Chris Sonnex Announces First Season as Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens

Cardboard Citizens has announced plans for the inaugural season from Artistic Director and joint CEO, Chris Sonnex, which include: the world premiere of a new play, Bangers, by Danusia Samal (Busking It, Out of Sorts) at Soho Theatre and touring to hostels, schools, day centres and prisons across London this summer; a brand new nationwide paid training placement programme; Cardboard Collective, a new initiative for young performers aged 16 to 25; and a relaunched Members' workshop programme featuring guest artists: Ola Animashawun, Emma Baggott, Anna Jordan, Lemn Sissay and Nina Toussaint-White.

Over the past three decades, Cardboard Citizens has blazed a trail in the field of arts and social justice and become a national and international authority on arts and homelessness. Today, it is led by an Artistic Director with lived experience of housing instability and homelessness, and for the first time in the charity's history, is opening up its entire programme to people experiencing poverty and inequity. This broadening of focus is two-fold: to explore impactful solutions to challenge the systemic causes of homelessness in the UK today, alongside making concrete commitments to redress the inequality of opportunity in the performing arts industry. These commitments are outlined in Cardboard Citizens' new manifesto, created in collaboration with its staff, Board of Trustees and Members.

Chris Sonnex, Artistic Director and joint CEO of Cardboard Citizens, said: "Theatre and art have the most incredible capacity to change things for the better. It can give you a voice or make you feel seen, and at best, allow you to imagine new worlds, ones that you couldn't have seen before - ones that inspire hope or rebellion or growth. That's what we aim to do at Cardboard Citizens, enable new worlds for people that watch, participate, or create our work. However, working in theatre for people that have lived experience of poverty, homelessness and inequity can seem daunting. Career opportunities outside what you see on stage (if you have the opportunity to see theatre) are opaque at best. With our new programme we hope to change that. Committing to inspire people to watch theatre, create and learn to be artists but also pledging to help enable a new workforce of creatives and theatre professionals that can be instrumental in helping create a more open, diverse, and vibrant industry. Cardboard Citizens' new manifesto sets out our mission to unlock the potential of theatre and art to make change in the lives of individuals and in their communities. A home for everyone. As theatre should be."

Read the manifesto here: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/who-we-are/manifesto/

World Premiere Of Bangers At Soho Theatre And On Tour

Bangers is a new play from award-winning playwright, Danusia Samal (Busking It, Out of Sorts), and a directorial debut for Cardboard Citizens from Artistic Director, Chris Sonnex. Originally commissioned by Soho Theatre, Bangers is a two-hander performed by Danusia Samal and Darragh Hand, with actor and composer Duramaney Kamara as the on-stage DJ, and the show traces the highs and lows of a group of young Londoners navigating love, sex, sexual identity, relationship breakdown and housing insecurity. Bangers marks Cardboard Citizens' return to the London stage for the first time since 2018 (Cathy) and its first co-production with Soho Theatre, where the show will run from 14 June to 2 July (press night: 15 June). Ahead of its Soho run, Bangers will have a three-week tour (20 May to 11 June) to hostels, schools, day centres and prisons across London.

Launch Of Citz Futures Traineeship

Citz Futures Traineeship is a commitment to making the creative workforce more diverse, inclusive and reflective of wider society by driving forward change that is long overdue. This brand new national programme supports people without significant prior work experience and with experience of homelessness, poverty and inequity to take their first steps into the industry by offering paid part-time training placements. These placements offer hands-on experience of working in theatre alongside industry professionals in a range of backstage, production and administrative roles from stage management to marketing. Last month, Citz Futures opened the first round of applications for four paid part-time roles over ten weeks on Cardboard Citizens' upcoming touring production, Bangers. People were invited to apply in any way that best suited them - in a written application, through voice notes, or a filmed video - and the first of four Citz Futures trainees is announced today.

On his appointment, Citz Futures Trainee, Terell Gayle, said: "I believe that Citz Futures will become an essential part of Citz' work in the future. Over time things like this will allow people from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds to gain important skills in a professional work environment. These skills are transferable into the world of theatre and any other scene - creative or otherwise - that involves stages and more. After finishing something like this, all participants will have something notable to put on their CV that will help get them more gigs. Having all the different backstage roles in the scheme shows that there are other jobs in the industry that are viable - being a director or an actor aren't the only roles to aspire for and certainly aren't the only ones who make it work. Cardboard Citizens is a great company to run a scheme like this because they care about their members and make the effort to have all work paid at good rates, whether you have experience or not. The mentors are good at what they do, and it feels good to learn while you earn and feel like you're a part of a family while doing it".

Three more Citz Futures trainees will be announced in the coming month, and applications for the next round of placements will open later this year.

Unlocking The Power Of Live Performance With Cardboard Collective

Cardboard Collective is a brand new initiative that has been inspired by the idea that a love of live music can offer a gateway to the discovery of theatre, and that theatricality is a superpower that can be applied in myriad ways across art forms. Open to young people aged 16 to 25, Cardboard Collective is an opportunity to take an artistic interest or passion to the next level, to grow experience, skills and networks. Guided through the year by artists and leading professionals from a variety of disciplines, Cardboard Collective will demystify the mechanisms of live performance - from marketing a show to producing a gig - building towards a series of live public events in professional and community settings. The Collective will inspire boundary-breaking new creations by breaking down the borders between art forms and encouraging unexpected collaborations.

Emma Baggott, Anna Jordan And Lemn Sissay Obe Join The Relaunched Members Programme

Cardboard Citizens has run a regular workshop programme for Members since the charity was first founded in 1991. Open to anyone experiencing homelessness, poverty and inequity, the Members programme offers a range of theatre courses, masterclasses and professional qualifications, as well as bespoke advice and guidance. The entire programme is free of charge and expenses are covered by the charity to remove all financial barriers for participants. Launching as part of Chris Sonnex's first season as Artistic Director are two brand new year-long courses run as weekly sessions over three 12-week terms: Citz Writers, led by Anna Jordan, whose TV screenwriting credits include Killing Eve and Succession, and Ola Animashawun, a National Theatre Associate, former Associate Director of the Royal Court, and founder of their Young Writers Programme; and Theatre Making, an introduction to acting, directing and movement, led by Emma Baggott (Almeida, RSC, The Bunker). The monthly drop-in session, Routes into the Arts, will bring together guest speakers from across the industry to share their insights and experiences on building careers in the arts, and the fun and creativity-focused monthly Community drop-in session, co-curated by Members, will enjoy a one-off masterclass from Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard, Emmerdale) and from the BAFTA nominated and multi-award-winning writer, Lemn Sissay OBE.

Looking further ahead, Cardboard Citizens has commissioned a new play from Vinnie Heaven (She's A Good Boy, Charmane) on the youth trans housing crisis. Further details will be announced later in the year.

To find out more about the Spring/Summer 2022 programme: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/whats-on/

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