Actors Touring Company produces international contemporary theatre that travels – making the global, local and the local, global.
We are one of the only British theatre companies committed to producing international plays; and to touring the work of those global voices throughout the UK (and beyond).
Matthew Xia, one of British theatre’s most exciting talents, has been Artistic Director since 2019. Matthew brings with him fresh thinking about the global identities within contemporary British society. Matthew’s work explores voices from the cultures that make up our globe and our nation – and the ways in which they intersect.
- We create theatre with a global perspective
- We engage with the issues, the events and the changes that impact and affect all of us – across society – at this moment in history
- We are the only British theatre company dedicated to the production of international plays for UK audiences
- We give voice to ‘the other’, exploring cross-cultural and internationalism, how tribes and nations interact, exist with and effect one another in a hyperconnected world
- We place the actor at the heart of our ethos
- We employ a lean aesthetic which promotes environmental sustainability
OVER 100,000 PEOPLE
have seen ATC’s productions since 2012.
MATTHEW XIA
Artistic Director
Matthew Xia was appointed Artistic Director of Actors Touring Company in November 2018. Matthew is one of the busiest and most exciting directors in the UK. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; Director in Residence at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; Associate Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East. He is currently an Associate Artist at Nottingham Playhouse.
Some of Matthew’s acclaimed productions include: at the Royal Exchange, Manchester Frankenstein, Wish List (also Royal Court), and Into The Woods; Blue/Orange and Sizwe Banzi is Dead at the Young Vic; and Shebeen at Nottingham Playhouse.
Other work of note includes: Blood Knot at The Orange Tree, Sleeping Beauty at Stratford East,Scrapper and Migration Music at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse; Dublin Carol at the Sherman Theatre Cardiff; and NitroBeat’s Suckerpunch Boomsuite at the Barbican.
Under the pseudonym Excalibah, Matthew was the first DJ to join BBC 1Xtra, where he spent 6 years. As a sound designer and composer, credits include: The People Are Singing (Royal Exchange); Freerun (Udderbelly; That’s The Way To Do It (TimeWontWait); Bolero Remixed (New London Orchestra). In 2012 Excalibah performed as a headline DJ at the London Paralympic Opening Ceremony.
Matthew is a founding member of Act for Change, a trustee of Artistic Directors of the Future and of Cardboard Citizens and has served on the boards of Rich Mix, Creative Futures and Theatre Royal Stratford East. He has been a judge for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting (2017) and the Alfred Fagon Award (2017 and 2018).
ANDREW SMAJE
Executive Director
Andrew Smaje is a theatre producer, consultant and mentor. He has been Executive Director of ATC since 2016, where he has produced The Suppliant Women, Keep on Walking Federico, Winter Solstice, Big Aftermath of a Small Disclosure, Living with the Lights On, The Brothers Size and Amsterdam, in collaboration with venues such as the Young Vic, Orange Tree, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Teatre Lliure, Barcelona, Dublin Theatre Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Known for his work as a producer of contemporary theatre, particularly new writing, Andrew’s productions and commissions were nominated at the TMA/ UK Theatre Awards in 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017 (including two nominations for Best Touring Production and three nominations for Best New Play).
He is also a consultant for leading theatre companies, organisations and artists, with clients including Theatre Royal Plymouth, Greyscale and The Empty Space.
Andrew was Chief Executive of Hull Truck 2010 – 2012, producing work by contemporary playwrights both in Hull and on tour, and co-producing with partners including Headlong, nabokov, Paines Plough, The Gate, Opera North and the RSC. Andrew was Associate Director of Theatre Royal Bath 2000 – 2010, supporting and developing new and innovative theatre across a broad spectrum of performance genres and practice: new plays by writers such as Gregory Burke and Lucinda Coxon; commissioning theatre-makers such as Rash Dash, Theatre Ad Infinitum and The Paper Birds; and working regularly with directors such as Lorne Campbell, Tessa Walker and Natalie Abrahami.
Andrew created the Bath International Puppet Festival (2000-2009), a showcase for adult puppetry; and was co-Director of the Bath Shakespeare Festival (2005-2010), an unplugged festival of contemporary perspectives on Shakespeare’s work. The festivals commissioned much new work to UK artists and gave UK premieres to productions from Belgium, Portugal, USA, Australia and Zimbabwe.
