The Watermill Theatre in Newbury has announced the four artists chosen to participate in its new talent development programme, Elemental.
For the theatre’s 2024-25 season, lighting designer Nicola Crawford, sound designer Pierre Flasse, theatre designer and scenographer Jacob Wu, and writer/director Tyler Holland will receive the following benefits:
- Six sessions with a practising industry mentor in their relevant field, providing one-to-one support, advice, and networking opportunities.
- The opportunity to work on a main house show at The Watermill during the
2024-25 season, an assistant working directly with a creative as part of the show’s team.
- Tickets to watch all Watermill shows throughout the year to build connections and widen cultural experience.
- Support and resource to develop their practise further through ongoing CPD.
Nicola Crawford, from Gloucestershire, has worked as an associate/assistant lighting designer on larger-scale productions, learning from designers such as Ben Cracknell, Zoe Spurr and Nic Farman. Pierre Flasse is a British/Belgian sound designer, composer, performer and educator. He is composer's assistant to Sally Potter OBE, and writes for numerous original projects. Jacob Wu, from Hong Kong, has had work staged at the Stockholm Fringe Festival 2023 and won the Audience Choice Award; he is currently Specialist Technician at Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL. Tyler Holland, from the West Midlands, will be working as assistant director on the Windmill Theatre’s forthcoming production of The King’s Speech; his writing has been nominated for the both the PapaTango and Bruntwood Prize.
Young artists on the Elemental programme are (l to r) Jacob Wu, Nicola Crawford, Tyler Holland and Pierre Flasse.
Windmill Theatre’s artistic director, Paul Hart, said, ‘We have absolutely loved meeting a whole host of brilliant creatives for this programme. It was difficult to whittle it down to just four successful artists, but I hope it’s enabled artists to know that we are an open door to creative talent across the UK. So many artists have honed their craft in this creative hub of a venue, and it’s been brilliant to launch this brand-new campaign to formalise how we work with this group of creatives who truly are major voices in the future of British theatre.’
Elemental is part of the Watermill Theatre’s ongoing commitment to creating long-term, meaningful investment in artists and creatives. The unique programme, made possible thanks to core funding from Backstage Trust, spans the spectrum of creative roles, and the theatre has received over 150 applications since the launch in June this year.
Applications for the 2025-26 Elemental programme will be open in spring 2025.