45North Joins Theatre503 As Associate Company

45North, led by Creative Director Jessica McVay and Creative Producers Emily Carewe and Charlie Lees-Massey, today announces that they will join Theatre503 as Associate Company. Alongside Artistic Director Lisa Spirling and Executive Director Andrew Shepherd, 45North will work towards ensuring future work at Theatre503 is more accessible for both creatives and audiences, creating new connections between the local community and Theatre503 and working together to open the doors to audiences who may not have had access before.

Alongside championing and producing work from majority women and non-binary artists, 45North regularly runs workshops and events on inclusive practice for freelance creatives. They will use this expertise during their associateship, making the following commitments:

• Widening engagement with the local community as audience and participants around Theatre503's productions with particular focus on underrepresented groups
• Embedding creative access into Theatre503's year-round programme
• Enhancing other areas of accessing work including captioned, Parent & Baby and Pay What You Choose performances
• Developing new spaces, both in person and virtually, for Theatre503 audiences and artists to interact and create together
• Supporting Theatre503 to establish the audience base for their new livestreaming programme, providing opportunities for those who cannot come to the theatre in person to experience the incredible programming, and building an international audience from the foundations of the International Playwriting Award

45North are committed to incorporating access and outreach into their work in a meaningful way. Team members have undergone training in the facilitation of touch tours and audio description, as well as working with integrated BSL and captioning across various projects. Through the pandemic, they also worked thoroughly in digital theatre and audio forms, ensuring that their work could be accessed by anyone without restriction - from transcripts and captioning, through to removing paywalls and geotagging for online content. Their associateship with Theatre503 will last at least one year and follows a previous collaboration on Gillian Greer's MEAT, produced by 45North at Theatre503 in February 2020. As they begin this journey if you have any comments or questions you would like to share, please email admin@forty-fivenorth.com.

Jessica McVay, Emily Carewe, and Charlie Lees-Massey said today 'We are thrilled to be joining Theatre503 for the year as associate company. Working with their team to embed access into both performances and processes for artists and audiences alike is a continuation of our mission, and our shared vision for what theatre can and should be. We are honoured to be part of Theatre503's next chapter".

Lisa Spirling and Andrew Shepherd, Artistic and Executive Directors of Theatre503, said today, "We are absolutely delighted to be bringing 45North closer into the 503Family. Their ethos and mission is so closely aligned with our work, and our collaboration on MEAT, laid the foundations for this exciting moment. While their support is much needed, above all they will be a critical friend, an invaluable partner and wholeheartedly embrace our shared desire to keep trying to be better for ourselves, our incredible freelance community, audiences and the industry."

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