Out Of Joint Announces STOCKROOM Writers

Leading UK theatre company Out of Joint today announces the line-up of for Stockroom, a diverse collective of salaried writers charged creating work that is challenging, relevant and popular. This new initiative aims to redefine the process of making theatre for the mid-scale by abandoning the traditional model of commissioning individual playwrights and replacing it with a semi-permanent group of creatives from a variety of artistic backgrounds to make collaborative new work for the company to produce.

In response to a nationwide recruitment drive which took place in the autumn of 2021, Out of Joint received over 750 applications for the initiative. Through a thorough and rigorous selection process, six writers representing a wide variety of skillsets have now been appointed. They are, writer and visual artist Maheni Arthur, Goldsmith's graduate and theatre maker Georgia Crowther, actor, writer and director Tonderai Munyevu, award-winning comedian, writer, composer and actor Vikki Stone, film and stage writer and director Isaac Tomiczek and playwright Chris York.

Working closely with the artistic director Kate Wasserberg and Executive Producer Martin Derbyshire, the Stockroom team will share their areas of expertise to respond to clear and exact briefs. Work will begin immediately with the creation of two digital projects for the summer followed by a major new stage work for 2022. Details of these will be announced at a later date.

All Stockroom creatives will be on the Out of Joint payroll with no one paid less than half of the highest wage in the company. Stockroom's long-term ambition is to create four new works a year for the stage, both on a commission and self-generating basis. Out of Joint Theatre Company has worked with the Writer's Guild of Great Britain to maintain and uphold the agreed commissioning term already laid out by UK Theatre and WGGB and will adhere to these conditions under a new agreement with WGGB ensuring that all rights and royalties remain with the artists themselves.

Kate Wasserberg says:

'I am very excited to be announcing our first-ever group of Stockroom writers. The wealth of talent from those who applied was unbelievable, and I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the process. Stockroom contains writers who are also actors, video artists, musicians, comedians and poets. With an eighteen-month contract and a guaranteed income, I hope this project creates a radical permission structure for our writers to give us their bravest, most joyous work.'

We certainly didn't imagine that we would begin Stockroom in lockdown, not being able to gather in a room together. Remote working has its challenges, but the next few months will be a gift we are rarely given in theatre - time to explore without pressure. We will invite incredible guests to work with us and expand our thinking; we will get to know each other and how we want to work. This time will allow us to dream up projects and build the team to lead Out of Joint through the next two years. We will make work for right now, and plan work for the future. I can't wait.

Martin Derbyshire says

"While theatre is always collaborative and many people work in groups to create new writing, we believe that putting six writers on payroll during a time like this is a radical approach to the challenges that theatre is facing and will face over the coming years. We're committed to putting writers first and getting unrepresented voices onto the main stages around the country"

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