Bijan Sheibani Bids Farewell To ATC

Bijan Sheibani has announced his resignation after three and a half outstanding years as artistic director of ATC, one of the UK's leading touring theatre companies. He will remain in his post until the 1st September.

Since Bijan joined ATC in 2007, the company has toured throughout London, the UK and abroad with contemporary, international and culturally diverse work. He has developed its reputation as the producer of fresh, bold works, which have brought together both new and established talents, spearheaded new co-production partnerships and overseen a move to East London as part of ATC's commitment to engaging with new and younger audiences with the ultimate aim to make the work accessible to all.

His first production for ATC, The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney, was co-produced by The Young Vic and nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre (Young Vic). It toured across the UK, ran in London at the Young Vic and played at the Grec Festival in Barcelona picking up Best International Production by the Association of Spanish Critics. Bijan received an Olivier Award for his production of Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje, leading to the Royal Court and ATC co-producing the revival in summer 2008 performing at the Royal Court and across London to The Albany and Hackney Empire extending ATC's reach to enable new audiences to see the production. Bijan's production of Ibsen's Ghosts or Those Who Return in a new version by Rebecca Lenkiewicz co-produced with Hackney's Arcola Theatre has earned its lead actor Harry Lloyd a nomination for The Ian Charleson Award and his co-production with The Drum Theatre Plymouth and Young Vic of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice has recently completed a national tour and Young Vic run. It is currently playing at the Grec Festival in Barcelona.

In addition to his theatre productions Bijan developed Spin Off, an important strand of ATC's work that runs throughout the process and performance of all their productions in a variety of ways. The aim of Spin Off is to open up the work to the audience, contextualise it and make it more accessible both regionally, across London and within ATC's immediate community in Hackney and Tower Hamlets where their youth participation programme ACT@ATC has been running for a year.

Bijan will be pursuing his freelance career which includes his new post as associate director of The National Theatre.

ATC's next work will be a co-production with Soho Theatre of Ivan and The Dogs by By Hattie Naylor directed by ATC's Artistic Associate Ellen McDougall. This will tour nationally and run at Soho Theatre this autumn.

The post of artistic director will be open to applications from Monday June 28th.

ATC Chair - Maria Delgado says
"Bijan leaves us with our very best wishes and we thank him for his dedication, hard work and commitment to making and touring innovative theatre across England and beyond,".

"On behalf of the Board, I wish him every success in his career and we thank him for all his brilliant work, his innovations and inspiration. We will miss him but we look forward to moving to a new era in the company's history".

Bijan Sheibani says

"It has been a privilege to lead a company with such a rich and diverse history through to its 30th year, and to have had the opportunity to take plays around the country and into Europe.

I look forward to the continued growth of the company within London, regionally and internationally, and to seeing the expansion of the work we have begun with younger audiences and theatre artists in Hackney and Tower Hamlets where ATC are now based."

A huge thank you to the artists, co-producers, theatre-makers and audiences who have been part of ATC during my time here".
www.atctheatre.com