Artistic Director Paul Hart To Form The Watermill Ensemble

After the success of receNT Productions, The Watermill's Artistic Director, Paul Hart, will form a resident Shakespeare company at the theatre. The Watermill has a reputation for producing exciting Shakespeare and Hart's productions of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night, currently in the final week of an international tour playing in repertoire, have recently returned to the theatre.

Romeo and Juliet was Hart's first production as Artistic Director in 2016 and featured a young company of multi-talented performers, including accomplished actor-musicians, with a 50:50 gender split. The aim of The Watermill Ensemble is to combine Shakespeare's texts and live music to create new versions of the plays which will tour. They will also form part of The Watermill's education programme.

Announcing the new ensemble Hart says:

'The Watermill has always been the most wonderfully nurturing place to create work and the space itself forces you to think outside the box. We've found it's the perfect environment to create productions that are bold, fresh and irreverent. I've loved making work with the casts of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night and we can't wait to get back into rehearsals to try something new. I think a good ensemble forces everyone in the room to up their game and be experimental.'

Next year The Watermill Ensemble will create a new production to be announced, with discussions underway about bringing back the current shows.

The creative team for curreNT Productions is: Paul Hart, director; Katie Lias, designer; Tom Jackson Greaves, movement; Tom White, lighting; David Gregory, sound and Abigail Pickard-Price as associate director.

Current company members are: Victoria Blunt, Peter Dukes, Aruhan Galieva, Rebecca Lee, Emma McDonald, Offue Okegbe, Lauryn Redding, Jamie Satterthwaite, Mike Slader and Stuart Wilde.

This year the company have toured to York, Guildford, Norwich, Salisbury, Cheltenham, Wolverhampton, Oxford and Neuss Shakespeare Festival Germany with support from Arts Council England and Neal's Yard Remedies who were Principal Sponsor of the UK Tour.

Photo credit: Philip Tull

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