2025 and we expect Dogstar’s work on the project was completed in April.
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to three month’s expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year.
The unrestricted funds, which are the operational reserves of the charity, arise from past operating results and show the general fund having a balance of £106,544 (2024 - £3,778) at the year end, with a balance of £4,744 (2024 - £1,420) in the fixed asset fund.
Grants and donations have been received during the year whose use is restricted. At the year end, the balance of restricted funds total £5,087 (2024 - £17,255).
The principal funding source for the charity is Creative Scotland. During this financial year, grant instalments were received from Creative Scotland through The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations, the Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance Programme and the final instalment was received for the Arctic Winds through the Sustaining Creative Development Fund.
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
We are currently awaiting the result of a new application to the Creative Scotland Touring Fund for a Scottish tour with Anna Whealing’s play Breakers. This play was one of those presented as a rehearsed reading at the 2024 SPARK Festival. The tour is scheduled for autumn 2025. We also hope to set up a new Scottish tour for The Tailor of inverness in 2026 and we intend to apply to the Creative Scotland Open Fund to produce Every British Soldier by Alastair Cording and Tunde Euba in 2027, another SPARK presentation. We had planned a second edition of SPARK for January 2026 as part of our failed Multi-Year Funding bid, but this has been postponed. We hope to raise the money to enable us to mount SPARK again in January 2027.
Dogstar is currently in receipt of money from Creative Scotland’s Transition Fund. We appointed Executive Producer Rachel Dominy and assistant Producer Bryony Barclay in June, working on 6-month temporary contracts to the end of 2025. Rachel has been undertaking an overhaul of Dogstar’s policies, developing and improving the company’s governance and working with Matthew and Bryony on the development of artistic planning. Additional work is being undertaken to develop venue, school and audience databases and the company’s creative learning offer. Professional fundraising company The Arts Fundraisers has been contracted to develop a new fundraising strategy for Dogstar and the Highland Archive Centre has agreed to create a new Dogstar archive, working with Matthew Zajac.
The charity is controlled by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees will be appointed, from time to time, either due to their interest or as other trustees resign.
Any new trustee will be provided with a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association and details of their duties as a trustee.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
Under the Board of Trustees is the artistic director and the producer who deal with the day to day running of the company and the different performances.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report on the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025, which are set out on pages 7 to 17.
It is my responsibility to examine the financial statements as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements.
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1)(a) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 4 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, and
to prepare financial statements which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006
have not been met, or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Dogstar Theatre Company is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is Redwood, 19 Culduthel Road, Inverness, IV2 4AA.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount.
Grants received towards revenue expenditure are released to the profit and loss account in the period to which the income relates. Grants relating to capital expenditure are transferred to the relevant restricted fund and written off over the life of the asset.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Governance costs
Governance costs include costs of governance which relate to the general running of the charity, including the cost of external examination.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
It is the policy of the charity not to capitalise items under £100.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The restricted funds relate to funds restricted by the donors for use with regard to specific productions.
Fund in deficit
At the balance sheet date, the fund for The Testament of Gideon Mack is in deficit to the value of £18,444 as a result of expenditure in advance of the final grant payment. A grant for £18,444 was received from Creative Scotland in August 2025.
At 31 March 2024, the fund for SPARK - The Highland New Play Festival is in deficit to the value of £11,193 as a result of expenditure in advance of the final grant payment. A grant for £11,193 was received from Creative Scotland in July 2024.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
The fixed asset fund represents all the fixed assets held by the company.
Transfers
In 2025, £5,187 was transferred to the fixed asset fund from the general fund to reflect the purchase of fixed assets in the year.
In 2024, an amount of £7,600 was received from Creative Scotland to cover the costs met by the general fund in the previous year and a transfer of £6,405 from the Arctic Winds fund to the general fund reflects the reimbursement of the general fund. A balance of £1,195 remained in the Arctic Winds fund after completion of the project and this was transferred to the general fund with the permission of the funder.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).