After two and a half years as Executive Director of Stage Directors UK, Harold Finley is stepping down to pursue his career as a freelance theatre director. In his time at SDUK he has overseen the initial transition to a trade union and has grown...
Incredibly, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival is a quarter of a millennium old this year. The multi-arts event is celebrating its 250th anniversary in style, with seventeen days of music, performance, circus, literature, outdoor art, and outreach programmes, spread out across Norwich and the county...
In partnership with PiPA Session 1: Thu, 19 May 2022, 12.00 to 13.30 on Zoom An action-oriented round table with invited panelists. These sessions are open to both members and non-members of SDUK. What can we do individually and together to support theatre directors who are mothers and/or have...
Samantha Lane remembers the moment she realised she wanted to work in the performing arts. She was thirteen – or around that age, she says – and a touring show visited her high school. “It was called Too Much Punch For Judy and it was about...
Tentatively peeking over the parapet of the Pandemic, I’m struck by how much has changed. Finances are tighter, priorities have changed, and things feel a lot more fragile than they did two years ago. Is it safe to come out yet? I’m also struck by how...
Careers in the arts do not come much more varied than that of Laila Diallo. The Canadian-born, Bristol-based dancer, choreographer and movement director has worked extensively both on stage and off, both in front of the camera and behind it, both across the UK and...
On March 23rd 2020 - my birthday and the day the country shut down - I sat down to a take away dinner with my housemate. Like so many working in the creative industries our worlds had shrunk to the square footage of our flat,...
We know that we have some Choreographers and Movement Directors already in SDUK membership, and are grateful to those who have helped us to understand your place in the theatre ecology. We want to promise Choreographers and Movement Directors a stronger voice within the industry, and...
For Naomi Alexander, setting up a theatre company was not about having a stage to showcase work, or providing a platform to other artists, or achieving commercial success. When Alexander founded Brighton People’s Theatre in 2015, it was, she says, an attempt to solve a...
THE CENSUS IS NOW CLOSED. A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO COMPLETED IT! We are delighted to launch the UK Stage Directors Census 2022. We encourage all UK based stage directors, both members and non-members, of SDUK to complete the census and to spread the word...
SDUK Resilience SDUK Resilience was research funded by Arts Council England to explore what a freelance career would look like post-Covid. You can read the full research alongside supporting articles and advice at https://sdukresilience.com ...
Hello from Edinburgh. Having lived and worked in Scotland for over 20 years, I joined the SDUK board because I felt that the perspective of directors living and working here needed to be represented. However, working as a freelance director, as AD of a tiny, independent...
The Directors Charitable Foundation has teamed up with Mind, the mental health charity, and their Mental Health at Work site, to create a new online resource specifically for stage and screen directors. The pages include advice, support and resources, as well as a blog where...
Dr Sita Thomas left her native Wales when she was sixteen to pursue more opportunities to work in theatre and the arts. Fifteen years on, she has returned as artistic director of Cardiff-based company Fio Theatre, and is determined to provide aspiring Welsh theatremakers with...
A brief break from our 'A Sense of Direction' blogs this week, to introduce you to our new General Manager, Tanja Raaste: -- Although I only became a theatre producer after forays into other careers, I now realise that those puppet shows I put on at 10...
When Tom Hescott, outgoing executive director first heard about the founding of a new professional trade organisation for stage directors several years ago, he thought it was a terrible plan. “Yeah, I thought it was a really bad idea,” Hescott laughs. “I didn’t see a need...
Assistant director. Associate director. Resident director. These job titles are familiar to anyone working in the performing arts industry. They have appeared in productions and programmes for decades and provided entry points into the industry for generations of emerging artists. Despite this, though, there is scant...
Five years ago, few people had heard of intimacy co-ordination, or intimacy direction. Ten years ago, the job did not even exist – and when you think about it, says Louise Kempton, that is quite astonishing. “You would never have a fight on stage and not...
SOLT and UK Theatre have released an updated version of their 10 Principles for creating safe and inclusive working spaces in the theatre industry, to prevent and challenge bullying, harassment and discrimination. We at SDUK along with 20 other leading industry trade bodies, membership organisations, unions...
When it comes to staging plays, there are four different types of director, says Anthony Clark: the deferential director, the daring director, the deviant director, and the director’s director. Each has their particular passion, and each has their particular professional approach. “Deferential directors will try and...
As a child, Harold Finley played with chess sets. He would position the pieces on the board. He would observe the angles and interactions between them. He would act out stories with them. Looking back, the incoming executive director of SDUK says, it seems obvious...
How do you get a job? In most industries, the answer is obvious. You see a vacancy, you send in an application, you go for an interview, and you cross your fingers. In the performing arts, though, things are rarely that simple: it is usually...
