Sky Academy arts scholarships winners

McLeod, who has previously assisted on productions at the National Theatre and the Royal Court, London, will set up a new theatre company called the Coterie, which will have a focus on helping female writers explore daring ideas.

She said winning the scholarship felt like “the first time that I’ll be able to follow a dream project”.

Yinka Ayinde and Caitlin McLeod win £30k Sky Academy scholarships

A new theatre company with a focus on nurturing female playwrights has been launched.

Created by director Caitlin McLeod, the Coterie will initially focus on commissioning three new plays by women over a period of a year and a half, to allow time for the scripts to be fully developed.

Female-focused new writing company the Coterie launches

Sky Academy today announces the recipients of their 2016 Arts Scholarships. Four emerging artists from the UK and one from Ireland have been selected from over 1,100 applicants, with the winners being chosen by a judging panel including writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, Iwona Blazwick, Director of Whitechapel Gallery, Farooq Chaudhry, Creative Producer at the English National Ballet and music producer Cam Blackwood.

Sky Academy announces winners of five Sky Academy Arts Scholarships

London theatre director Caitlin McLeod, who has worked on productions for the Royal Court, National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe, will be founding a new theatre company set up to with a mission towards encouraging and equipping female writers to realise their creative ideas, aptly named The Coterie.

Sky Academy announces recipients of its £30,000 Arts Scholarships

 

The Old Vic 12

 

Directors Zoe Lafferty, Caitlin McLeod and Edward Stambollouian
Playwrights Samuel Bailey, Sonali Bhattacharyya and Steven Hevey
Producers Sarah Georgeson, Paul Jellis and Martha Rose Wilson
Choreographer Lanre Malaolu
Composer Harry Blake
Designer Sarah Beaton

Evening Standard: Daring dozen: Old Vic talent list includes director who made secret Syria trip

Throughout the coming year, The Old Vic 12 will be individually mentored by Alexander Ferris, in addition to receiving a mentor specific to their discipline. The mentors, all industry experts in their field, include: Tara Wilkinson, Georgia Gatti, Max Webster, Rob Howell, Grant Olding and Drew McOnie.

They will also deliver a masterclass to participants in the very beginning stages of their careers and work together to present a showing of the three Old Vic 12 commissioned plays.

Speaking about The Old Vic 12, Matthew Warchus said:

“The selected 12 artists who will take part in our new programme, The Old Vic 12, are exceptionally talented people who we hope will benefit from the vitality and creativity of this unique theatre. We are excited to have them participate in the new season and to offer our assistance as they develop their practice in proximity to the great artists we have involved here at The Old Vic. Our aim is to nurture a new generation of theatre artists and we are grateful for the visionary financial support of Peter De Haan which has made The Old Vic 12 possible.”

In August, we launched the applications for The Old Vic 12, which reached a staggering 1,300. Between September to November, we interviewed over 250 applicants. Of the interview process, Director of Old Vic New Voices, Alexander Ferris said:

“The substantial interview process for The Old Vic 12 was a wonderful opportunity to meet with so many inspiring, emerging artists. The sheer level of talent that is currently out there is massively encouraging. This process opened up The Old Vic to hundreds of creative individuals and I hope we can nurture these connections to ensure we continue reaching out to fantastic talent. We’ve selected an exceptional group of individuals to take part in the first Old Vic 12. With this scheme, we hope to support them to develop their skills and explore new creative heights in the surrounds of this buzzing historic theatre.”

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★★★★ The Guardian

★★★★ The Telegraph

★★★★ The Stage

★★★★ Female Arts

‘Visionary and magical’ The Telegraph

‘I honestly love this knotty Beckett shit. It’s dark as a bat’s eyeballs but it tells you the truth about what it means to be alive.’ Huffington Post

‘Huffington Post: 2015’s Best Theatre’
E.V. Crowe’s play was like a beautiful hymn that you thought you’d never heard but actually somehow you knew all the words to. It wasn’t like watching something, it was like being inside something. Maybe this is what it feels like for people who actually know how to do meditation. You feel like you’ve spent an hour watching nothing, and then you realize that you have in fact learned this weird dark secret about the human condition. Jessie Thompson

‘Caitlin McLeod’s production . . . plays intriguing games with reality’
‘Alison O’Donnell and Jack Tarlton perform excellently’ The Guardian

‘Crowe flirts with some immense questions’ A Younger Theatre

‘. . . the 70 minutes crack along, keeping you guessing from beginning to end and the play certainly leaves its mark.’ Female Arts

‘EV Crowe has won awards aplenty for her work and it’s easy to see why: her writing is intense, probing and almost perversely unknowable’
‘Beckett definitely haunts EV Crowe’s searching new play’
‘properly intriguing’ Time Out

Nominated for four Off West End Offie Awards