The Arts Council has awarded £483,000 to Tara Arts, representing eight venues including the Theatre Royal at Margate.

The grant is for Black Live, a pioneering national consortium led by Tara Arts, committed to effecting change for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) touring theatre through a sustainable three-year programme of national touring, structural support and audience development.

Black Live will shape a dynamic national programme of mid and small scale tours. Its structured audience development and community engagement programmes will include live digital streaming and cinema relay.

Pam Hardiman, Theatre Royal programme manager, said: “This is great news for the Theatre Royal and its ambition to grow its audiences and embed itself into the heart of Margate’s community.

“We’re thrilled to be part of such a prestigious consortium, and I’m personally very pleased to be working with Tara Arts again. When it comes to promoting diversity, there’s none better. Thanks go to Jonathan Kennedy of Tara Arts for his commitment to this project, and of course to Arts Council England.”

Tara Arts is an Asian-led London based theatre company that champions creative diversity through cross-cultural theatre. Black Live is a partnership of Tara Arts, Derby Theatre, Queens Hall (Hexham), the Lighthouse (Poole), Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds, Theatre Royal Margate, Stratford Circus (London) and Key Theatre (Peterborough). The aim will be to increase and sustain audiences beyond the life of the project, connecting artists of diverse backgrounds with new audiences throughout England.

The first part of the project in 2015 will be an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in India.