Recently
December 2021 Cre-Actors Paris. Owing to COVID Theatre du Soleil had to cancel some pre-Christmas performances, and then France decided to try and stem the UK COVID tide, so we had a zoom meeting to reflect back on the July workshop and look ahead to Bologna in Spring 2022
November 2021 My Heart is in The East. As part of Interfaith week, Jessica Litwak and Fred Fortas presented extracts from the play online, Jessica ran 2 zoom poetry workshops. All overseen by Creative Associate Rosalind Parker, with whom I presented on the project to those gathered to mark the work of Birmingham Interfaith communities. This is all part of developing the engagement work around MHiiTE https://www.mhiite.com/
November 2021 Decadence Staged reading – at The Albany – of extracts from Remy de Gourmont’s Lilith (1892), in a new translation by Dan Rebellato; Jean Lorrain’s Ennoïa (1905), translated into English for the first time by Jennifer Higgins; Djuna Barnes’s one-act play The Dove (1923); and a little-known text by Izumi Kyōka called Kerria Japonica (1923). Curated by Dr Adam Alston and Professor Jane Desmarais from Goldsmiths. Performers: Lauren John Joseph, Georgia Sansom, Sadao Ueda, Yuriri Naka, Philip Arditti and Adam Alston, with myself as (Director) https://www.thealbany.org.uk/shows/decadent-plays/
October 2021 Plays for Young People 3. Worked (through zoom, as 3 weeks quarantine was prohibitive) with Five playwrights Khairi Anwar (Malaysia), Lin Meng Huan (China), Olga Macrinici (Moldova/UK), Chinonyerem Odimba (UK) Dr Vicki Ooi (Hong Kong), one Festival Director extraordinaire Joe Sidek (Malaysia) and 20 fantastic emerging Hong Kong translators. All hosted at AFTEC https://www.aftec.hk/en/ by the redoubtable Lynn Yau and her crack team. Third edition of this project, which just keeps getting better and better. (Dramaturg)
October 2021 – Artaud Residency Inis Oirr exploring the beauty, cruelty and the legacy of Artaud’s fortnight on the islands off Galway, with 10 actors from Blue Teapot, Compagnie de l”oiseau-Mouche and Theatr 21, as part of Trasna Na Line, at the Aras Eanna Arts Centre with Zone Poem under the direction of Simon Capelle and Mélodie Lasselin (TNL Project Dramaturg)
September 2021 Escalate – worked with Share Music and Performing Arts http://sharemusic.se/english/ and Ben Evans (British Council) from the European Disability Arts Cluster to create a bid to the Creative Europe Platform, which brings together 20 disability arts organisations to promote European emerging disabled artists working across theatre, music and dance (Consultant)
September – November 2021 CTL Digital Festival, in which the Crossing The Line partnership shared online digital versions of all the work – and more – they would have brought to Galway in 2020, had COVID not scuppered that festival http://www.crossingtheline.eu/the-festival/ (Project Dramaturg)
September 2021 Ogmius documentation completed on the project, which you can read about http://www.crossingtheline.eu/activities/ and which the French Erasmus agency has since elevated to Best Practice project status (Project Dramaturg)
August 2021 Appointed Sue Williams to succeed me as Chair at Vital Xposure
July 2021 Cre-Actors Paris. First workshop week at The Cartoucherie led marvellously by Dominique Jambert and Vincent Mangado of Theatre du Soleil – with Teatro Dell’ Argine and Border Crossings
https://cre-actors.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-first-live-meeting-of-cre-actors-is.html
(Dramaturg as Creative Evaluation)
June 2021 Fence 29 Graz, 7 Fencers as part of the Dramatikerinnen Festival. (Couldn’t get to this owing to COVID restrictions, hope we can come back with fuller network participation soon.)
June 2021 Fence 30 La Charité-sur-Loire 7 Fencers as part of the Bourlinguer-themed Festival Quatres Coins du Mot. ( 3 x salon presentations’ team)
June 2021 Ogmius In Full Flight – a day in which all the partners presented on all the work of their organisations and the partnership as part of the project. (Project Dramaturg).
