CREATIVE Scotland is pleased to announce details of 17 theatre and dance projects that will tour to venues and communities across Scotland from Spring 2019 – Summer 2020, supported by £1.2million of National Lottery funding.
This is the first round of awards from the £2million Touring Theatre and Dance Fund, developed as a collaboration between Creative Scotland, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and their members. 11 artists and companies will present a wide variety of theatre and dance performances for children, young people, adults and families at venues from Dumfries and Galloway to Moray, the Scottish Borders to the Highlands and Islands.
The productions will generate increased opportunities for audiences to experience and enjoy high quality work and will create opportunities for artists, producers and companies to work more collaboratively with venues to build more sustainable relationships, helping address recommendations made within the Review of Touring Theatre and Dance, published in April 2017.
In dance, Company Chordelia will tour The Chosen, an exploration of lead artist Kally Lloyd-Jones’ response to the universal experience of death; Rob Heaslip will tour new contemporary folk-dance theatre piece Endling, the word describing the last surviving member of a species on earth; Karl Jay-Lewin will tour Extremely Pedestrian Chorales – a gentle comedic performance project written in collaboration with Matteo Fargion. The fund also sees the creation of a new Dumfries & Galloway Dance Network, developing new audiences for dance in this region.
In theatre, Independent Arts Projects will tour critically-acclaimed productions Eaten by Mamoru Iriguchi and Waves by Alice Mary Cooper; Red Bridge Arts will tour three productions: The Secret Garden based on the much-loved children’s book, Space Ape inspired by the history of animals as the first pioneers in space and Stick by Me a quirky show about friendship. Two Destination Language will tour two productions: Fallen Fruit based on real life memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall and a production featuring British Sign Language and multimedia, Fault Lines; Rapture Theatre will tour two new productions of classic plays: Clybourne Park a razor-sharp satire about the politics of race and The Seagull an adaptation of Anton Chekhov classic play; 2Magpies Theatre will tour contemporary theatre performance Ventoux exploring the epic battle between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani in the 2000 Tour de France and Oceanallover will remount two critically-acclaimed outdoor promenade performances Sea Hames and Orographic. Drew Taylor and Sonnet Youth (Cat Hepburn and Kevin P. Gilday) will tour a collection of performance poetry texts Thick skin, elastic heart. This hybrid poetic theatre production delivers an off-kilter voice of the millennial generation.
Joan Parr, interim director, Arts and Engagement, commented: “We are delighted to make this announcement today. From modern adaptations of classic works to new autobiographical pieces, these funding awards support a great selection of touring theatre and dance work, generating more opportunities for high quality theatre in Scotland to flourish and for more people across the country to experience and enjoy it.
“The co-creation of the fund with the Federation of Scottish Theatre signifies a major step forward in our shared endeavour to address the challenges set out in the Review of Touring Theatre and Dance, strengthening opportunities for theatre and dance artists, venues and audiences.
“This first round of awards has been arrived at involving our specialist staff alongside a wide range of expertise from across the dance and theatre sector. We are looking forward to opening the second round of this funding programme in February 2019 and publishing details of the 2020/21 fund and application timescales early in 2019.”
For full information about the fund and to receive updates, please visit: www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/targeted-funding/touring-fund
About the theatre and dance projects:
DANCE
Company Chordelia will tour new dance work, The Chosen. Arising out of recent significant personal losses, The Chosen explores lead artist Kally Lloyd Jones’ artistic response to this personal and universal experience of death. (Funding award: £102,235)
Emma Jayne Park will develop Dumfries & Galloway Dance Network. This project will support venues in Dumfries and Galloway to programme touring dance projects, developing new audiences for dance in an underserved region. (Funding award: £137,700)
Karl Jay-Lewin will tour existing dance performance Extremely Pedestrian Chorales. Extremely Pedestrian Chorales is a collaborative performance project written and choreographed by Karl Jay Lewin and Matteo Fargion, presenting the prosaic and commonplace experience of the pedestrian as an act of beauty and gentle comedy. (Funding award: £62,896)
Rob Heaslip will tour new contemporary folk-dance theatre piece ENDLING, Part I in the trilogy A Glimpse of Flesh and Blood. Drawing on elements of the Gaelic Languages of both Scotland and Ireland and traditional and contemporary Gaelic musical arrangements, an ‘endling’ is the last surviving member of a species on earth. (Funding award: £95,148.40)
THEATRE
Independent Arts Projects will tour two existing critically-acclaimed theatre productions for children and family audiences: Eaten by Mamoru Iriguchi and Waves by Alice Mary Cooper. (Funding award: £60,000)
