Congratulations to West Yorkshire Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Belfast and Theatr Clwyd who have been announced as the hosts for the Stage One’s Regional Producer Placements in 2016.

Thanks to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Luke Johnson in 2016 Stage One can fund 3 x 12 month producer placements in a regional subsidised theatre and in return the host organisation will train a new entrepreneurial producer by providing them with hands-on experience.
Our objectives for the scheme are:
• Stage One will graduate 3 outstanding entrepreneurial trainee producers who have developed their knowledge through hands-on experience and increased their commercial contacts.
• The subsidised houses we work with will be more ambitious in their plans to exploit more of their work and ALL will acknowledged the importance of the Apprentices, funded by The Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation and Luke Johnson, in supporting this cultural change.

West Yorkshire Playhouse
West Yorkshire Playhouse is one of the largest, most exciting and active producing theatres in the UK. It successfully balances a firm commitment to serving the communities in its region alongside maintaining a national profile for the quality of its work. The Playhouse has two theatres, the Quarry with 750 seats and the smaller, more flexible Courtyard with 350 seats. At present the Playhouse produces around 10 of its own shows each year, including a number of co-productions, in addition to presenting a broad touring programme. These performances are supported by readings, workshops and community events. Alongside its work on stage, the Playhouse continues to lead the theatre industry in the ambition and scope of its education and community work. These activities ensure that, in total, over 250,000 people engage with the Playhouse and its participatory programmes each year.

Mimi Poskitt, West Yorkshire Playhouse’s Senior Producer said:
West Yorkshire Playhouse is delighted to be selected as a regional host venue for a Stage One Producer Placement. The Playhouse is proud to be a learning organisation, and developing talent is a core value for us. We look forward to working with Stage One in offering an emerging entrepreneurial producer hands-on experience in a regional theatre environment. 

Lyric Theatre Belfast
Established in 1951 The Lyric Theatre is Northern Ireland’s only full-time producing theatre.
The theatre includes the 390 seat Northern Bank Stage, the 124 seat flexible Naughton Studio and a modern rehearsal room. Each year The Lyric Theatre produce between 9/10 full-scale productions, 2 of which run concurrently at Christmas. We also receive visiting work from touring companies, most of which plays in the Naughton Studio. In 2015 the theatre won 4 Irish Theatre Awards, was voted NI’s most welcoming theatre, staged co-productions with the Abbey Theatre, Soho Theatre and the Dublin Theatre Festival and toured to London, Glasgow, Dublin and Letterkenny.

Jimmy Fay, Lyric Theatre Belfast’s Executive Producer said:
The Lyric theatre is delighted to be part of this exciting and dynamic scheme to find and promote new producers. We’re delighted to have been chosen as one of the three theatres to host a Stage One Regional Trainee Producer next year. This is an exciting initiative from Stage One. The Lyric have an exciting programme planned for 2016/17 involving collaborations with a large number of established and emerging creative talent, and our involvement with Stage One will allow us to be even more ambitious in our plans while helping to develop the skills of an innovative new producer.  We look forward to working with Stage One to find the next member of the Lyric creative team.

Theatr Clwyd
Created through the vision of Clwyd County Council and its Chief Executive Haydn Rees, Theatr Clwyd was opened in 1976 and so celebrates its 40th birthday in 2016. Located in the beautiful Clwydian hills of North Wales, the building incorporates five performance venues: The Anthony Hopkins Theatre, Emlyn Williams Theatre, Studio 2, Clwyd Room, Cinema and three art galleries. In addition to a varied programme of visiting work, Theatr Clwyd produces eights shows a year, which include classic plays, new writing and musical theatre. Tamara Harvey succeeded Terry Hands as Artistic Director in summer 2015. Playing to over 200,000 people a year, Theatr Clwyd was voted Most Welcoming Theatre in Wales in 2015.

William James, Theatr Clwyd’s Associate Director Plays & Touring said:
Theatr Clwyd is delighted to be hosting a Stage One Trainee Producer in 2016. This prestigious scheme has a fantastic track record of matching up emerging commercial theatre producers with the experience and artistic aspirations of producing theatres, and we’re excited to welcome our first Stage One producer here.

For more information please contact Louise on: 0207 557 6737 / [email protected]