Actors Touring Company Announces New Trustees

ACTORS TOURING COMPANY, the UK's leading producer of international plays strengthens its board and announces the appointment of four new trustees - Steven Kavuma, Margherita Laera, Allegra Nespoli and Nick Tyler.

They join the current trustees Geraldine Brodie, Sudha Buchar, Maria M Delgado, Alan Evans, Sarah Grochala, Sanpreet Janjua and Vincent Keaveny, at a time when the organisation embarks on its first major UK tour (10 weeks across 9 venues) of award-winning Australian playwright Michele Lee's Rice, following an almost two-year pandemic-enforced hiatus.

The new trustees bring a raft of professional skills and lived experience which will further strengthen ATC's reputation as the leading commissioner of plays by writers from global cultures within the UK and as a producer of international plays. ATC's latest commission Family Tree, written by Mojisola Adebayo, was recently announced the winner of the prestigious Alfred Fagon 2021 Award.

Geraldine Brodie, ATC's chair said: "Since the pandemic, ATC has collaborated with 5 peer theatre companies to commission 18 writers, put 11 performances online, sent letters of hope to 600 participants worldwide, and produced two live productions: one UK premiere and one world premiere employing 60 freelance workers. There is no doubt that with the addition of Steven Kavuma, Margherita Laera, Allegra Nespoli and Nick Tyler, our board will be in an even stronger position to support ATC's vision to champion unheard voices and produce brave theatre that nourishes hearts and minds at a vital time when our fragile world needs to feel connected more than ever."

Matthew Xia, ATC's award-winning Artistic Director added: "It's been a tumultuous time for everyone in theatre but I feel the breadth of experience this board brings will help us to continue with renewed focus and energy our mission to commission and produce plays which challenge and inspire and highlight the shared humanity across continents."

Writer and Director Steven Kavuma comments: "I love ATC's work and I'm really excited to be joining such an outward facing, forward facing and truly representative theatre company under the leadership of artistic director Matthew Xia. I hope my input will help to support its ambition to further connect with communities beyond London, touring important plays by exciting and dynamic writers from both within the UK and internationally."

Margherita Laera added: "As a scholar of theatre translation and an advocate for the value of staging international plays, I am thrilled that, under Matthew Xia's artistic directorship, the organisation champions the work of contemporary women playwrights of Black and Global Majority heritage from around the world, who are still underrepresented on stage. The theatre is a place where we learn to honour and respect the stories of others, and where we learn to care about them, no matter which part of the planet they take place in. I look forward to supporting ATC in bringing challenging, timely and moving new work to the next generations of local and global audiences."

Theatre and live events producer Allegra Nespoli said: "I am honoured to be joining the board of ATC, whose work providing a platform to underrepresented voices is vital. I have always admired ATC's ethos of exploring cross-cultural perspectives and bringing them to British audiences, and I am very excited to play a part in its mission."

Professor Nick Tyler, who is a leading academic in the field of performance arts and the built environment, added: "This is a period of great challenge for the theatre world and ATC's special place in it in particular. I am looking forward to working with the company in the transition from the present challenges towards an exciting future."

Actors Touring Company is a National Portfolio Organisation and is funded by the Arts Council. Its Signature Productions include The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney, due to be revived on Broadway in 2022, Amsterdam by Maya Arad Yasur in 2019, the debut of ATC's Artistic Director Matthew Xia. Dear Tomorrow, by 13 playwrights from around the globe during lockdown (online with Northern Stage) and 2021 Alfred Fagon Award winning Family Tree by Mojisola Adebayo in association with the Young Vic, which premiered as an outdoor work in progress at the Greenwich & Docklands Festival in August 2021.

The 2022 UK tour of Michele Lee's Rice which opens this month, is produced by Actors Touring Company and the Orange Tree Theatre, in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth.

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