News and Blog: RTYDS
RTYDS welcomes five new Trustees
(L-R Todd Heppenstall, Shay Kennedy, Tito Mogaji, Helen Palmer, Sally Xu) RTYDS is delighted to welcome Todd Heppenstall, Shay Kennedy, Tito Mogaji, Helen Palmer and Sally Xu to our Board of Trustees. Together they bring expertise that spans law, cultural strategy, communications, audience development, and data. And crucially, they all share our commitment to [...]
RTYDS announces new resident and associate company partnerships
Photo by Darren Robinson Photography (L-R) John McGrath, Artistic Director & CEO Factory International; Laura Mallows, Executive Director and Co-CEO ThickSkin; Neil Bettles, Artistic Director and Co-CEO ThickSkin; Manli Siu, Programme Producer RTYDS; Neil Harris, Business Manager for Culture, Arts & Heritage at Wigan Council; Sue Emmas, Artistic Director and CEO RTYDS;Taio Lawson, Artistic [...]
Introducing our new Executive Director, Holly Aston
We’re delighted to announce that Holly Aston has joined the RTYDS team as Executive Director. Holly Aston says: “I’m thrilled to join RTYDS as Executive Director, to support and champion their values-led programme Fair Play, advocating for a theatre industry where working-class leaders are recognised, developed and nurtured.” Sue Emmas – RTYDS Artistic Director [...]
New partners announced for Surviving on a Shoestring
We're very excited to announce new theatre partners who are joining Surviving on a Shoestring, our financial equity programme that addresses financial inequity in the industry by trialling new ways of paying creative freelancers from working class backgrounds. Welcome to the movement Bristol Old Vic, Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Mikron, Northern Broadsides, [...]
Introducing the three Fair Play Associate Artistic Directors for our trailblazing leadership programme
We are very excited to name the first three theatre makers set to benefit from our trailblazing Fair Play Associate Artistic Director Residency scheme. The game-changing initiative is the only leadership programme of its kind in the UK, created specifically to offer mid-career directors or theatre makers who identify as working class or from [...]
Top industry names announced as Fair Play Advocates, championing our ground-breaking new programmes
We are delighted to announce five Fair Play Advocates - acclaimed theatre directors and creators - who are backing our bold plan to ensure theatres play fair for working class directors and theatre makers. They are: actor, playwright and director Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE (former artistic director of the Young Vic, London); actor and writer [...]
Natasha Bucknor MBE joins RTYDS as Executive Director
We are delighted to announce that Natasha Bucknor MBE will be joining the company as Executive Director from 17 February 2025, taking over from Interim Executive Director, Sarah Nicholson. Natasha brings a wealth of experience to the company, having previously worked with theatre companies such as the Almeida, National Theatre Studio and Talawa Theatre Company, [...]
Tribute to former Chair of our Board, Grahame Morris (1952-2024)
Grahame will be profoundly missed by all at RTYDS. He contributed to the company’s work over 14 years first as a consultant then as a mentor and later as Chair of the Board from 2014 to 2023. He saw RTYDS go from a single strand scheme to a multi-faceted programme that supported over 150 artists [...]
An update on our use of working, benefit, criminal class
There have been a variety of articles in the press recently about the use of the phrase ‘working, benefit, criminal class’ prompted by the advertisement for a new Artistic Director & Joint CEO for Camden People’s Theatre. RTYDS started working with Class and Coronavirus at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The initiative was [...]