The Stage

ACW begins search for National Theatre for Wales chairman

Published Tuesday 9 October 2007 at 15:40 by Lalayn Baluch

Plans to create a new National Theatre for Wales in the English Language have taken a step closer to becoming reality as organisers reveal they expect to have a chairman in place by the end of the year.

Once in the role, the chair will appoint members of the theatre’s board, who will begin drafting an agenda for the company as earlier as spring 2008. A fund of £750,000 has been allocated by the Welsh Assembly Government for preparatory work on the organisation.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas, Minister for Heritage, commented: “I have agreed that the Arts Council [of Wales] should now to move to advertise for the chair and members of the board that will oversee the development of this unique project. This will provide a new impetus and an even sharper creative vision that will be essential for a project of this nature.”

The company will work in parallel with the recently created Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru - the national Welsh-language touring theatre company - newly-formed Sherman Cymru theatre company, Sgript Cymru and the Torch Theatre on major productions that could tour Wales and the rest of the UK.

It will not be building-based, following a similar model to the National Theatre of Scotland. According to ACW, this will give it the freedom to create work for both theatres and other locations. An artistic director will be recruited in 2008 to oversee the company’s creative output.

Funding for productions will not be needed until 2010/11. ACW’s planning figure for the company when it is fully operational is £2 million.

Chris Ricketts, director of Sherman Cymru theatre company, added: “If the National Theatre for Wales can inspire diverse audiences and strengthen what we can imagine and achieve creatively, it will be a real tangible success. For it to succeed, it will have to be built on a theatre sector that is itself in robust health and we welcome the early commitment that has been made to investment in the production infrastructure.”