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 Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street; Mr Bates vs The Post Office); actor and director Matthew Dunster (2:22 A Ghost Story; The Pillowman); and theatre directors Nancy Medina (Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic) and Matthew Xia (Olivier award-winning Artistic Director of the Actors Touring Company).

Our Fair Play programme is designed to dismantle systemic barriers and empower directors and theatre makers from working class and low socio-economic backgrounds to realise their leadership potential.

Julie Hesmondhalgh, co-founder of Manchester-based Take Back Theatre Company, said: “I am very excited to be advocating for Fair Play – a radical new vision for theatre, which fully interrogates the dire lack of working-class access to the arts – putting socio-economic disadvantage centre stage, acknowledging it as the biggest barrier to opportunity in our industry, particularly when it intersects with other protected characteristics. It feels more important than ever that we elevate those who are most marginalised by an industry that is becoming harder to navigate without a financial safety net.”

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE said: “I love the energy that Fair Play brings. Yes, it highlights the problems, but it quickly moves on to find the solutions. It’s drawing on artist’s experiences and asking theatres and companies to listen and act. Getting into theatre and staying in it is a challenge for anyone. But if you are from a working class or low socio-economic background it’s like a climbing a mountain with no safety equipment!”

Sue Emmas, Artistic Director of the RTYDS, said: “Our brilliant Advocates have their own personal experiences of coming from a working-class background and forging successful careers in the theatre industry – but unfortunately, they are the exception, not the rule. As we shift gears to deliver even more practical – and most importantly, funded – opportunities for artists as well as increasing theatre’s institutional knowledge about the nature and complexity of the barriers faced – their advocacy will be invaluable.”

This summer, we’re launching our first wave of Fair Play programmes, including:

• Associate Artistic Director Residencies: RTYDS is looking to partner with three building-based producing theatre companies in England (outside London) who make work on the mid-scale. Each will host an experienced director who is working class or from a low socio-economic background, in residence for 18 months. The Associate Artistic Director will develop their craft and understanding of creative leadership in a live theatre environment.
• Leadership Pathway Bursaries: A pilot programme which aims to address the significant lack of diversity in those who lead organisations. It will provide a progression route for talented people who hope to be artistic or creative directors. Each participant will receive a fee to cover their time and have access to support, training, workshops and mentoring, working alongside the RTYDS’s current cohort of theatre professionals from similar backgrounds who are already on a pathway to leadership.
• Surviving on a Shoestring: A 12-month finance equity programme in collaboration with a theatre’s finance, producing and executive teams to trial new ways of paying creative freelancers who are in receipt of benefits. Both theatre buildings and companies can take part and join on a rolling basis.
• Class Assembly: An annual event which will bring together theatres, companies and artists to understand the deep-rooted socio-economic inequity in the arts and take away tangible action points to make change. The next ‘Class Assembly’ will take place in Bradford on September 4th in partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Bradford Producing Hub and Common/Wealth.

Lived experience is at the heart of the initiative and a driving force behind the ambitions and delivery of Fair Play are our two Co-Creative Leads, Caitriona Shoobridge and Stef O’Driscoll.

Caitriona Shoobridge, Director and Co-Creative Lead of Fair Play says: “Central to the vision for Fair Play is the idea that artists need more than just placements to achieve sustainable careers. By designing programmes that actively address the barriers in the surrounding environment, such as lack of industry knowledge around the benefit system and the role of social and cultural capital in securing leadership roles, we are creating a more equitable sector in which working class leaders can thrive.”

Stef O’Driscoll, Director and Co-Creative Lead of Fair Play added: “Class has always been the elephant in the room. No one wants to really talk about it because it’s complex – difficult to identify and measure. So, we avoid it. Fair Play is designed to talk about class and develop a wider understanding about the financial, social and cultural barriers that exist for working class people. In different ways we will tackle each of these barriers; it will test and prove practical ways of working which can then be rolled out nationwide to enable sector-wide change.”