May / October 2021 European Arts & Disability Cluster – under the productive leadership of Ben Evans, building on the face-to-face meeting in Den Haag end of 2019. (Working Group Member)
May 2021 IETM IDEA working Group – after a year of zoom meetings we nearly got somewhere. Despite the problems this group encountered, IETM has done some very good work around diversity and equity. (Working Group Member)
May 2021 Podcast with Ben Yeoh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=durvzE1WdhM
April / May 2021 Mentoring Dublin-based dramaturg Pamela McQueen – which was peer mentoring, if I’m honest, ostensibly around my theatre & disability and Fence network work, but also all diverse work Pamela makes happen too. (Mentor)
Jan / Mar / May 2021 Ogmius Textlab – The Little Prince, under Harald Leander’s skilful trilingual direction, this became a successful experiment in collaborative transnational staged audio production. (Project Dramaturg)
Jan / Mar / July 2021 Brixton House Advisory Group – how will this exciting new venue launch under Gbolohan Obisesan’s vision? Can’t wait for it happen! (Artistic Advisor)
January 2021 / ongoing support to Tom Minter’s fascinating play By Me You’ll Never Know and the rich development through its different frames (Fence network Director / Curator)
2020
December 2020. Fence network zoom reading of Andrei Kureichik’s Insulted Belarus (Director)
November 2020 – February 2021 6 Boom (zoom) Labs, for the UK / Dutch playwrights / theatre makers to explore their works-in-progress (Producer/Dramaturg)
(Maaike Bergstra, Gable Roelofsen
Jude Christian, Neske Beks, Chino Odimba
Enver Husicic, Uma Rada-Najah)
November 2020 – As Chair, oversaw appointment of new Vital Xposure Artistic Director, Simon Startin, to succeed Julie McNamara
November 2020 – Began exploration with Tom Minter of his play By Me You’ll Never Know as potential Fence project (Network Curator/Director)
October 2020 – on Dramaturgs Network International Dramaturgy Lab team for funding application to British Council Digital Fund
October 2020 Dash Arts Podcast, on the life and work of the Curaçaoan-born Dutch artist, filmmaker and director Felix de Rooy with Felix’s himself, visual artist Charl Landvreugd, theatre director Ernestine Comvalius and artist Neske Beks and playwrights Jude Christian, Gable Roelofson and Enver Husicic – from the BOOM! Project, a Dutch-British theatre initiative from The Fence examining and challenging colonial history and narratives.
September 2020 – Launch of The International Dramaturgy Lab (IDL): an experimental initiative developed led by Hanna Slattne on behalf of The Dramaturgs’ Network UK with the The Fence (Network Curator/Director) and in collaboration with an international array of dramaturgical organizations and networks, including ; Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) USA, Canada, and Mexico; STOD Finland; and the Danish Dramaturg Network.
September 2020 – Fence network AGM (Network Curator/Director)
September 2020 – Presentation to online IETM Meeting on behalf of the IETM Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility working group
September 2020 – in Lecce to see the work of Factory Company, (Ubu) thanks to Anna Consolati at Oriente /Occidente, plus presentation on the work of Crossing The Line. (Project Dramaturg)
September 2020 (ongoing) – continue to remake both Ogmius and Trasna na Line projects as part of the Crossing The Line partnership team. (Project Dramaturg)
August 2020 (ongoing) – Begin weekly Sunday night zoom workshops to continue developing My Heart is in The East over zoom (Director)
(Jessica Litwak (California) , Rosie Parker (London) , Lazhar Ghozlane, Fred Fortas (Paris)
August 2020 – Confirmation of successful Erasmus + bid. The Fence network is delighted to be collaborating with Border Crossings (Sligo / London), Théâtre du Soleil (Paris), Teatro dell’Argine (Bologna) on CRE-ACTORS: Training intercultural theatre-makers for a diverse Europe, with support from EU Erasmus+ (thanks to Michael Walling). Running from January 2021 for 2 years, the project will facilitate the exchange of best Vocational Educational Training practice between key organisations working in collectively created theatre that engages with social and cultural diversity, internationalism and minority communities. (Dramaturgy as creative evaluation)
