New Cast Member at the Nuffield

Bright lights are beckoning for Lancaster’s Nuffield Theatre following the appointment of a new member of staff.

Alice Booth, the new project and artist support officer at the Nuffield, is gearing up to get her teeth into a series of projects designed to encourage experimental performance, support emerging artists and engage the local community.

The new post has been funded for two years by the Arts Council of England in recognition of work already underway at the Nuffield to develop it into a top-class centre for experimental performance.

As well as building networks and raising the profile of the theatre, the former Lancaster University Theatre Studies graduate will also help administer the Time and Space project, a bursary scheme to help mid-career artists develop new ideas and explore fresh avenues.

Originally from London the 28-year-old has already stacked up a wealth of experience both on and off the stage.

After graduating in 1998 she set up her own theatre company ‘Imitating The Dog’ in Leeds and embarked on a practice-as-research PhD exploring the role of fiction in experimental theatre.

She said: “I was really pleased to get this job. The post is really what you make of it. We want to look at ways of making the Nuffield a bigger and better force in experimental theatre in the UK and internationally. We would like artists to recognise the theatre as a place they can come to get the space and support they need to make work and get access to a strong support network.”

Nuffield Director Matt Fenton who arrived in 2003 to build on the Nuffield’s reputation for providing high-quality contemporary performances said: “We’re delighted Alice took this post. Her experience bridges the gap between artistic practice, research and arts administration, perfectly placing her to help a new generation of experimental theatre practitioners make the transition from training to the profession”

Ms Booth’s first projects will include working with the seven theatre companies who will be in residence in the theatre over the summer, including two artists who will work with local Grandparents and their Grandchildren to make a new show entitled Relative, based on the interrelations of the old and the young.