Michael Grandage today announces the recipients of the eighth year of MGCfutures Bursaries, awarded across a range of theatrical disciplines including directing, writing, production, design, theatre-making, and for the first time this year, a theatrical tailor. A registered charity, MGCfutures offers both financial and ongoing mentoring support to the recipients who come from across the UK. The bursaries programme was launched in 2016 for theatre practitioners who show a commitment to their chosen career and look to progress to the next stage of their development.
The new recipients were shared in a video on social media by Luke Evans, who joins the charity as a patron, having recently appeared in Backstairs Billy - directed by Grandage, alongside Penelope Wilton who also joins as a patron.
Evans said: “MGCfutures has done excellent work over the last ten years supporting theatre makers at pivotal moments in their careers and today, I am excited to have the opportunity to introduce the new bursary recipients.”
This year’s recipients are: Rachel Bellman in a joint project with Eden Tredwell, Layla Bradbeer, Ben Kulvichit and Clara Potter-Sweet as Emergency Chorus, Emma Higham, Jack MacGregor, Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, Rebecca Prentice, Eleanor Sikorski, Virginie Taylor, and Xana; andDavid Wood , who receives The Stephanie Arditti Bursary for costume makers, and Cai Kennedy, who becomes Derby Theatre’s Engagement Communications Producer. MGCfutures patron Nicole Kidman continues her generous support by gifting a bursary designed to support women in the theatre industry which this year goes to director Imy Wyatt Corner.
Theatre Director and MGCfutures founder Michael Grandage said today, “In this, our eighth year of the bursary programme, we’re delighted to welcome a further 13 recipients to the futuresfamily, now standing at more than 150 members in total. This year’s diverse group of practitioners represents a broad range of specialist skills in the theatre industry: three writers, a producer, a director, a video designer, a sound artist, a choreographer and three theatre makers, as well as our first theatrical tailor and a new traineeship at Derby Theatre. It's clear that the need for the unique support that we offer is increasingly urgent. In these uncertain times it’s really tough for those trying to establish their careers, and it’s vital that we nurture and support new talent in order to help them become established in the theatre industry.”
EMERGENCY CHORUS (BEN KULVICHIT AND CLARA POTTER-SWEET)
“We’re absolutely thrilled to receive an MGCfutures Bursary. We’ll be using it for some research and development towards a stage work, Something In Your Voice, and expanding our choreographic practice through a new collaboration with dance artists Hannah Parsons and Lorea Burge. We can’t wait to get cracking.”
JACK MACGREGOR
“The support of the MGCfutures Bursary will allow me to complete the first draft of a new political drama about the 1928 Achnacarry oil conference. Funds like MGCfutures celebrate the role of individual artists who often work unsalaried and outside of buildings. MGCfutures empower freelancers directly, giving us the support needed to make work.”
REBECCA PRENTICE
“It is incredibly meaningful to receive support at this stage in a producing career and the bursary will support an important time of upskilling and developing my commercial practice. The bursary will increase my capacity to support artists through the development process of a script about a lesbian activist with AIDS in the 80s.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
FULL LIST OF BURSARY RECIPIENTS
RACHEL BELLMAN - WRITER/EDEN TREDWELL – COMPOSER
Rachel and Eden will use the bursary to research, develop and write a new musical about the Jewish immigrants behind the cosmetic trade in Renaissance Italy.
LAYLA BRADBEER – DESIGNER
The bursary will allow Layla to conduct an R&D exploring the language of puppetry and design in a show for children that explores different art movements through history.
IMY WYATT CORNER – DIRECTOR (NICOLE KIDMAN BURSARY)
Imy’s bursary will help her develop a new play about the woman who conned her way into the all-male secret society of magicians The Magic Circle.
EMERGENCY CHORUS – THEATRE MAKERS (BEN KULVICHIT AND CLARA POTTER-SWEET)
The bursary will provide Emergency Chorus with resources to workshop an ambitious stage work about surveillance and privacy in collaboration with dancers.
EMMA HIGHAM – THEATRE MAKER
The bursary will support Emma to create The Girl and the Dinosaur, a sea-inspired, family show including workshops at Worthing Children’s Hospital.
CAI KENNEDY - ENGAGEMENT COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCER (DERBY THEATRE BURSARY PLACEMENT)
Cai Kennedy will receive training as Derby Theatre’s first Engagement Communications Producer, working with theatre makers, artists, participants and community members to diversify and extend their communications.
JACK MACGREGOR – WRITER
The bursary will enable Jack to research and write a play about the 1928 Achnacarry Agreement, a secret meeting between the world’s major oil companies to divide up global energy markets.
JASMIN MANDI-GHOMI – WRITER
Jasmin will use the bursary to write a new play set in a haunted pub, exploring concepts of home within both Iranian and Traveller diasporic communities in Yorkshire.
REBECCA PRENTICE – PRODUCER
The bursary will assist Rebecca and her production company Prentice Productions to develop a new show about Joan Baker, a lesbian AIDS activist in the 80s, strengthening her skills as a theatre producer.
ELEANOR SIKORSKI – CHOREOGRAPHER
Eleanor will employ the bursary to explore hand operated chain-reaction contraptions (aka Rube Goldberg machines) as scenography for dance, establishing herself as a director of group choreography.
VIRGINIE TAYLOR - VIDEO DESIGNER
The bursary will fund Virginie to learn the media platform Disguise, the industry standard for high-end video design.
DAVID WOOD - THEATRICAL TAYLOR (THE STEPHANIE ARDITTI BURSARY)
David’s bursary will support him to set up his own costume making and tailoring studio for theatre and performance.
XANA - SOUND DESIGNER/COMPOSER
The bursary will allow Xana to develop a musical audio play exploring the story of the Maroon warrior Queen Nanny of Jamaica, incorporating a haptic vest to improve accessibility.
MGCfutures is grateful for the support of Ken and Lin Craig and The PwC Foundation.