Kane Husbands, artistic director of award-winning physical theatre company ThePappyShow, likes to play. A rehearsal day run by him usually starts with an hour long “check-in”, during which the whole ensemble contributes to a group discussion on a relevant topic. Then, he explains, there is...
We are thrilled to announce that Harold Finley has been appointed as SDUK’s new Executive Director. Harold and Thomas Hescott will work together for the rest of 2021 to ensure a smooth handover. Thomas will step away at the end of the year, and comments,...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Kate Waters – AKA Kombat Kate – has had dozens of actors killed. She has had them shot. She has had them stabbed. She has had one drowned in a fish...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] As an Artistic Director, you often feel you have to be indestructible. As a person with a certain amount of power, you should hold yourself to a high standard. Just occasionally, though, things get tough, and the pressure...
Stage Directors UK is inviting proposals for new leadership to work alongside Thomas Hescott to create a new transformative vision for the future of SDUK and for theatre and opera directors in the UK. You might be an arts administrator or a producer. You could be...
Since 2017, Wales has been my home, initially working here as an Associate Director within a building, and then afterwards remaining here as a freelancer. Due to this I have an insight into both sides of the process for theatre directors, and as we now...
Hello, Firstly I want to say thank you to all the members for voting me onto the board – and in turn I would like to thank Tom for reaching out and asking me to be co-chair alongside Matthew Dunster. The proposition was too good to...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hello I feel very privileged to be writing to you all as the new co-chair of SDUK, alongside the brilliant Pooja Ghai. Pooja will write and say 'hi' next month. SDUK membership has...
We're thrilled to offer up some festive cheer with this month's SDUK Podcast - a chat with Director Zoe Waterman on all things Panto! [buzzsprout episode='6999469' player='true']...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]We've just published the second episode of the SDUK Podcast! This episode features Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre, Paul Miller, in conversation with SDUK's Executive Director Thomas Hescott. [buzzsprout episode='6342355'...
We are delighted to announce that the SDUK board have appointed Matthew Dunster and Pooja Ghai as Co-Chairs, taking over from Kate Saxon as outgoing Chair Pooja and Matthew’s collective experience as directors, their knowledge and links to partner organisations, and their ambitions for SDUK mean that...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are VERY excited to launch the SDUK Podcast! We want to reach directors across the UK, which, pandemic aside, is difficult to do meaningfully. We have hosted many events in...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]As theatre makers, our reality was turned upside down in March. The questions we are now grappling with are overwhelming: what can we do to survive the pandemic, keep audiences engaged, artists working...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are delighted to be publishing our Forever Emerging report looking at the current landscape for theatre directors in Wales. The report was commissioned by SDUK and Arts Council Wales, and...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] COVID-19: Routes to recovery - an evidence-based study of the freelance theatre workforce This report was created by an unaffiliated group of analysts and theatre freelancers. It includes data gathered by SDUK, Freelancers Make Theatre Work and Curtain Call through the...
Over the past couple of months SDUK has been working to ensure that the freelance workforce is protected, and represented. As part of our work we are releasing some research into the importance of the freelance workforce in the creative sector, and also into a variety...
As the Executive Director of Stage Directors UK I am dismayed that the Chancellor's plans to offer economic support to the nation through the current worldwide crisis offer little protection for the self employed. There is a stark contrast between the governments plan to protect 80%...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]The international outbreak of Covid-19 (Novel Coronavirus) will undoubtedly affect the lives of working directors and their creative colleagues. It's business as usual for SDUK, as we work remotely and can...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Among an array of disappointing findings from Arts Council England’s latest diversity report, one statistic stood out as particularly shocking: the percentage of disabled workers in National Portfolio Organisations is 6%, compared with 21% in the national working-age...
Kate Guelke was recipient of an SDUK Mentoring Bursary in 2019: I’m going to be honest. I can count on my hand how many times – as a director – I have actually spoken to a designer. The scale of the productions I do mean that...
In October last year, a revival of Arinze Kene’s Little Baby Jesus opened at Orange Tree Theatre to rave reviews. Four stars from Time Out and The Arts Desk. Five stars from The Stage. Five stars from The Guardian. The director showered with such praise...
SDUK wholeheartedly welcomes the formation of the Jewish Artists' Collective and the vital discussions their recent statements have provoked (see HERE for coverage in The Stage). We acknowledge the statistics quoted in the original open letter stating that Jews form a minority in the UK. We...
We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Ivor Benjamin. Ivor was not only a well-respected director of theatre, but a tireless campaigner for directors’ rights, supporter and member of SDUK, and was heavily involved in the work of both the Directors Guild of Great...