Fifteen of the UK’s leading theatres supported fifteen playwrights to participate in Sphinx 30, the landmark programme for female playwrights in the UK launched to mark Sphinx’s 30th anniversary.
The playwrights are as follows:
Bush Theatre: Sarah Connors
Derby Theatre: Rommi Smith
Sphinx have been the trailblazer in our industry in getting female voices to the fore and we at Derby Theatre are delighted to be partnering with them. At Derby we have made small steps in supporting the female voice through our RETOLD programme and this feels like a natural extension to that work. The opportunity to be part of a package which supports 30 potential new female playwrights is incredibly exciting and we look forward to seeing the seeds of ideas these women have come to fruition – Sarah Brigham, Chief Executive and Artistic Director
Graeae Theatre Company: Anita Kelly
We are extremely excited that Anita Kelly will be joining Sphinx 30 as one of 15 female playwrights for their year long programme to celebrate Sphinx Theatre’s anniversary. Anita is a recent graduate of our Write To Play year long programme set up to develop disabled writers throughout England. As Graeae we are thrilled to be one of the leading theatre companies on the programme. We constantly challenge the preconceptions around disability and new writing is a great vehicle to do that. Our voices should be heard and our stories told. We wish Anita and the other 14 playwrights all the best for the programme and we cannot wait to read their work – Nickie Miles-Wildin, Associate Director
Hull Truck Theatre: Maureen Lennon
We are proud to be partnering with our colleagues across the country to address the imbalance of voices in our industry and stages – Hull Truck Theatre is committed to supporting and empowering women’s voices on our stages and Sphinx 30 is a pioneering opportunity to make a real difference to the future of our industry – Mark Babych, Artistic Director
Kali Theatre: Satinder Chohan
Kali is delighted to be partnering with Sphinx 30 in our own 30th Birthday year to give Satinder Chohan – one of our most inspiring, mid-career playwrights – an opportunity to develop a piece for the UK’s main stages. We welcome this brilliantly timely initiative from Sphinx which will move marginalised female writers out of the studios and on to the mid-scale. Kali has been championing talented South Asian women playwrights for 30 years mounting compelling, innovative new work in theatres across the UK. It is exciting that ambitious, state of the nation work such as Satinder’s now has the opportunity to grow bigger still, with the potential to reach even wider audiences. Kali is proud to be supporting this project – Helena Bell, Artistic Director
Leeds Playhouse: Gemma Bedeau
Sphinx’s pioneering practise for the last 30 years has been inspirational within the theatre sector and Leeds Playhouse are proud to be working with them and an exciting range of partners, to increase opportunities for women writing for main stages across the UK. We look forward to reading what this dynamic group will achieve – James Brining, Artistic Director and Joint CEO
Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres: Ginni Manning
We are thrilled to be partnering with Sphinx Theatre on this wonderful initiative to celebrate their 30th Anniversary. Plays by women performed on the main stages of our national and regional theatres are sadly still something of a rarity; the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse are proud to be part of a project that seeks to change that. Ginni Manning is a Liverpool writer we have long been excited by and this partnership allows us to support her in this next exciting chapter of her career – Gemma Bodinetz, Artistic Director
New Earth Theatre: Joanne Lau
We are extremely happy to be partnering with Sphinx for their anniversary programme supporting female playwrights to write for the main stage in the UK. We have seized this wonderful opportunity to be able to engage one of our writers from last year’s Professional Writers Programme cohort; Joanne Lau. Joanne is an incredibly versatile writer and as a scientist and woman of colour as well as a former stand up comedian, we are excited to be able to continue to amplify her voice and work to a wider audience – Kumiko Mendl, Artistic Director
Nottingham Playhouse: Jane Upton
Nottingham Playhouse is very pleased to partner with Sphinx 30 to tackle the shortfall of feminist voices reflected at scale on our stages. It’s a much-needed and really visionary programme. We can’t wait to see what it produces – Stephanie Sirr, Chief Executive
Octagon Theatre Bolton: Punam Ramchurn
The Octagon is thrilled to be one of the partner organisations for the Sphinx 30 project. Female writers often still encounter a ‘glass ceiling’ when trying to move from writing for studio spaces to getting commissions for main stages. We’re delighted to be investing in exceptional female writing talent, by supporting brilliant North West writer Punam Ramchurn. We passionately believe that everyone’s story matters, and we’re looking forward to soon being able to open our new theatre building, sharing even more stories with our audiences in Bolton and beyond – Lotte Wakeham, Artistic Director
Red Ladder Theatre Company: Bea Webster
We are extremely proud and excited to be one of the theatre partners contributing to Sphinx 30. This project is exactly the kind of platform that playwrights who write from a feminist position need at this time of fracture and division in the world. Red Ladder have a long tradition of presenting new and radical writing onstage. Sphinx 30 is an exciting opportunity for us to give audiences a 21st century play written by one of our emerging artists – Rod Dixon, Artistic Director
Salisbury Playhouse: Hannah Treadaway
Wiltshire Creative is proud to be working alongside Sphinx on this important initiative that seeks to redress the gender imbalance in terms of whose plays are being produced on main stages across the UK theatre landscape – Gareth Machin, Artistic Director
Stephen Joseph Theatre: Janice Okoh
Everyone at the SJT is thrilled to be involved with the Sphinx 30th anniversary project. We are excited to collaborate with this brilliant group of theatres, companies and writers. We know it is vitally important for theatres around the country to allow female writers access to our main stages and what better occasion than Sphinx 30 – Paul Robinson, Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive
Theatr Clwyd: Ming Ho
What an extraordinary and vital thing it is, in this moment, to be able to celebrate Sphinx Theatre’s 30 years of incredible work with women. It is increasingly clear that the social and economic impacts of this pandemic will be particularly devastating for women and so it feels more important than ever to give female voices the biggest and widest platforms possible. We are passionate at Theatr Clwyd about nurturing and developing female artists – we’re so proud to be working with Sphinx and to be able to champion and support the brilliant Ming Ho as one of the Sphinx 30 – Tamara Harvey, Artistic Director
Watford Palace Theatre: Suzette Coon
This is a bold and timely initiative from Sphinx, in partnership with a brilliant range of playwrights and companies, supporting the creative ambition of female artists at this incredibly challenging time for theatre freelancers. It is a central part of the mission of Watford Palace Theatre to fully represent women, both onstage and behind the scenes: we are proud to be part of Sphinx 30, making the future – Brigid Larmour, Artistic Director and Chief Executive
