The Stage

Bradford university venue to assist touring companies

Published Tuesday 9 March 2004 at 12:20 by Jeremy Austin

New artistic director at the University of Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill Iain Bloomfield will use his two-year fellowship to help small touring companies develop relationships with larger regional venues.

Already the theatre has begun a partnership with West Yorkshire Playhouse, which is being seen as a pilot for the scheme. Bloomfield said he would like the Theatre in the Mill to be a development centre for a number of disciplines.

“The Theatre in the Mill has a long history of developing new writers and new writing. We want to expand that development with new writers, taking us as its starting point - not just new writing, choreographers and musicians,” he said.

“We are looking at how we can connect with other theatres - which is one of the exciting things about the connections with West Yorkshire Playhouse. Developing along with bigger theatres allows us to nurture and work with other touring companies and local, regional and national companies to get their work seen and develop them up to the next stage so they can go on to venues like West Yorkshire.”

The start of Bloomfield’s tenure coincides with the end of a period of refurbishment which has seen the foyer enlarged and improved disability access there and in the bar. One of his aims during the next two years is to increase the diversity of the audience and he hopes that developments such as a lift for people with mobility problems will help him in that.

The first show in the refurbished venue will be Bradford University Theatre Group’s production of Christie in Love by Howard Brenton, directed by Bloomfield.