Director and Playwright Drew Taylor is RYT’s first Artistic Director. He will lead The Connects Project which supports aspiring theatre makers aged 16 to 25 in Stranraer and Wigtownshire.
Emerging young theatre makers will be given the opportunity to work with theatre professionals to perform, direct, design, write, or be a technician through a programme of free mentoring from theatre industry professional, skills development workshops, theatre visits and making new performances.
Ken Gouge, Chair of RYT Management Group, says: “We are delighted that Drew has accepted this post. As an award-winning theatre director, playwright and Arts in Education specialist, he will ensure that the young people of Wigtownshire have both access to professional theatre-makers and the opportunity to create their own contemporary theatre for a wide range of audiences here in Dumfries and Galloway as well as nationally”.
Drew says: “ I am incredibly excited to be working in Stranraer and I look forward to helping to grow the performing arts culture of the area.”
Drew has over ten years in the performing arts industry as a multidisciplinary theatre maker. He believes in creating theatre that is accessible and stimulating for audiences and participants. His work has been performed across the UK from Bettyhill School Hall in the Highlands to the Barbican Theatre in London.
Drew’s commissions include work for the Brighton International Festival, the Commonwealth Games 2014 Cultural Festival and most recently “Avoidable Climbing” at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow. He has already made an impact as he is creating Performance Collective Stranraer, a company of young theatre makers who will perform at Emergence, a brand new performance platform at the Chrysalis Festival, held in the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 November 2017. The Chrysalis Festival showcases emerging talent, sparks critical debate and challenges perceptions of youth theatre.
RYT is launching the Connects Project in The Green Room at the Ryan Centre at 7.00pm on Tuesday 29th August.
