18-Month Residency
The RTYDS 18-Month Residency provides paid opportunities for early career directors and theatre makers to spend 18 months in a regional building-based company as a resident assistant director. Directors develop their creative skills, learn how a theatre runs and have the opportunity to make work.
RTYDS creates pathways for directors to develop not only their craft but also skills as future artistic leaders.
“RTYDS is where it really all began; it made me the director and artistic director I am today.”
Natalie Ibu (Artistic Director, Northern Stage)
We are not currently accepting applications for the 18-Month Residency.
Information for Directors
Information for Theatre Companies
Our other programmes
Current 18-Month Residencies
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Sam Holley-Horseman at Contact
Sam Holley-Horseman is a re-emerging neurodivergant Director, Facilitator and Writer. Her focus is on work with/for ND audiences and creatives and to explore better working practices for disabled artists. She originally trained at Rose Bruford.
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Omar Khan at Derby Theatre
Omar is a director based in the Midlands, making work that spans theatre, film, audio and VR. His work explores political and social issues that he shares a personal connection with, including; grief, spirituality and how we shape and build our identities. He is also a musician and a DJ, which feeds into his work.
With a strong focus on collaboration, Omar enjoys working with new writers to build stories that challenge people’s existing perspectives and open audiences and collaborators’ minds to new ways of seeing the world.
Wellness sits at the heart of Omar’s practice, working with communities to use theatre as a tool for self expression; giving people permission to play in a safe space.
An alumnus of Birmingham REP’s Foundry scheme & Tamasha’s Directors Programme, he is currently an Associate Artist at Derby Theatre, where he runs the Years 4-6 Youth Theatre. -
Lilac Yosiphon at Curve
Lilac is writer-director and the artistic director of Althea Theatre. She is passionate about ensemble work, devising and interdisciplinary collaborations. Her practice explores intersectional representation focussing on themes of belonging, migration and our perception of home.
Lilac’s work is profoundly collaborative, inclusive and emotionally connected. Her rehearsal room is full of open conversations in which the different aspects of the show are examined with honesty and rigour, explored on its feet with truthfulness and trust, to be shared with audiences in order to continue the conversation.
She was recently associate director on 10 Nights (Graeae and Tamasha in association with Bush Theatre, dir. Kash Arshad).
She is an MGCFutures Bursary recipient and a commissioned artist by Unlimited in partnership with Polka Theatre. She was a finalist for the JMK Award 2019 and the Sir Peter Hall Director Award 2021.
Alongside her work as a theatre maker, Lilac facilitates workshops with young people and emerging artists in training at the National Youth Theatre. Graeae, Mountview and Guildhall.
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Rebekah Bowsher at Live Theatre and Northern Stage
Based in the North East, Rebekah is a playwright, dramaturg, director, screenwriter, disability consultant and actor who’s plays have been performed at venues including the Hampstead Theatre and Newcastle’s Live Theatre. She trained at the University of Leeds attaining a BA in Theatre and Performance, and has recently finished an MA Creative Writing through the Open University.
She has been selected for a number of high profile schemes to develop both her writing and directing, including BBC’s Writers Access Group (2018/2019), Graeae Theatre Company’s Write To Play, Alphabetti Theatre’s Writer To Play and a 3 month attachment to the Greyscale Theatre Company as part of the Regional Young Theatre Directors Scheme. She was Writer in Residence at the Leeds Playhouse in 2016 and sits on the board of Unfolding Theatre, providing creative and access advice.
In 2018 Rebekah received the Live Lab Bursary to develop her raw and incredibly emotive play, Spoon Theory, about a woman coming to terms with her new life, following an amputation, which was selected for performance at the Elevator Festival. She was also a recipient of the North East Artist Development Network Bursary in 2018/19 to develop her newest work Running Through Wheatfields, an imagined look at Theresa May’s life, which speculates on the issues surrounding being a high profile woman in politics. Since January 2021, Rebekah has been a recipient of the Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice grant, which she has used to hone her directing skills and begin developing a community informed devised show – The Cornershop Show.
Our success stories
What participants say about the scheme
Matthew Xia Associate Artistic Director at Manchester Royal Exchange:
“I can honestly say I don’t think I would have been eligible for this position without the time spent getting to understand the region [as part of RTYDS], ‘regional’ theatres in general and the role they serve in their locale. This placement has completely reframed my understanding of the necessity of theatre and the people it is for. It’s given me such a rich experience of what it takes to make theatre for specific buildings and audiences and also what it takes to run and programme those buildings.”
Jo Newman, Resident Assistant Director Salisbury Playhouse (now Wiltshire Creative) 2014-2016:
“Being part of the Regional Theatre Young Directors’ Scheme is such a valuable opportunity and I can quite honestly say that it has changed my life. After the first six months I have learnt so much and have been involved in activities ranging from artistic programming to community projects, have had the opportunity to work as an assistant director and work alongside some of the industry’s leading creatives in addition to having the space and time to develop my own practice as a director. Regional theatre is really important to me and it is fantastic to be part of the life of such a brilliant venue and work with Gareth Machin, artistic director, to gain an insight into how it is run.”
18-Month Residency participants
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Julia Thomas at Curve Theatre, Leicester
Julia Thomas is from Llanelli and was resident director at the National Theatre Studio in partnership with National Theatre Wales earlier this year. For National Theatre Wales Julia has been Emerging Director on A Provincial Life and Assistant Director on Iliad. Julia has directed at various Welsh theatres including Blue/Orange at Sherman Theatre and Fun Palaces at Wales Millennium Centre.
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Lekan Lawal at Derby Theatre
Lekan Lawal is from London and trained at LAMDA. He recently worked as an associate for The Big House and is currently working on Measure for Measure at the Young Vic.
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Ben Occhipinti at Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Ben Occhipinti is from Wiltshire and worked with Salisbury Playhouse on several productions including Spread a Little Happiness and Jack and the Beanstalk, he has a passion for music theatre and opera and recently directed La Rondine with Iford Opera.
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Daniel Bailey at Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Daniel Bailey took part in the Young Vic’s Introduction to Directing and went on to be Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio. He has developed work with theatre companies including Talawa, Paddington Arts and the New Vic Theatre.
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Rebecca Frecknall at Northern Stage (recipient of the Christopher Whelen bursary)
Rebecca Frecknall was recipient of the National Theatre Studio’s Resident Director Bursary and was awarded one of the Jerwood Assistant Director Bursaries at the Young Vic. She has directed work at Southwark Playhouse, Greenwich Theatre and the New Diorama.
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Jesse Jones at Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Jesse Jones is the Co-Artistic Director of The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol which he founded in 2011. In 2013 Jesse was Assistant Director to Bijan Sheibani on the National Theatre’s production of Emil and the Detectives.
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Jo Newman at Salisbury Playhouse (now Wiltshire Creative)
Jo Newman is Co-Artistic Director of Birmingham based Tin Box Theatre Company and has developed work at theatres including Birmingham REP, mac, Battersea Arts Centre and New Diorama Theatre. Jo was a member of the REP Foundry, Birmingham REP’s Artists Development programme.
“The value and cultural importance of the scheme cannot be underestimated. The opportunity to be immersed in all areas of the theatre business and creation of work is unrivalled. There is no doubt in my mind that, without this extraordinary chance, I would not have had the experience or confidence to the director I am.”
Vicky Featherstone
Artistic Director, Royal Court Theatre