Following an extensive national open call-out, the Royal Court Theatre has today announced that Ishy Din (Approaching Empty) and Beth Flintoff (Henry I) will complete the team of Associate Playwrights at the Royal Court, announced earlier this year.
Ishy Din will take on the position of Associate Playwright and Beth Flintoff of Associate Playwright & Young Writers Associate. They join Mike Bartlett, Ryan Calais Cameron, Vinay Patel and Nina Segal as Associate Playwrights, and Gillian Greer as Associate Playwright & Dramaturg.
The call-out was conducted in collaboration with #OpenHire and received over 500 applications, with a three-stage selection process to reach the final appointments.
David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court said: “It’s been genuinely brilliant to see how many of the writers who applied for this role are dedicated to giving back to the wider playwriting community.
I’d like to thank the artistic team at the Court and our existing Associate Playwrights who undertook the almost impossible task of shortlisting such passionate and eloquent applications. And the team at OpenHire for reaching so many potential applicants.
The process has been inspiring and galvanising – and I couldn’t be more delighted to have Beth and Ishy joining us at the Court to be working on behalf of playwrights everywhere.”
Ishy Din said: “The opportunity to bring my lived experience from both inside and outside the industry to the world’s premier new writing theatre is both a privilege and a huge responsibility. Hopefully I can make an impact by inspiring, encouraging and supporting voices of those outside of the traditional theatre community so that they can aspire to have their work performed on the hallowed stages of the Royal Court.”
Beth Flintoff said: ‘When I started out, working in fringe theatres and making plays with young people and my local community, working somewhere like The Royal Court seemed like an impossible dream. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to support other writers, and in particular to encourage the next generation of young people to get writing and to have their voices heard.’
The Associate Playwrights work closely with the wider artistic leadership at the Royal Court, helping to develop the Royal Court’s mission, artistic programme and support of fellow writers, placing the writers’ theatre in the hands of playwrights. Mike Bartlett, Ryan Calais Cameron, Ishy Din, Vinay Patel and Nina Segal work one day a week at the Royal Court, feeding into a collective approach to the leadership of the theatre, while Beth Flintoff will spend two days a week at the theatre, working on a soon-to-be-announced programme for young people, and Gillian Greer works at the theatre full-time, serving as lead dramaturg across the artistic programmes.
