Welsh theatre-makers selected for flagship development programme
Nation.Cymru Staff
Fifteen theatre-makers from across Wales have been selected for a new artist development programme designed to support the next generation of creative talent.
Stiwdio Clwyd, Wales’ National Artist Development Studio, announced the first cohort of artists for Sparks, the flagship programme designed to support theatre-makers through development funded by Arts Council Wales.
Created in response to conversations with freelance creatives across Wales, Sparks brings together fifteen Welsh and Wales-based theatre-makers working in both English and Welsh.
The programme supports artists in questioning their existing practice, offering time, resources, and mentorship to make change and help them build sustainable creative careers.
Sparks is delivered through three distinct strands:
- Sparks Open offers participants mentorship alongside a residency at Theatr Clwyd.
- Sparks Mini provides a six-month paid mentorship programme for artists seeking focused development support.
- Sparks Partnership is delivered in collaboration with six Welsh arts organisations: Fran Wen, Theatr Cymru, RCTC, Loyalty Arts, Jhoom, and Welsh National Opera.
Together, it is hoped these strands will build dynamic, long-term infrastructure to impact the future of theatre-making in Wales.
The newly announced cohort includes:
- Complicité associate Catherine Alexander,
- Lighting designer Katy Morrison
- Gagglebabble co-founder and composer Lucy Rivers
- Award-winning performance poet Tia Camilleri
- Community arts theatre-maker Felicity Goodman
- Inter-disciplinary artist and disability rights activist Jeremy Linnell
- Multi-disciplinary artist Gwen Thomson
- Movement practitioners Anthony Matsena, Jodi Ann Nicholson and David Bolitho
- Designer Lois Prys
- Bilingual poet Clare Potter
- Writer-performers Leo Drayton, Nia Gandhi and Teleri Hughes
The mentors for include multi-award-winning playwrights Chris Bush and Kaite O’Reilly, acclaimed directors Blanche McIntyre, Jude Christian and Steffan Donnelly, and industry-leading lighting designer Bruno Poet.
Suzanne Bell, Director of Stiwdio Clwyd, said: “Artists across Wales told us what they needed: time and space to develop without the pressure to produce.
“We’re proud that this inaugural cohort represents the breadth and ambition of theatre-making in Wales, working alongside so many vital organisations and extraordinary mentors.”
The programme is supported by Arts Council Wales.
Stiwdio Clwyd is Wales’ National Artist Development Studio. Although based in Flintshire’s Theatr Clwyd its programme takes place across Wales and digitally. Stiwdio Clwyd is led by the award-winning dramaturg Suzanne Bell, formerly of Manchester Royal Exchange and Liverpool Everyman. Find out more here.
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