June 2020 – Chaired session on dramaturgy for The Fence / Dramaturgs Network at the online LMDA Conference
May 2020 – Secured additional phase of support from Dutch Performing Arts fund to support Boom! development online (Producer/Dramaturg)
April 2020 – assembled Xpress Eurself – a €500,000 bid to the Creative Europe Western Balkans programme with Riksteatern (Sweden), PAV (Italy), Qendra (Kosovo), ATAK and Queer Montenegro (Montenegro) and Heartefact (Serbia). (bid scored 71, but unsuccessful)
April 2020 – Boom! staged readings in London of UK / Dutch teasers postponed until 2021
March 2020 – Ogmius, job-shadowing for Educateurs Specialisés / Support Workers, Malmo as Moomsteatern prepares to open The Erased (Project Dramaturg). Left Sweden via Copenhagen the day the Danes closed their borders
March 2020 – TNL mid-way Project meeting Galway, planning for CTL Festival as part of Galway European Capital of Culture. Now sadly cancelled as Galway ECOC is committed to wrapping up March 31st 2021 latest (Project Dramaturg)
March 2020 – Presentation on international work to Goldsmiths MA Cultural Diplomacy & Relations ICCE students
February 2020 – 0gmius residency with Support Workers at Mind The Gap in Bradford (Project Dramaturg)
January 2020 – Second residency of the TNL project at Moonsteatern in Malmo (Project Dramaturg), including Chairing and presentation on 2 panels focusing on European collaborative working and towards creating an Academy
January 2020 – 0gmius residency with Support Workers at Moomsteatern in Malmo (Project Dramaturg)
2019
December 2019 – Boom! 3-day residency at Theater Babel’s space in Rotterdam, with 3 UK and 4 Dutch playwrights (Producer/Dramaturg)
November 2019 – Opening residency of the TNL project at Theatr 21 in Warsaw (Project Dramaturg)
November 2019 – 0gmius residency with Support Workers at Mind The Gap in Bradford (Project Dramaturg)
November 2019 – Staging Change day at The Albany, also as part of Ogmius, focusing on learning disabled voice, with Mind The Gap (Project Dramaturg)
November 2019 – Ogmius – ECVET presentation from French agency at Goldsmiths (Project Dramaturg)
November 2019 – 2 x Panel presentations at Dramaturgs’ Network Annual Kenneth Tynan Award at Soho Theatre
November 2019 – Presentations on TNL and Ogmius to gathering of 30-40 working across Europe on disability and performance projects. Curated as part of Danceable by Ben Evans, The British Council and Europe Beyond Access in The Hague
October 2019 – Lecture on Crossing The Line to MFA dramaturgy students at Yale.
October 2019 – Fence 28 Atlanta
October 2019 – Participated in Theatrical Translation as Creative Process, a symposium at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, led by Chair of the drama Department Adam Versenyi
October 2019 – Rehearsed Reading of Chair at Clapham Omnibus as Development Producer / Dramaturg with playwright Yves Baigneres and Director Giles Croft
September – Ogmius project management meeting in Bradford with Mind The Gap, Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche and Moomsteatern.
September – Facilitated inaugural project management meeting of the EU Creative Europe funded Trasna Na Line (TNL) Project as part of the Crossing The Line partnership, Warsaw
September 2019 – directed rehearsed reading of My Heart is in the East,with Jessica Litwak (playwright / performer) New York, Fred Fortas (performer) Paris and Rosie Parker (Creative Associate) London, towards an international production in Autumn 2020 of Jessica’s new play set now and in 11th Century Cordoba. Jessica has also been developing this with La Mama in New York, where it had a workshop production in Spring 2017. My Heart is in the East was originally read at Graeae in Autumn 2015.
June 2019 Successful bid to EU Creative Europe for Trasna Na line, an extension of the Crossing The Line partnership with Moomsteatern (Malmo), Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche (Roubaix), Theatr 21 (Warsaw), Theater Babel (Rotterdam) and Blue Teapot (Galway). I will work as Project Dramaturg 2019-21.
June 2019 – Planning meeting for UK Ogmius activity with Mind The Gap in Bradford.
