Theatre directors are invited to a gathering in Perth this month to help address the lack of professional development for the profession in Scotland. The event, at the Norie-Miller Studio of Perth Concert Hall on Fri 30 Mar, will be the official launch of the Theatre Directors Scotland network and will be an opportunity for directors to discuss how they might support each other to develop.
Driven by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir, Theatre Directors Scotland began in 2016 as a Facebook group and has grown into a network of stage directors with varied experience, specialisms and skills. The Perth event is the beginning of a process to present the network to the industry and to help directors thrive at all stages of their career.
The keynote address at the event will be delivered by Joe Douglas, director of the Lyceum’s recent Arabian Nights and soon to be Artistic Director of Newcastle’s Live Theatre Company. There will then be an Open Space discussion, facilitated by Nicholas Bone and Jen McGregor, and PechaKucha presentations from other directors in the network.
In 2015, a Playwrights’ Studio Scotland commissioned report showed that many of the large number of new plays being written in Scotland remain at rehearsed reading or initial development stages. Although funding shortages are one reason for that, lack of directors and an absence of specialised training is deemed to be another factor. This creates what the network call “an insurmountable gap” between being an emerging and an established director. The Perth event hopes to start finding solutions to that problem.
Tickets for A Convocation are free via Eventbrite, and attendees are also invited to stay to attend that evening’s production of Hoipolloi’s The Duke. For more information, please contact Flavia D’Avila.
Theatre Directors Scotland: A Convocation is @ Perth Concert Hall, on Fri 30 Mar 2018 @ 12:30pm