Yorkshire-based directors and theatre-makers open house call out from the West Yorkshire Playhouse, deadline 21 January

The West Yorkshire Playhouse has put a call out for their JMK Directors Programme:

Introductory Meeting 22^nd January 6.30pm - 8pm 
West Yorkshire Playhouse and the JMK Trust are inviting Yorkshire-based directors and theatre-makers interested in directing classic plays to an introductory session for a new talent development scheme, based at the Playhouse. The aim is to:

• Create a hub for directors interested in classic plays.
• Provide access to exclusive workshop, training and development opportunities for young directors and makers.
• Create a chance for directors and makers to meet regularly, to network and to share ideas.
• Offer, following a selection process, a Leverhulme Arts Scholarship to one member of the group, giving them the chance to work as an assistant director on a production at the Playhouse.

West Yorkshire Playhouse's new Associate Director Mark Rosenblatt,  a former JMK Award winner, will head up the scheme here, working with the Playhouse's current Birkbeck Resident Assistant Directors, JMK's Regional Co-ordinator and theatre director Lisa Spirling to create a series of workshops, gatherings and events for aspiring theatre directors in the region throughout the year.
The introductory meeting in January will:

• Create a first opportunity for directors and theatre-makers to meet here at the Playhouse.
• Explain the purpose of the scheme in more detail, including the Leverhulme Arts Scholarship and eligibility for it.
• Explain and answer questions about the JMK Award itself.
• Help us to assess levels of interest in the scheme and how we can tailor it.

To register to attend please email wypbox.office@wyp.org.uk with your name and contact details by 5pm on 21st January 2014.

BACKGROUND

The JMK Trust was founded in the memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, a brilliant young director, to give opportunities to young theatre directors of similar ability and vision. Each year it gives one prestigious award to enable one outstanding applicant to create their own production of their choice of classic text, currently at the Young Vic in London. For many, winning the JMK Award is the breakthrough moment in their directing career
.
Read Lisa Spirling's Guardian blog about the scheme.

Associate Director Mark Rosenblatt is formerly Studio Associate at the National Theatre. He has directed productions in a wide range of theatres across the country, including Shakespeare's Globe, Bristol Old Vic, the Young Vic, Northampton Theatres, the Tricycle, the NT and Sheffield Crucible. His most recent production was Stuart: A Life Backwards by Jack Thorne, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and was shortlisted for the Carol Tambor Best of the Festival Award, before touring nationally. His first production for WYP will be Of Mice and Men, playing in the Quarry throughout March.