Environmental Theatre is a hot topic for our community. Logically, the need is there. But a lot of us are asking ‘can it actually do anything?’. Mrs C’s Collective held a discussion board at the beginning of the year, led by community member Zoe Woodruff. Zoe wanted to explore the potential of this emerging genre - it became clear just how new and complex making work with an environmental mission is.

So, it made complete sense to invite Chris Fittock over for a chat. Chris is a leading maker of environmental theatre, and we are thrilled to have had Chris share with us an honest account of his current journey, confronting the climate crisis as a theatre-maker.

Grab a cup of tea, a biscuit and maybe even a notebook, because you’re in for a good read here!

Mrs C’s Collective was delighted to open applications for their second year of The Writers’ Collective. Following its 12-month pilot in 2020, this January four playwrights will embark on a 4-week guided seed commission of up to fifteen pages.

We spoke to the four playwrights about their work, their inspirations, and what they hope to achieve over the next month!

We love diving into the profiles of all the exciting artists that we’re connected to here at Mrs C! This time, we sat down for a coffee in the beautiful sunshine with Harley Hefford, an Australian artist who has just moved over to our side of the world, currently staying in Iceland.

Last but by no means least; it’s the final instalment of our demystifying series.

Dramaturgs are often hard to define, but as Antonia, one of our featured creatives states, it’s all about communication! In this feature, we’ll be speaking to Dramaturgs Marlie Haco and Antonia Georgieva.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this enlightening three-part feature, and feel confident to embark on new collaborations or career paths!

Thank you to the creatives involved for sharing their vital insight into how and why they do what they do!

The role of an Intimacy Coordinator (IC) is about holding an awareness of the creatives you’re working with, taking care of your team when exploring any kind of intimate scenes or themes. We believe this awareness and care should be a part of all creatives’ DNA - ICs are an essential role in the room, however small or large a project, or how early you are in your career.

Want to know how you can become, work with and support an IC? Onboard to help us unpack the role are Intimacy Coordinators Louise Kempton and Elle McAlpine.

This series focuses on some key roles in theatre that are sometimes overlooked as a 'luxury', that we believe should be an essential member to every creative team, no matter how small a project.

The first step in demystifying these roles is to better understand them, as well as their application within a project at various stages. The ultimate aim is to create a dialogue that will allow us to collaborate more confidently with Movement Directors, Intimacy Coordinators and Dramaturgs!

In this feature, we’ll be speaking to Movement Directors Marlie Haco, Noemi Vox and Rebecca Goh.

I used to be scared to call myself an actor if I wasn’t working. When I met someone on an off-period, I would tell them what my bill-paying job was, rather than saying I’m an out-of-work actor. There felt something shameful in that, so I chose to hide it.

I’d been out of work for almost a year and had a prominent ringing in my head from a teacher at drama school; “if you can’t find the work, go out and make it yourself!”.

Emma is an alumni of Mrs C’s Collective’s 12-month writers programme, The Writers’ Collective, and has an impressive career behind her. Emma has worked with companies including the BBC, Theatr Clwyd, Les Enfants Terribles, Mountview Academy and Actors of Dionysus. Her publications include Fridge (Renard Press) and In The Moss (Renard Press). She’s also been shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award (Soho Theatre) and the ETPEP Award (Finborough Theatre).

It goes without saying, we’re chuffed to be getting some of her pro tips!

I was always interested in art and drama at school, but I always saw them as completely different disciplines. It was only when I went to Leeds College of Art that I realised that Theatre Design was a career, and it suddenly all made sense to me that that was what I wanted to do. Once I knew it was a possibility, I suddenly couldn’t get enough of discovering amazing designers like Es Devlin, Rae Smith, Michael Vale – to name just a few of my first eye-openers. And I would just get this feeling in my stomach that I wanted to make people feel the way that I was feeling at that moment. I am very lucky that I had family who advised and guided me in the right direction, I would like to make sure more young people know the expanse of roles available to them in the industry, not just those ‘in the know’.