June 2019 – Dramatikerinnen Festival in Graz with Uni-T and Schauspielhaus Graz. Planning for 2020 Fence meeting with Edith Draxl, Anja Krans, Penny Black and Neil Fleming.
June 2019 – Workshop modelling theatre for and with young people for the Slovenian Theatre Institute in Ljubljana. Planning for 2021 Fence meeting with them and Kim Komljanec.
June 2019 – Fence 27 in Sofia with Arte Urbana Collectif. Workshop for scientists on improving their presentation and performance skills with Sara Clifford.
May 2019 – Guest Dramaturg for Blue Teapot in Galway, working with playwright Charlene Kelly and Lead Dramaturg Eileen Gibbons on Charlene’s New Play Into The Dark Woods.
April 2019 – Expert presenter at Un-Label’s Impart Creative Exchange Lab at the Akademie der kulturellen Bildung des Bundes und des Landes in Remscheid near Cologne
March 2019 – Presentation of The Fence network to the Fabulamundi Project Playwriting Europe partners at the National Theatre in Lisbon.
March 2019 – Workshop Presenting yourself – Being present for the extra-curricular programme of the King’s College Careers Service.
March 2019 – Guest Dramaturg for Blue Teapot in Galway, working with playwright Charlene Kelly and Lead Dramaturg Eileen Gibbons on Charlene’s New Play Into The Dark Woods.
February 2019 – Took It As Read or The Curious Incident of The Fog in the Sight line, presentation on Sarah Kane and Mental Health in performance for students on the Beautiful Minds programme at King’s College
February 2019 – Project Dramaturgy on the Support Worker / Educateur Specialisé job shadowing at Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche, Roubaix, as part of the Erasmus + EU funded project: Ogmius
January 2019 – Panelist for Contemporary European Drama in Translation at Central School of Speech and Drama
2018
December 2018 Submitted (successful) Small Co-operation Project bid to the Creative Europe programme of the EU for an expansion of the Crossing The Line project.
December 2018 – Project Dramaturgy with the first Ogmius artist residency with Compagnie de l’Oiseau-Mouche in Roubaix.
November 2018 – January 2019 Dramaturgy with Vici Wreford-Sinnott on her new projects, for Little Cog @ The Arc Stockton-on-Tees
October 2018 Direction and Script Editing on Festival du Mort at the Bazar Cafe, La Charite-sur-Loire
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October 2018 – January 2019 teaching Introduction to Dramaturgy module to First Year BA Students at Goldsmiths for Danny Braverman.
September 2018 closed reading of Chair, by Yves Baigneres, with actors and director Giles Croft at Goldsmiths.
August & November 2018 Dramaturgy with Pauline Heath on her Never Neverland project, for Little Cog & The Arc Stockton-on-Tees
August 2018 Completed 4 year stint as External Examiner BA Drama & Scriptwriting at Northumbria University.
June 2018 Directed Four- day R&D on My Heart is in The East with Jessica Litwak, Fred Fortas & Rosie Parker at Bazar Cafe, La Charite-sur-Loire.
May 2018 with support from Erasmus +, worked with Event Production students at the Creative Industries Department of the Vilnius Gediminas University on the last 24 hours of preparation of their production.
March 2018 Fence 26 as part of D-CAF, the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival in Cairo
February 2018 Curated playwrights, from Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania to Hong Kong for a 4-day translation workshop of new plays for young people, for AFTEC
January 2018 Submitted (unsuccessful) Large Co-operation Project bid to the Creative Europe programme of the EU for an expansion of the Crossing The Line project.
2017
October 2017 Ireland has struck oil – but will it be Norway or Nigeria? – a live performance and audio podcast around a near future scenario with The Fence as part of King’s College’s Arts and Humanities Festival: World Service, with Gabriel Gbadamosi and Professor Max Saunders. Part of a planned series – All Our Tomorrows
You can listen to a podcast of the event
and have a look at the artwork by artist Jonathan Armour
August 2017 Directed Two-day workshop on My Heart is in The East with Jessica Litwak and Fred Fortas
May 2017 Fence 25 as part of the Festival du Mot, with The Hopper Project at La Charite sur Loire
March 2017 Fence 24 as part of the Cultural Festival in Rokiskis, Lithuania
January 2017 Crossing The Line Festival in Roubaix (read my interview with journalist Bella Todd for Disability Arts International)
2016
October 2016 Completed 10 year stint as External Assessor on the MA in Scriptwriting at UEA.