Andrew is trustee of Curious Monkey, led by Artistic Director Amy Golding; Cap-a-Pie, led by Artistic Director Brad McCormick; and Chinese Arts Now, led by Artistic Director An-Ting Chang. He was an Artistic Assessor for ACE from 2009-17.Some of Matthew’s acclaimed productions include: at the Royal Exchange, Manchester Frankenstein, Wish List (also Royal Court), and Into The Woods; Blue/Orange and Sizwe Banzi is Dead at the Young Vic; and Shebeen at Nottingham Playhouse.
Other work of note includes: Blood Knot at The Orange Tree, Sleeping Beauty at Stratford East,Scrapper and Migration Music at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse; Dublin Carol at the Sherman Theatre Cardiff; and NitroBeat’s Suckerpunch Boomsuite at the Barbican.
Under the pseudonym Excalibah, Matthew was the first DJ to join BBC 1Xtra, where he spent 6 years. As a sound designer and composer, credits include: The People Are Singing (Royal Exchange); Freerun (Udderbelly; That’s The Way To Do It (TimeWontWait); Bolero Remixed (New London Orchestra). In 2012 Excalibah performed as a headline DJ at the London Paralympic Opening Ceremony.
Matthew is a founding member of Act for Change, a trustee of Artistic Directors of the Future and of Cardboard Citizens and has served on the boards of Rich Mix, Creative Futures and Theatre Royal Stratford East. He has been a judge for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting (2017) and the Alfred Fagon Award (2017 and 2018).
CHERRELLE GLAVE
General Manager
After studying Drama and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway University of London, Cherrelle became a Producing Assistant (Trainee) at the Royal Court Theatre from 2014 – 2015 and worked on productions such as the UK tour of Constellations by Nick Payne, hang by debbie tucker green and the award winning Hangmen by Martin McDonagh.
Whilst at the Royal Court, she also co-produced a scratch performance night called GRIT – a project based on themes of revolution and resistance. Material was curated from members of the public alongside established writers such as Sabrina Mahfouz.
At the end of 2015 Cherrelle joined the Production team at the Old Vic as a Production Assistant. Cherrelle worked on 8 large scale productions including King Lear staring Glenda Jackson and Jack Thorne’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol. After 4 years at the Old Vic Cherrelle joins the Actors Touring Company as General Manager (maternity cover).
SUZIE KIRK DUMITRU
General Manager
Suzie is a theatre producer and arts manager who specialises in work by, with and for young people and marginalised communities.
Over the past 12 years, Suzie has been privileged to work with a number of pioneering companies from across the sector, including Theatre-Rites, where she worked as Assistant Producer on shows including the award-winning Mischief, the original production and Broadway tour of Mojo, and Bank On It: a site-specific production for young audiences exploring the financial and environmental crises.
Suzie was Community Programme Producer for CASA Latin American Theatre Festival, developing a programme bringing together professional artists with members of the Latin American community as part of the annual festival.
Suzie has worked with Company Three, supporting productions including Alice Birch’s Astronauts, as well as Brainstorm; a piece exploring teenage brain development that played to sell-out audiences at Park Theatre, National Theatre and Royal Albert Hall.
Suzie was General Manager for Streetwise Opera from 2016 – 2019, supporting the company’s nationwide programme of music education for people experiencing homelessness and working on the acclaimed production of Tell Me the Truth About Love, directed by Bijan Sheibani.
Suzie has worked with cabaret quartet, The Ruby Dolls; is currently supporting emerging theatre company, Mrs C’s Collective, with the development of new work examining the realities of homelessness; and as a consultant and producer for Colombian social arts enterprise, HermanosBrothers. She has a particular love for the artistic traditions and innovations from across Latin America.
Suzie has produced four iterations of TheatreCraft: the UK’s largest careers event for young people interested in offstage careers in theatre.
In 2017, Suzie was invited to take part in the Emerging Producers’ Development Programme with the British Council and EdFringe and, following her recent maternity leave, she is now delighted to be joining the team at Actors Touring Company.
AMEERA CONRAD
Associate Director ATC and LAMDA
Ameera Conrad (she/they) is a theatre maker from Cape Town, South Africa. She is an Associate Artist for the National Youth Theatre, and is one of the visiting lecturers for Mountview’s MA Theatre for Community and Education. Her theatre credits include In These Four Walls, Totally Over You, Kate Spencer Did A Good Thing (all ArtsEd, London), Pipeline (Assistant Director – Arcola, London) The Royale, Towers (both Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London), The Fall (Co-Curator – Edinburgh International Festival Fringe, Royal Court, St. Ann’s Warehouse, South African State Theatre, Galway International Arts Festival, Melbourne Arts Centre, Festival Arts Bordeaux, Studio Theatre), and Reparation (South African National Arts Festival).
