The Watermill Recveals Details Of Artists Who Will Take Part In New Talent Development Programme

The Watermill Theatre has announced details of the four artists who will take part in their new talent development programme. Elemental is part of the Watermill Theatre's ongoing commitment to creating long-term, meaningful investment in artists and creatives. The unique programme, made possible thanks to core funding from Backstage Trust, spans the spectrum of creative roles, and the theatre has received over 150 applications since the launch in June this year.

 

The artists chosen are lighting designer Nicola Crawford (she/her), sound designer Pierre Flasse (he/him), Jacob Wu (he/him), a theatre designer and scenographer and Tyler Holland, a director and writer.

 

The programme offers the following elements to the chosen Elemental Artists:

 

• Six sessions with a practising industry mentor in their relevant field, providing one-to-one support, advice, and networking opportunities.
• The opportunity to work on a main house show at The Watermill during their 2024-25 season, an assistant working directly with a creative as part of the show's team.
• Tickets to watch all Watermill shows throughout the year to build connections and widen cultural experience.
• Support and resource to develop their practise further through ongoing CPD.

 

Tyler Holland – who will be working as assistant director on the forthcoming production of The King's Speech - is a director and writer from the West-Midlands. Specialising in new writing and radical re-imaginings of classic texts, Tyler's work brings voice and communication to the forefront of their practice through the lens of magical realism. Tyler's writing has been nominated for the both the PapaTango and Bruntwood Prize.

Tyler said: “As someone who believes theatre serves to congregate and not to segregate, I am so excited to be beginning a new relationship with The Watermill Theatre. I'm a theatre-maker from rural England who stammers, so I'm going to begin new conversations surrounding the voice, communication and what it means to be fluent and dis-fluent in provincial regions. Elemental provides the incredible opportunity to begin that discourse by assisting on The King's Speech, a story incredibly personal to my own experiences, before continuing that conversation through sustained mentoring, time and space to develop new ideas for future life.”

Nicola Crawford, originating from Gloucestershire, is a lighting designer. She is passionate about creating personal, contemporary designs with an intelligent use of colour and layering to tell stories. Her work as an associate/assistant lighting designer helped her gain experience on larger scale productions, working with and learning from designers such as Ben Cracknell, Zoe Spurr and Nic Farman.

 

Nicola said, “I'm really excited to be an Elemental artist this year. I'm looking forward to working with other early years creatives and seeing how we all grow with the Watermill.”

 

Pierre Flasse is a British/Belgian sound designer, composer, performer and educator. He is an artist that channels intuition and vulnerability into his sound, transcending genres and resonating deeply with audiences. He is an avid collaborator and theatre maker, composer's assistant to Sally Potter OBE, and writes for numerous originals projects.

Pierre said: “I'm absolutely thrilled to be an Elemental artist with the Watermill. I really feel my style of creating and learning resonates really closely with the Watermill's approach to theatre, and I can't wait to get started collaborating and working with them in the programme. I'm really looking forward to having an opportunity to shadow and learn from the in-house technical team here, and also to experiment with my own design in all the opportunities there are to do that: with the other creatives on the programme, with a mentor, and assisting on a show!”

Jacob Wu is a theatre designer and a scenographer from Hong Kong. He was trained in Scenography (MFA, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), complementing his academic foundation in Set and Costume Design acquired in his hometown. Jacob's work explores the intricate relationship between migration, diaspora and their living space. His work was staged at numerous venues, including the Museum of Home and the Crypt Gallery. His performative workshop Be Right Back explores from the lens of children in perceiving the uncertainties of a daunting world way larger than them; the piece was staged at the Stockholm Fringe Festival 2023 and won the Audience Choice Award. Apart from his previous residency as a set designer at Chung Ying Theatre Company (HK), Jacob has crafted site-specific installations and assisted in the design of Giselle for the National Ballet of Japan (2022). Currently, Jacob also serves as a Specialist Technician at Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL, where he works with students to hone their skills in model making and set design and supervises technical workshops.

Jacob commented: “I'm thrilled and honoured to have been selected as an Elemental Artist. This programme provides an incredible platform to hone my skills and explore new creative endeavours, pushing the boundaries of what I can achieve. I'm excited to work with an amazing team and learn from my cohort, who come from different disciplines. I also find that the Watermill Theatre is deeply rooted in the community, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.”

 

Artistic Director Paul Hart said, “We have absolutely loved meeting a whole host of brilliant creatives for this programme. It was difficult to whittle it down to just four successful artists, but I hope it's enabled artists to know that we are an open door to creative talent across the UK. So many artists have honed their craft in this creative hub of a venue, and it's been brilliant to launch this brand-new campaign to formalise how we work with this group of creatives who truly are major voices in the future of British theatre.”

Further details of projects each artist will be attached to will be announced. Applications for the 2025 Elemental programme will be open in the spring.

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