Riverside Studios announce Uproot Productions, founded and led by Abigail Sewell and Steven Kavuma, as their first Resident Company. Uproot Productions is a socially driven cross-arts production company that supports Black artists in developing experimental and political stories that represent the breadth of their lived experiences.
Formed in 2020, Uproot Productions aims to offer transformative solutions to the structural barriers facing Black artists, and is committed to challenging who gets to take up space and who has the right to tell which stories.
Abigail Sewell and Steven Kavuma today said, “Uproot Productions are honoured to be a Resident Company at Riverside Studios. We’re excited by the potential of this fruitful partnership and the opportunity for synergy in the formative years of our organisation.”
Rachel Tackley, Creative Director of Riverside Studios, also commented, “I am so thrilled that Uproot have agreed to be our first Associate Company. I met Abigail and Steven several months ago and was blown away by their ambition for Uproot and the contribution it can make to the development of Black Creative Artists and theatre makers in the UK. I was particularly animated by their commitment to challenging who gets to take up space and tell stories. So, I invited them to take up space and tell stories at Riverside Studios. Riverside Studios has always embraced new, experimental and political work, and I want to put that front and centre of our new Creative Vision.”
As a Resident Company, Uproot Productions will receive ongoing mentorship and support from Riverside Studios to help build and develop as a new company, in addition to programming opportunities and office space.
The company is currently presenting its curated online experience This is Black 2.0, featuring performances from ten artists that takes audiences through artistic expressions of the joys and tensions of being Black today.