She is an alumnus of the 2017 Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab, and a recipient of the Theatre Arts Admin Collective’s Emerging Theatre Director Bursary. She has won a Fleur du Cap Encore Award, Scotsman Fringe First Award, The Stage Edinburgh Award for The Fall. She has also won the Filipa Bragança award for best emerging solo performer at the Edinburgh Fringe (2019) and the Western Cape Department of Sports and Culture award for her contributions to theatre in South Africa (2018).
Ameera Conrad’s work focuses on decolonising the canon of theatre, and amplifying the stories of groups marginalised because of their race, gender, and sexuality.
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PERFORMANCES OVERSEAS IN 2017/18
Sudha is an actor/playwright and a pioneering artistic leader. She is co-founder of Tamasha theatre company where she served as co-artistic director for 26 years. She has written extensively for Tamasha and her landmark plays include Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and a Funeral (winner of Barclays/TMA Best Musical) an adaptation of the booker shortlisted A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry, and Strictly Dandia (all with Kristine Landon-Smith). Her solo plays include The House of Bilquis bibi (Lorca’s The House of Bernada Alba transposed to contemporary Pakistan) and most recently the critically acclaimed My Name is… which Sudha also adapted for Radio 4.
Sudha’s extensive acting career includes Eastenders, Doctors and Casualty for the BBC, Stella for Sky tv, and most recently she played Sonia Rahman in Coronation Street. Theatre credits include Khandan by Gurpreet Bhatti and Sudha is a regular contributor on Radio 4.
Patricia Burns is a barrister at One Essex Court, specialising in commercial law. She has substantial experience of complex, high-value international litigation and alternative dispute resolution, particularly in the field of banking and finance. Patricia is involved in a number of initiatives to promote the recruitment and retention of women at the bar, and is the founding member of One Essex Court’s Wellbeing Committee, which has a particular focus on mental health issues.
Patricia read Law at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 2010. In her spare time, Patricia is an avid consumer of theatre, novels and Netflix.
Alan Evans is General Counsel and Director General for Legal Services at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and a member of the department’s Executive Committee. Alan has held a number of other senior legal posts in government – including Legal Director at Defra and BEIS – and chaired and served on several departmental and cross government boards. Earlier in his career, Alan was a legal adviser to the Cabinet Office and at the European Commission. Prior to working in government, Alan practised international commercial litigation at law firms in the City of London. He is a past member of the Law Society’s European and Employment Law Committees.
Alan is passionate about theatre – regularly attending productions at a broad range of venues. He is also a strong advocate for diversity, including as a senior diversity champion in government over the last five years.
Sanpreet Janjua is a fundraiser with experience in the arts and cultural charitable sector. She started her career as an Arts Fundraising Fellow through the Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Fundraising Fellowship Programme. Having completed her Fellowship at Nottingham Playhouse, as well as a few years in post as Fundraising Officer, she is now Development Manager at Awards for Young Musicians.
Sanpreet is passionate about making artistic and creative experiences available to all. She also loves theatre, especially contemporary and new writing by often marginalised and overlooked writers.
Geraldine Brodie is Associate Professor in Translation Theory and Theatre Translation at University College London and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research centres on theatre translation practices in contemporary London, on which topic she speaks and publishes widely. Recent publications include her monograph The Translator on Stage (Bloomsbury, 2018) and the volume Adapting Translation for the Stage, co-edited with Emma Cole (Routledge, 2017). She is a member of the Clore Leader network, which draws its members from across arts, culture and the creative sector.
Geraldine is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. She has worked in audit, tax, professional development and graduate recruitment for KPMG in London and New York and is the director of a private property investment and management company specialising in the residential and commercial sectors in South East England.
She has served on a range of charitable, voluntary and industry boards and organisations, most recently including the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and the Barbican Centre Trust. She is also a member of the Wates Foundation, an independent grant-making family trust supporting the charitable and voluntary sector.
Maria M Delgado is an academic, critic and curator. Professor and Director of Research at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, she is also an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Modern Languages Research at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.
She has published widely in the area of European theatre and Spanish-language theatre and film, including Federico García Lorca (Routledge 2008), ‘Other’ Spanish Theatres (MUP 2003, revised Spanish language edition 2017), Contemporary European Theatre Directors (Routledge, 2010), A History of the Theatre in Spain (Cambridge University Press, 2012), A Companion to Latin-American Cinema (Wiley Blackwell, 2017) and seven further co-edited volumes.