August 2016 Directed Two-day workshop on My Heart is in The East with Jessica Litwak and Fred Fortas
June 2016 Dramaturgy on Alexander Raptotasios’ The Macbeths for LAMDA
May 2016 Fence 23 as part of the Festival du Mot at La Charite sur Loire
April 2016 Fence 22 as part of the International Theatre Festival in Istanbul, also in partnership with Eurodram, supported by Allianz Stifting
March 2016 Curated 2 Swedish playwrights, 2 UK playwrights with myself and Edward Bromberg as dramaturgs, to Hong Kong for a translation workshop of new plays for young people, for AFTEC
March 2016 Launched Matt Hargrave’s book: Good, Bad or Plain Ugly; Theatres of Learning Disability, at the Disability Research Centre, Goldsmiths
2015
October 2015 Keynote Speaker at the first convening on Relaxed Performances in China in Hong Kong October 2015, with Vicki Ooi and Lynn Yau at AFTEC
June 2015: Fence 21 as part of the Schillertage Festival at The Nationalteater in Mannheim and also in partnership with TiG7. Theme – Closed Societies.
May 2015 Directed Rehearsed reading with Jessica Litwak on My Heart is in the East, her new play set in 11th Century Cordoba. Jessica is also working on this with La Mama in New York
March 2015 Completed 18 months as Convenor, MA Writing for Performance & Dramaturgy, Goldsmiths
January 2015: Fence 20 Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre, Connecticut and Lark Play Development Center New York, The Play Company and NITE
2014
October 2014: Married Debbie Seymour. Jointly dramaturged the ceremony.
May 2014 : Fence 19 Prishtina, as part of Polip 4th Literature Festival and Heads of Committee meeting of Paris-based script-in-translation network Eurodram. (I am the Head of the English language committee)
March 2014 : Kings College London, presentation to students on the Beautiful Minds – Mental Health and The Arts module. “Took it as read. Or The Curious Incident of the Fog in the Sightline.”Sarah Kane, Theatre and Mental Health
February 2014 : Crossing The Line. Led the assembly and submission to Brussels of a bid for 2 years of new Creative Europe funding to bring together Europe’s three leading theatre companies working with professional, learning disabled theatre makers. (Mind The Gap, Bradford, Compagnie de l’Oiseau Mouche, Roubaix and Moomsteatern, Malmo).
Script Reader – Sonia Friedman Productions – for Jack Bradley
January 2014 : Fence 18 Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre, Connecticut and Lark Play Development Center New York
2013
December 2013: Two Schmucks, Three Opinions performances in London, Leeds and Somerset. Part of a series of try-outs of a new performance piece which I have co-written, co-directed and co-perform with Steve Tiller.
You can read more about Two Schmucks :
November 2013: Kuala Lumpur, dramaturgical work alongside playwright Peter Arnott with 35 Malaysian playwrights from across the country as part of a nationwide competition set up by the Ministry and delivered by Kakiseni. Trip curated by British Council
October 2013: Tbilisi, Georgian International Theatre Festival
September 2013: University of Reading – Creating New Writing 1945-2013) plenary panel discussion on new writing and the Arts Council (England)
2012
June 2012 – September 2013 Project Dramaturg & Trainer – The Secret Listeners – Pascal Theatre Company – with Julia Pascal
November 2012 Co-ordinated Fence 17 in in Amsterdam, with MC, and Theater Instituut Nederland, SICA and The British Council
October 2012 Project Consultant – ACT Interreg Channel successful bid beginning with Royal Opera House, Theatre Is… , Gateway Academy School, Tilbury, Southend YMCA, Thurrock Council Music Services
September 2012 Thought Leader, Disability and Theatre symposium at The Kennedy Centre, Washington DC
October 2011 Co-Chair and Project Consultant – Theatre & Autism – SOLT/TMA – relaxed performances
Jonathan Meth 