18-Month Residency

This is an opportunity for an early career director/theatre maker to work, train and learn at one of England’s leading middle-scale producing theatre companies and direct a piece of work. There is no upper age limit for the scheme, but directors should be over 18.

You will be mentored by the Artistic Director of the host theatre and gain a wide range of experience. As the industry continues to address the challenges created by Covid-19, activities undertaken on the RTYDS 18-Month Residencies will vary with each theatre. Ideally, each RTYDS 18-Month Residency will include assisting on productions, as well as programming, script reading and artist development. You will be given experience in all the theatre’s functions and learn about strategic planning, finance, fundraising, producing, press and marketing, administration etc. As part of the opportunity to make work, you might direct rehearsed readings, research and development projects, or a piece of work with young people/community group and direct a piece of work.

We are working in partnership with Ramps on the Moon and at least one of the four RTYDS 18-Month Residencies we are offering in 2021 will be awarded to a Deaf or disabled director/ theatre maker.

The RTYDS 18-Month Residency is a paid opportunity, with each resident assistant director receiving a salary of £25,000 per annum.

Quantifying level of experience is always complex, but we want to give some sense of what you might have done so far in your career without being too prescriptive.

We imagine the resident assistant director to be a director / theatre maker who has at least 18 months professional experience and can demonstrate a commitment to directing or theatre making. You might have been an assistant director, made your own work, worked with a youth theatre, or any combination of those.  By professional, we mean work made with a creative team that considers theatre making their primary source of income, or have ambitions for this to be the case. This includes work with young people and participatory work.

There is no upper age limit for the scheme, but directors should be over 18 and in the early stages of their career.

You should be committed to a career as a director /theatre maker and you should have an interest in regional theatre and developing audiences. You should be interested in gaining experience and skills through working as an assistant director as this will be a central part of the residency.

In addition, you should be interested in the artistic and operational running of a theatre building, cultural leadership, and the wider role of the artistic director.

We particularly welcome and encourage applications from individuals who identify as:

• Deaf and/or disabled
• Neuro-divergent
• Working-class, benefit class, criminal class and/or underclass
• Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, East or South East Asian, mixed or dual heritage, or have had a lived experience of racism*
• LGBTQIA+

*This includes but is not exclusive to people of Middle Eastern, Arab, Latinx, Jewish, Romany and Irish Traveller heritage.

The 18-Month Residency is also a training route and pathway into the industry for those artists who have not experienced further or higher education. If you have an MA in directing or have already had an opportunity to spend an extended time training or working in a theatre building as an assistant director or director, then this opportunity may not be for you.

We hope that when applying, directors / theatre makers will be interested in all of the opportunities offered by Curve, Derby Theatre, and Live and Northern Stage partnership. However, we understand that relocation may not be possible due to professional or personal circumstances such as caring responsibilities, your housing situation or access requirements.

We are committed to this opportunity being open to you, whatever your circumstances, including if you have been shielding or continue to shield. During the application process there is an opportunity to let us know if you can only consider a residency at a particular theatre.

There is no upper age limit for the scheme, but directors should be over 18 and in the early stages of their career.

*All directors / theatre makers must be resident in the UK at point of application*

If you are unsure if this opportunity suits your level of experience, please contact Manli Siu on rtyds@rtyds.co.uk or 0161 883 0296.

We are not currently accepting applications for the 18-Month Residency.

We are not currently accepting applications for the 18-Month Residency.

This is an opportunity for a regional, building-based theatre company to host an early career director/theatre maker for 18 months.

Providing a chance to gain a wide range of experience, including developing their craft as a director/maker of work, learning about the how the building operates and addressing issues of cultural leadership. The director/theatre maker is mentored by the artistic director throughout the residency and they are recruited through an open application process facilitated by RTYDS.

We invite applications/expressions of interest from theatre companies interested in the residency and ask them to outline an activity plan and training programme for the director/theatre maker. We understand that programme planning is challenging right now but hope the placements can play a part in theatres recovery planning. We anticipate the directors starting residencies in autumn/winter 2021, but the timing will be at the mutual agreement of the resident assistant director, the theatre and RTYDS.

The RTYDS Board selects the host theatre companies to take part in the scheme and RTYDS works closely with the artistic directors of the host company to recruit a resident assistant director through an open application process.

We are working in partnership with Ramps on the Moon and at least one of the four RTYDS 18-Month Residencies starting in 2021 will be awarded to a D/deaf or disabled director/theatre maker. Theatres applying must be committed to making this opportunity inclusive, and adapting to the applicant’s circumstances, including if they have been shielding or continue to shield.

Funding: RTYDS provides a sum to each theatre company for the 18-month period. This is to cover a salary of £25,000pa for the resident assistant director and any on-costs.

In this round of applications, we are looking for a new partner to join the existing RTYDS 18-Month Residency hosts.

The residency is for early career directors/theatre makers with no less than 18 months’ professional experience and demonstrable commitment to a career as a director/theatre maker.

They will have an interest in regional theatre and developing audiences. As well as making work, they will be interested in the artistic and operational running of a building, cultural leadership and the wider role of the artistic director.

For the director/theatre maker, the 18-Month Residency is a chance to progress both their practice and artistic evolution and be a catalyst for a step change in their development.

There is no upper age limit, but the director must be over 18 years old and resident in the UK at point of application.

This residency is aimed at professional building-based producing theatre companies in England (outside London), with a practicing artistic director, a track record of education and outreach work and of artist development. Partnerships between venues will be considered.

Mid-scale touring or peripatetic producing companies may be considered in exceptional circumstances and they can apply as a consortium partner or in partnership with a building-based theatre.

You can take part in more than one of our programmes at the same time. If you do so, you need to make clear how the strands would complement and support each other and demonstrate that you have the capacity to support more than one initiative.

The artistic director is required to take an active part in the selection process of candidates alongside the RTYDS. They will be required to consider up to 100 longlisted applications and select and interview a shortlist of 20 directors in a two-stage interview process.

We expect the successful participant to be mentored by the artistic director and to gain a wide range of experience, which will ideally include assistant directing on productions, as well as programming, script reading and artist development. They will be given experience in all the theatre’s functions and learn about strategic planning, finance, development, producing, press and marketing, administration etc.

The participant must be offered an opportunity to make work as part of the residency. This might include directing rehearsed readings, research and development projects, young people’s work but ultimately will include the opportunity to direct a resourced piece of work.

The residency will start in 2021 and the start date will be at the mutual agreement of the resident assistant director, the theatre and RTYDS.

Applications are assessed by the RTYDS Trustees on the basis of:

• The quality of the proposal
• The benefit to the early career director / theatre maker
• The artistic achievements of the theatre company
• Demonstrable commitment and experience of artist development

Each year we aim for a geographical spread of theatres and a mix of smaller and larger companies across all the RTYDS programme strands.

Decisions will be made by the Board of RTYDS. Individual Trustees are not involved in considering applications from theatres to which they are personally connected.

We are no longer accepting theatre company applications for RTYDS 18-Month Residency 2021.

If you would like to have a chat about the RTYDS 18-Month Residency please contact Manli Siu, Programme Producer, on manlisiu@rtyds.co.uk.