Her film work includes 22 years as a programme adviser on Spanish and Spanish-American cinema to the London Film Festival, and curatorial/programming work for the Ciné Lumière, ICA and BFI Southbank. Maria writes on film and theatre for a range of publications including Sight & Sound, The Theatre Times, and European Stages, and is a guest contributor to a range of BBC radio programmes. She is on the board of Governors of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Sarah Grochala is an Anglo-Polish playwright based in London. She is currently Senior Lecturer, Writing for Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she leads the MA/MFA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media.
Her play S-27 won the 2007 iceandfire/Amnesty International Protect the Human Playwriting Competition and premiered at the Finborough Theatre, London in June 2009. Since its first production in 2009, S-27 has been revived in the UK and internationally, including several productions in Australia and also in Canada. S-27 is published by Oberon books and has been translated into Hebrew and French.
Sarah’s other plays include Waiting for Romeo (Istanbul 2014-16), winner of the 2015 Ekin Yazin Dostları Theatre Award for Best Play.
Her work as a writer has been supported and developed by The National Theatre Studio, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Orange Tree, Criterion New Writing Programme, The Orchard Project (USA), The Studios Key West (USA) and OffWestEnd.com. Alongside her playwriting, she currently writes audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
Sarah was an Associate Artist with Headlong (2012-16), where she worked on creating theatrical experiences using digital media. Her book The Contemporary Political Play, was published by Bloomsbury Methuen. She is currently writing a book on The Theatre of Rupert Goold (Methuen Drama), which will be published in 2020. Sarah was recently awarded a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award for a project exploring the shortage of contemporary European plays in translation on British Stages.
Vincent Keaveny is a partner at international law firm, DLA Piper UK LLP. He advises financial institutions and companies throughout the UK and Europe on banking and finance matters. He was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Farringdon Within in the City of London in 2013 and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 2018/19. He has been a member of a number of City of London Corporation Committees and currently sits on the Policy & Resources Committee.
Vincent is also the Court of Aldermen’s representative trustee on the Board of the Sir John Soane’s Museum. Vincent is a director/trustee of the contemporary music ensemble, Exaudi. Vincent was Master of the City of London Solicitors’ Company in 2014/15. He served on the Committee of the City of London Law Society from 2006 to 2013 and was President of the Society in 2014/15.
CASTING
We have no casting opportunities at the moment. More often than not we do all our casting through independent agents, and as such do not accept unsolicted CVs.
PRODUCTIONS
We are not currently recruiting for any production roles. Please check back again soon.
BOARD
WE’RE LOOKING FOR NEW TRUSTEES
This is an exciting opportunity for you to join the Board of Trustees of ATC.
We are keen to hear from the broadest range of people. We want our Board to be a group that reflects and represents the nature of our work, our community of artists and our audiences.
You may bring relevant professional experience, or your own lived experience.
You might have been on a Board before, or you might be joining a Board for the first time.
Please read the Trustee Recruitment Pack for all the details of what’s involved, and how to get in touch with us.
*Please note; the application deadline has been extended to 23rd July 2021*
We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
SCRIPTS
We read many scripts from many different sources and many different places, but we’re sorry, we are unable to offer a reading service or accept unsolicited scripts.
For press enquires please contact David Burns.
- 07789 654 089
- david@davidburnspr.com
- www.davidburnsspr.com
TOURING INFORMATION
ATC tours its productions far and wide – broadly in the UK and internationally, maintaining work in repertoire to ensure it reaches the maximum number audience members. Below are the current productions in repertoire and the touring specifications for each project. These outline the requirements for each production to tour and are the basis of a conversation. However, if you have specific requirements then we are very happy to discuss with you your needs and put visits together accordingly.
CURRENTLY BOOKING
Select a link to download a PDF information pack and for further information or discussion, please contact Andrew Smaje, Executive Director on either andrew@atctheatre.com or
+44 (0) 20 7930 6014.
AMSTERDAM
WRITTEN BY MAYA ARAD YASUR/ DIRECTED BY MATTHEW XIA
PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT
We have a portfolio of productions both in repetoire and in development, which are potentially available for UK and international touring. If you would like more information please contact Andrew Smaje, Executive Director on either
andrew@atctheatre.com or +44 (0) 20 7930 6014.
COMPANY POLICIES
Download the following files to learn more about ATC company policies