The health and wellbeing of our artists, audiences and staff will always be our priority. You may know that we have made the difficult decision to cancel all remaining performances of Nora and postpone rehearsals and production of our upcoming show Orfeus. We have also decided to re-think a number of our projects for the Directors Program, in line with the UK Government advice to avoid unnecessary travel and gatherings.
However, we want to continue to offer everyone on the Genesis Network the opportunity to continue to connect with each other and develop their craft. For the next few months we will move all our physical workshops, events and discussions into the digital sphere.
All those who have signed up to events in March will have received individual emails letting them know that the events have been re-arranged so if you have signed up to something but not heard please contact eventsdirectorsprogram@youngvic.org to find out how to take part.
For the time being we are pausing recruitment processes for any opportunities offered through the Jerwood Assistant Director and Boris Karloff Trainee Assistant Director schemes.
Moving forward there are three kinds of events we want to encourage people to engage with:
• Online workshops
• Discussions through the Forum on the website
• Wellbeing Wednesday
There may be more in the future but this is a starting point.
Online Workshops
April onwards
We will be organising Directors Program events and workshops online. We would like to be able to offer as many of our planned projects to the network via the platform, Zoom.
To participate in online workshops you will need access to a smartphone / tablet / or laptop computer.
For speed and ease of use, download the app HERE
The process of applying to and confirming attendance to workshops will remain the same - coming from the events@directorsprogram.org email address.
If you have any access requirements please let us know.
If you have any experience in online facilitation and would like to support this project please get in touch with Cat Shoobridge at catshoobridge@youngvic.org
If you are a director or theatre maker and have a proposal for an online workshop please get in touch with Sue Emmas at sueemmas@youngvic.org.
You don’t have to run the session yourself but might want to suggest topics, areas, artists that it would be good to engage with.
We will be in touch with the program of activity in early April/ May 2020.
Discussions through the Forum
Twitter is an opportunity to share more widely with peers and networks but if it is useful the Forum on the Directors Program website is a place to explore and share ideas within a supportive and focused environment. If you have a question or would like to start a discussion you can go to this section of the website. The topics and questions can be around theatre but equally the ‘I want to talk about’ thread at the bottom of the forum could be utilised for asking for help or offering assistance e.g. if people are self-isolating,etc.
Also if you would like to suggest ways the Young Vic might use the Genesis Network to provide support please let us know.
The Genesis Network was set up to create a community and now more than ever we need to support and look out for each other.
Wellbeing Wednesday
Each Wednesday from 1 April 2020 at 2.00pm Rachel Bagshaw (director and coach) will lead a session which provides opportunity to learn some helpful techniques to improve how you feel and have some time to reflect. The activities will focus on wellbeing related to theatre as this is Rachel’s area of expertise.
In these difficult and uncertain times we want to find a way to connect, support and develop. In the meantime we hope you are as well and safe and the circumstances allow.
Best
Sue Emmas
Associate Artistic Director
Young Vic
