Our Futures Artists and Producers have not been resting on their laurels during this time of crisis. Find out what they’ve been up to.
Back in January, we launched the first round of our Futures Programmes for Early Career Artists and Producers. Both programmes are 6 months long, with the chance for early career artists to develop skills, take part in masterclasses led by established companies and receive mentoring from the Northcott team. We had workshops with Viv Gordon, Wardrobe Ensemble and Rhum and Clay before we found ourselves unable to continue meeting weekly due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Rather early on in the crisis, we decided we would like to continue our regular sessions, so I have been meeting both the Early Career Artists and Producers via Zoom. Although devising theatre is very different with a screen between us, the artists have been sharing writing stimuli with one another, sharing their performances back the following week. Last week’s task was to ‘write a letter to your body, your past self or your future self’. Below you can hear or watch some of the artists’ responses. Perhaps you’d like to write one of your own. Make sure you share it with us on social media if you do!
James Luckraft-Law: Letter to my body
Alexandra Stewart: Letter to my 16-year-old self
Florrie Taylor: Letter to my future self
The Producers have also continued to develop their craft; looking at budgeting and writing contracts, and planning projects for after the lockdown. It’s been great to have a digital space for the groups to still meet and develop their creativity during this time period.
“It’s been a great comfort having the opportunity to remain active as an artist, and remain connected to the group and the theatre during isolation. Theatre as a whole is normally so focused on the physical and ‘live-ness’, it’s inspiring that the industry has seen this as a chance to further embrace digital media and communication.”
– James Law, Early Career Artist
“As a group we’ve had to adapt to and overcome the ever-changing circumstances, but a global pandemic certainly won’t get in the way of our creative productivity. I’m so glad we’ve been able to continue collaborating online as we have become quite close since the course began back in January. We will continue to support each other and use this time to explore different avenues for our creativity.”
– Hannah Baxter-Freeman, Early Career Artist
Early Career Artists – Hannah Baxter-Freeman, Charlotte Evans, James Law, Kane John Mills, Alexandra Stewart, Florrie Taylor.
Producers Programme – Lucy Bell, Robert Guy, Lucy Townsend, Laura Van Wymersch, Lauren Walsh.
