Opportunity: Trainee Street Theatre Director Programme
Applications close Monday 22nd April at 5pm. Find out more and how to apply here.
Findhorn Bay Arts is thrilled to be working with long standing partners Surge and Out of the Darkness Theatre Company (OTDTC) to bring Surge’s Community Street Theatre programme to Moray.
With just a few days left to apply, we thought we’d share FBA Trustee Laura Walker’s story of how her own experience with Surge helped set her career up for success.
“The emerging director bursary with Surge and Eden Court in July 2021 was the best introduction to the industry I could have hoped for,” explains Laura.
“This project came at a particularly challenging time, after graduating in 2020 into an industry of closed doors. The project involved two emerging directors in Inverness assisting on the development of street theatre experiences for young people in Alness and Inverness through Chashback for Communities.
I had the joy of assisting Melanie Jordan in transforming a small team of local young people into a school of fish which would swim down Alness high street. Watching them shimmer and play in the July sun was such a delight in the shadow of lockdown. Mel and the team were exceptionally supportive, sensitive, and insightful, holding a room with real care. During the project, many of us were with other creatives in a room for the first time in over a year, which was a moment of both gratitude and grief.
Watching the young people grow on confidence, connectivity, and play over three days was a testament to the benefit of participating in street theatre activities. Their commitment to the work over such a short time, and the way in which they forged new friends, moved all of us.
It was a unique opportunity to try things out, learn, and process, which was so important for my first paid work. Surge’s attitude towards care, play, and openness has become the foundation for much of my future work as a director on projects like Warriors (Emma Ruse Productions); Paper Ghosts (Eden Court Festive Artist Residency); and Play Pretend by Katie Fraser, produced by Framework Theatre in association with the Traverse Theatre, which premiered in November 2023.
Opportunities like these are so special and so rare in the north of Scotland. Following my time on this project, I have gone on to direct and produce theatre across the country, and would champion this opportunity for all emerging theatre-makers in the region.”
Would you like the opportunity to learn how to direct your own street theatre show?
Surge is offering an opportunity for a theatre maker who lives in Moray to take part in a bursary programme, which will give you the skills to develop your own street theatre projects. You will be mentored by Director Alan Richardson, gain practical experience during street theatre sessions with OTDTC and be part of creating a new street theatre show that will be premiered as part of the 5th Findhorn Bay Festival in September.
DEADLINE TO APPLY: Monday 22nd April at 5pm
Find out more and HOW TO APPLY here.
