Paines Plough Announces Autumn Plans

Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner, Joint Artistic Directors of Paines Plough, today announce the company's plans for Autumn 2020. Performance plans include a two week new theatre festival THE PLACE I CALL HOME which will run from 19th October - 31st October. Delivered via Instagram, Zoom, email, WhatsApp and good old-fashioned post the digital festival of new writing features brand-new international plays co-written by writers from across Europe and delivered via multiple mediums. Alongside there will be free online workshops for new actors, writers, directors and producers, including an online version of their long-standing Open Auditions project and open access Q&A's with nationally celebrated playwrights. Paines Plough also announce two new board members today, Corey Campbell and Asma Hussain.

Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner, Joint Artistic Directors of Paines Plough said: "At the start of lockdown none of us anticipated the enormity of the impact that these times would have on each and every one of us. This unimagined world we now live in has highlighted that there is no same experience for anyone. This playful new digital festival celebrates difference; sharing how this time has been for different artists across Europe as well as allowing us to experiment with how we can create different theatrical digital experiences to continue to tell stories. It allows us to shine a light on the incredible artists we have worked with during these turbulent times as well as to continue to reach out to meet new artists to work with in the future. We so proud to share these international collaborations that have enabled us to use storytelling to cross borders and barriers and we are excited to throw open our digital doors to meet new theatre artists through our workshop programme."

Three bilingual international collaborations will headline THE PLACE I CALL HOME, commissioned in March at the start of lockdown to connect writers and theatres across Europe during a time of isolation.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF STRUGGLE is a collaboration by Dipo Baruwa-Etti (London, UK) and Calle Fuhr (Dortmund, Germany) spanning 1928 to 2020 across both countries and containing six short stories of hope and endurance in English and in German. Audiences can sign up with their phone number to receive daily links over six days via WhatsApp inviting them into five-minute snapshots of imagined conversations between people in both London and Dortmund. The UK-based cast includes Bella Maclean, Daniel Adeosun, Martyn Hodge, Phia Saban and Sophie Doyle final year students from Guildhall School of Music and Drama. German cast includes: Cosima Shaw, Jan Pohl, Kristin Atherton, Markus Von Lingen, Nenda Neururer and Peter Stark.

IN TANDEM by Travis Alabanza (London, UK) and Magdalena Zarębska-Wegrzyn (Krakow, Poland) invites audiences to experience couples in lockdown in both locations in English and in Polish. In London it's online Drag Queen Zumba lessons, keeping plants alive, a drastic lack of PPE and family relationships maintained via video calls, whilst in Poland we follow a couple stuck in the same home trying to find a way through lockdown together. Audiences will be invited to sign up via email to receive personal invites to gain an insight into these two couples' lives over the course of a week. Cast includes Sharon D. Clarke, Patrycja Durska, Leanne Henlon (final year LAMDA student) and Paweł Kumięga. A co-production between Paines Plough and Theatre Ludowy, Krakow.

The final play, POSTA AEREA, is by Giuditta Mingucci and Rosie MacPherson and produced by Paines Plough, Elsinor Centro di Produzione Teatrale in Milan, and Stand & Be Counted Theatre in the UK. For this, audiences will receive their own bespoke package delivered through the letterbox, created by the two teenagers that the story follows, Aisha and Tania. After meeting on an Italian beach as teenagers, we find them a year later living in Sheffield and Riccione re-connecting as pen pals. The stories are told in English and Italian.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF STRUGGLE, IN TANDEM and POSTA AEREA are all directed by Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner.

As part of the digital festival Paines Plough will also hold Open Auditions on Zoom to meet actors previously unknown to Paines Plough and, this time, specifically actors who are unrepresented by agents. As ever, the auditions are not for a particular production and applications for auditions will open on Tuesday 6th October and close on Tuesday 13th October.

The wider workshop programme will include: a Q&A with Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner on story-telling, focusing on eliminating barriers around being a writer and offering insight into how writers can connect with Paines Plough; an in-depth panel on creating a more inclusive approach to dramaturgy; a session on applying to jobs in the arts with Paines Plough Trainee Director Kaleya Baxe; a Deafinitely-led panel discussion on the use of BSL in productions; a Producing workshop on how to self-produce as an artist and how to work with independent artists.

Paines Plough announces a new dramaturgy-focused project to broaden their pool of supporting practitioners, as part of their commitment to growing an industry that is representative. RE:ASSEMBLE will be a professional development programme where groups will collectively identify, challenge and evolve existing dramaturgical systems and practice. The programme is in association with 45North and will take place over six months. Applications open on 1st October and close on 26th October. Information for applicants can be found on the Paines Plough website.

The second scheme, RE:BUILD, is a package of support for two theatre companies over an initial six-month attachment in the hope to support them to build their resilience and strengthen their strategic plans in the current climate. The project will be specifically for theatre companies who have an interest in working nationally and in new work, who do not currently have the support of a Producer and who have a focus on underrepresented voices. The offer is part of the company's commitment to actively finding ways to engage with and support underrepresented voices and artists.

Applications open on Monday 5th October and close on Wednesday 28th October. Information for applicants can be found on the Paines Plough website.

Paines Plough announced two dynamic and visionary new board members, Corey Campbell and Asma Hussain.

Corey Campbell is the Artistic Director of Strictly Arts Theatre Company, Co-Artistic Director of the Belgrade Theatre and Honorary Member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He is an international performer director and practitioner. Corey is currently working on digital TV series SeaView

Asma Hussain (she/her) is a fundraising professional with over 10 years of experience of securing major gifts for the arts and charity sectors. Her skills cut across trusts and foundations, individual giving, events and corporate fundraising. Her previous roles in the arts include Trusts & Foundations Manager at the Royal Opera House, and Development Manager at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Most recently, she was Head of Fundraising at a national social change charity, Campaign Bootcamp. She is currently studying an MA in Postcolonial Studies at SOAS, London. Asma is also Trustee of Queen's Theatre Hornchurch and Chair of its first Fundraising Board, and also Chair of AWA DANCE.

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