Kiln Theatre today announces the appointment of Amit Sharma as Artistic Director and CEO – he takes up the role on 1 December 2023. Sharma is currently Associate Director at Kiln Theatre, and also works as a freelance director.
Amit Sharma said today, “Over the last 18 months, I’ve got to know first-hand how truly iconic the Kiln Theatre is. To become the next Artistic Director and CEO is such a huge honour and to follow Indhu, who has always been a huge inspiration to me, is beyond my wildest dreams. I want to thank Sita and the Board for offering me this opportunity, and I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of working with them and forging the future that lies ahead. The Kiln is a theatre right at the heart of its community – a beacon for the people of Brent, bringing audiences to the borough from across London, the UK and internationally. There’s a magic that happens on that stage, and I look forward to working with the brilliant team there to bring that to audiences as we embrace this new phase together. I am absolutely buzzing for this next chapter.”
The 2023 UK Theatre Awards winners were revealed today (Sunday 8 October) in a ceremony at London’s Guildhall, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett. Lyric Theatre Belfast enjoyed double celebrations with The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, a collaborative production between Lyric Theatre Belfast and Prime Cut winning Best Play revival and Garry Hynes winning Best Director for the Druid Theatre production Druid O’Casey, a trilogy of stories written by Irish dramatist Sean O’Casey. In total, Irish theatres and production companies had four nods in the winners list.
The Faber New Play Award, which offers publication to coincide with the premiere, and a prize of £5,000, was granted to the best play written by an unpublished playwright under the WGGB New Play Commission Scheme. The scheme was a response to the decline in new theatre commissions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and offered eighteen commissions for playwrights across England in 2022. Under the scheme, And The Earth Opened Up Under Her has been commissioned by Pilot Theatre, York.
A major new training programme for early-career theatre-makers, THE KNOT brings together a cohort of 25 participants to explore and interrogate the essential skills needed to create work on their own terms at a time when the business of theatre has never felt tougher.
Felicity Varah Harding OBE, distinguished daughter of Samaritans founder Chad Varah and esteemed Honorary President of Samaritans, is set to make a special appearance at the Greenwich Theatre on October 5th, 2023. She will be attending We Are What We Overcome, a groundbreaking production that delves into the complexities of mental health through captivating stories and songs.