Red Bridge Arts will tour new and existing theatre works The Secret Garden, Space Ape and Stick by Me. The Secret Garden is a new production for young and family audiences based on the well-known and much-loved children’s book. Space Ape was created in 2018 and was inspired by the history of animals as the first pioneers in space. Stick by Me is a quirky show about friendship and play, and the importance of treasuring little things. The show was performed as part of the 2018 Made in Scotland showcase. (Funding award: £180,222)
Two Destination Language will tour new and existing theatre works: Fallen Fruit and Fault Lines. An one-woman show by Bulgarian-born Katherina Radeva, Fallen Fruit is based on her childhood memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It tells stories of growing up under communism and then capitalism, and of a couple drawn apart by the changes of 1989. Fault Lines is a new production about belonging, featuring a diverse cast and playful use of both British Sign Language and audio description. Utilising technology to create a variety of simultaneous audience experiences, the work can be shown in small rural halls and mid-scale stages. (Funding award: £160,877)
Oceanallover will remount two critically-acclaimed outdoor promenade performances Sea Hames and Orographic. These works will enable the company to deepen relationships with existing audiences and connect with organisations who have not previously programmed work from the company’s repertoire. (Funding award: £96,507)
Rapture Theatre will tour two new productions of classic plays, Clybourne Park and The Seagull. Clybourne Park is a razor-sharp satire about the politics of race and has previously been awarded an Olivier, Pulitzer and Evening Standard Award for Best New Play. This new production will be developed with a diverse cast. The Seagull will be a new production of young writer Anya Reiss critically-acclaimed adaptation of Chekhov’s classic play. A play about love, unfulfilled ambitions and self-determination, this version will relocate from the Isle of Man to an island off the coast of Scotland and adapts the original with a youthful vigour and modern female sensibility. (Funding award: £282,934)
2Magpies Theatre will tour contemporary theatre performance Ventoux. Originally devised in 2015, Ventoux tells the story of the epic battle between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani on Mont Ventoux in the 2000 Tour de France. The show restages the 60-minute ascent of the mountain, and the cat and mouse tussle between two of the world’s leading cyclists, flashing backwards and forwards in their careers. (Funding award: £33,056)
Drew Taylor and Sonnet Youth (Cat Hepburn and Kevin P. Gilday) will tour a collection of performance poetry texts, performed by four actors: Thick skin, elastic heart. This hybrid poetic theatre production delivers an off-kilter voice of the millennial generation. The work showcases a kaleidoscope of diverse voices, tackling a myriad of topics. The tour will also feature spoken word artists from across Scotland (Funding award: £55,770)
ENDS
Media contact: Sophie Bambrough, media relations and PR officer, Creative Scotland. E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com / T: 0131 523 0015 / M: (+44) 07747 606 146
Notes to editors:
About the Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance
The £2m Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance has been developed as a collaboration between Creative Scotland, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and their members.
Developed in direct response to Sector recommendations made within the Review of Touring Theatre and Dance, the £2million Fund supports the touring of theatre and dance, enhancing opportunities for artists, producers and companies to work more collaboratively with venues to grow audiences and provide greater access to high quality work across Scotland.
Applications for the first round of funding were open to Scotland-based dance and theatre artists, companies and organisations, independent dance and theatre producers and venues, for the making and touring of new work or the restaging of previous work for touring across Scotland.
This first round launched on Thursday 9 August with a deadline of Tuesday 6 November 2018. The second round will open for application on Tuesday 5 February 2019, with a deadline of Tuesday 30 April 2019. Details of the 2020/21 fund and application timescales will be made available early in 2019.
Decisions were made by a panel of five members drawn from the touring dance and theatre sector and four Creative Scotland specialist staff. The sector panel members were recruited by an open call process. They were:
Aiyana d’Arcangelo, Senior Producer (Scottish Dance Theatre); Paul Burns, Interim Head of Dance (Creative Scotland); Gary Cameron, head of Place, Partnerships and Communities (Creative Scotland); Lorna Duguid (non-voting chair), Multi Art Form manager (Creative Scotland); Louise Gilmour-Wills, programme director (Catherine Wheels Theatre Company); James Mackenzie-Blackman, CEO (Eden Court); Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, head of Theatre (Creative Scotland); Milica Milosevic, head of Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (Creative Scotland); Lisa Nicoll, producer (In Motion Theatre Company) and Peter Vallance, artistic director (Universal Hall).
For full information about the Fund and to receive updates, please visit: www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/targeted-funding/touring-fund
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter @creativescots,Facebook www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland and Instagram www.instagram.com/creativescots
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