ACTORS TOURING COMPANY (ATC), the UK’s leading producer of international plays today announces the departure of its joint CEO and Executive Director Andrew Smaje after 8 years co-leading the organisation, the last six years alongside Artistic Director and joint CEO Matthew Xia.

Smaje will be taking up a new position as Director of Programming at Leeds Playhouse and Amber Massie-Blomfield, formerly Executive Director of Complicité, will join as the interim Executive Director later this month, while the search for a permanent replacement begins.

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Prepare to be transported into the world of Pearl Jam with an exclusive, one-day event on Friday 19th April 2024. Taking place at Outernet in the centre of London, The Dark Matter-verse is an immersive and interactive celebration of Pearl Jam’s 12^th studio album Dark Matter, released on Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records and the upcoming summer shows at Manchester’s Co-op Live and London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this June.

The Dark Matter-verse invites fans on a journey through the legendary career of Pearl Jam. Outernet will come alive as a vibrant canvas of visual and audio content, for fans to be transported through time with career highlights, curated photo galleries, and electrifying live performance footage.

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Playwrights working under WGGB’s UK Theatre and TNC agreements will see a significant uplift in their minimum fees following successful union negotiations.

Under WGGB’s UK Theatre Agreement, playwrights will see a 10% rise in minimum fees – 6% backdated to 1 May 2023 and a further 4% from 1 May 2024. The UK Theatre Agreement has a banding system which groups theatres into three categories known as Middle Range Salary Level (or MRSL) hence the three ranges on the rate card (which you can see here).

This follows an increase in minimum fees of 6% for writers working under the TNC agreement (covering the National Theatre, Royal Court and Royal Shakespeare Company) applied from April 2023. View the new rate card here.

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Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Shepherd as its next Chief Executive, effective 1st July 2024.
Andrew Shepherd brings a wealth of experience to the role, having served as the Executive Director of Selladoor Worldwide, a prominent commercial theatre production company. His previous leadership roles include Executive Director of Theatre503, where he oversaw a remarkable transformation of the new writing venue and initiatives such as securing the 503Studio at Nine Elms and launching a global online writers’ programme. With a background in fundraising and independent theatre and film production, Andrew has demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting emerging artists and fostering creative innovation.

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Today, GRAMMY® Award-nominated international superstar Anitta announces her long-awaited and highly anticipated tour, the BAILE FUNK EXPERIENCE. Kicking off on May 18th in Mexico City, Mexico, the 20+ date tour produced by Live Nation, is a unique funk experience in special intimate venues that hits cities around the world, giving fans an authentic taste of the iconic funk parties in Brazil. The tour includes Anitta’s first ever North American leg which will bring her to Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Chicago, Toronto and more. Following the North American leg, Anitta will bring the BAILE FUNK EXPERIENCE to South America and then Europe including Bogota, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Ibiza and more. See below for full tour routing.

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Having already confirmed appearances at the Best Kept Secret Festival in The Netherlands and The Northside Festival in Denmark, St. Vincent has announced four new UK/Europe headline dates.

Kicking off at Bristol’s SWX on Friday May 31st, the run also sees St Vincent play a very special date at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Saturday June 1st. Long hailed as one of the most fascinating presences in modern music, St. Vincent will be bringing her mesmerising live show to these shores in the wake of the April 26 release of her incredible seventh album, All Born Screaming. Tickets will be on sale *** from here.

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Grand Junction has announced its programme for Elixir Festival taking place from 12^th April, celebrating Arabic artworks culturally resonant for local communities and wider London audiences. Connecting the diverse cultures that make up West London’s community, Elixir Festival will showcase a vibrant lineup of international and local contemporary artists as part of the two week-long festival. Hosted in the Grade 1 listed Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene’s in Paddington, Elixir Festival will present a rich programme of theatre, music, workshops, and food created by contemporary artists from the Middle East, North Africa, and Anatolia. Created in partnership with Arts Canteen and Shubbak Festival, Elixir Festival is rooted in the Arabic al-‘iksīr is a symbol of healing and will serve as a remedy for cultural connection.

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Today, Human Music Group Sensations’ Glass Animals announced their 2024 global TOUR OF EARTH. Promoted by Live Nation, the 41-date tour sees the band headlining the biggest venues of their career thus far and kicks off on Wednesday 7^th August in Charlotte, NC at PNC Music Pavilion, with stops across North America, Europe, and the UK in Toronto, New York, Nashville, Chicago, Vancouver, Inglewood, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Glasgow, and more before wrapping up with an epic hometown performance in London, UK at The O2. The GRAMMY-nominated and BRIT-nominated, Diamond-selling British band will be joined by special guests Kevin Abstract,Eyedress, and Blondshell on select dates throughout the North America leg. The Big Moon will join on all dates across Europe and the UK.

The tour will see the band playing many iconic venues around the world for the first time, including Madison Square Garden in New York, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, The Gorge Amphitheatre in Seattle, Kia Forum in Inglewood, 3Arena in Dublin, The O2 in London, and many more.

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We’ve been running Mindfulness workshops occasionally for the past few months, with the ethos of creating a calm space for anyone looking to take a little bit of time out of their day to step back and take note of life’s current priorities. Wellbeing practitioner Megan Mattravers returns to deliver free online workshops on Sunday 14th April 2024 via Instagram Live with the idea of supporting you with wherever you’re currently at emotionally/mentally – with the tools needed to help you check in whenever needed – continuing on a positive note and seeing in the new year with good intentions. Timings are the same as before, 1pm/1:30pm with sessions lasting 30 minutes in total.

Our initial workshops included mindful writing – an exercise encouraging us to stay rooted in the present moment and pay attention to our 5 senses, and a body scan – an exercise again keeping us in the present moment (this is a scan of the body mentally, bringing awareness to any tensions within the body) and cultivating calmness. There were opportunities to share thoughts and feelings if you wanted to throughout, with participants feeling mentally energised for the week ahead.

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