GENESIS KICKSTART FUND: FINAL ROUND 36 new Genesis Kickstart Fund projects – projects description
THEATRE
Desire Under the Elms | Almeida Theatre
Theatre production | London | 14 freelancers
Ebe Bamgboye’s Desire Under the Elms is a contemporary revival of this lesser-known American play, starring a young Black British actor for the first time in its production history. The Genesis Kickstart Fund will support the work’s R&D at the Almeida Theatre this Spring.
Mulan | Almeida Theatre
Theatre production | London | 14 freelancers
Anthony Lau collaborates with playwright Amy Ng and a creative team and company of predominantly East Asian and Southeast Asian freelance creatives in a new stage version of Mulan, based on the 400 AD Chinese ballad HUA MULAN. The work will be produced for the Almeida Theatre in 2024 and the Genesis Kickstart Fund will support its R&D.
Gulliver Exploded | Box Tale Soup
Digital Theatre | Online | 8 freelancers
Gulliver Exploded is an online interactive production, based on Box Tale Soup’s new adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Using branching links that appear during the show, audiences can explore alternate footage, designs, interviews and more, giving them an unparalleled insight into the creation of the show. Additional resources are available for schools, such as accompanying lesson packs.
Dido’s Bar | Dash Arts
Music theatre | London, Portsmouth, Oxford, Leicester, Manchester | 8 freelancers
Dido’s Bar is a music theatre work, inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid and created by cross-disciplinary arts organisation Dash Arts. The work puts a contemporary twist on the ancient myth of Dido and Aeneas, exploring what it means to be European and observing European identities through the eyes of non-Europeans. Dido’s Bar appears at the Royal Docks in London, Portsmouth, Oxford, Leicester and Manchester in the Autumn.
MATCH/PLAY | tiata fahodzi
Community Theatre | Watford & Southeast | 14 freelancers
MATCH/PLAY is a series of artistic commissions bringing art to local communities and developing cross-discipline collaborative practice for artists from British African heritage. Three pairs of artists will work in their local area to produce a 15-minute work that can be for an audience of one, on a street or in any other local civic space, and which will be shared with the wider local community. Project in R&D throughout 2022.
Snow White | Mat Fraser
Theatre production | London | 3 freelancers
Actor and writer Mat Fraser develops a new theatre work that uses Snow White as a commentary on ableism, in collaboration with actor and writer Lisa Hammond and academic and historian on dwarfism Eugene Grant. The artists will use two week-long workshops this year to produce the stage play.
I Am the Ghost of Qandeel Baloch | Guleraana Mir
Theatre production | London | 8 freelancers
I am the Ghost of Qandeel Baloch is a new play by writer and theatre maker Guleraana Mir, based on the story of Fouzia Azeem, better known as Qandeel Baloch, the Pakistani celebrity murdered by her brother in an ‘honour killing’ in 2016. The Genesis Kickstart Fund will support the play’s research and development at Tara Theatre this autumn and will enable Guleraana to work with a team of South Asian artists and community members.
Meta vs Life | Hijinx Theatre
Participatory Theatre | Wales | 9 freelancers
Meta vs Life is a research and development project by Welsh theatre company Hijinx, exploring the crossover between game play and immersive theatre. Hijinx will use its meta-verse app, GatherTown, to create an interactive show that will be presented online and in-front of a live audience in March 2023.
Black Power Desk | Urielle Klein-Mekongo
Music Theatre | London | 5 freelancers
Black Power Desk is a new musical by writer, actress and singer Urielle Klein-Mekongo. Using an original score of rap, grime, dancehall and soul, the show shines a light on a rarely explored part of Black British history: through the story of two sisters living in 1970s Notting Hill, we learn about London’s Black Power movement and the special secret police force tasked with its infiltration. Project in R&D throughout 2022.
Creative Exchange | The Mono Box
Theatre Festival | London & Online | 35 freelancers
Creative Exchange is a three-day festival by The Mono Box, dedicated to cross-disciplinary creativity and practice in theatre and film. Taking place at The Kiln theatre and cinema this Summer, emerging artists will have the opportunity to take part in workshops, exchange skills, watch screenings, get involved in panel discussions and network with theatre practitioners and filmmakers.
Building Back Better: A space to dream | Jennifer Tang
Theatre practice | London & Online | 11 freelancers
‘Building Back Better’ is a research project reassessing theatre making, led by the Young Vic’s
Genesis Fellow Jennifer Tang. A collective of multi-disciplinary artists will re-imagine how a performance company can program and create work and engage with artists and audiences beyond traditional structures. In early 2023 the project’s findings will be presented to an invited audience of industry leaders and peers.
Spoken Space and Band Night | Tara Theatre
Theatre | London | 60 freelancers
Spoken Space and Band Night are quarterly spoken word and live music nights at Tara Theatre, to help freelance artists showcase their work. Leading musician Taurean Antoine-Chagar and spoken word artist Zia Ahmed will curate the events to provide emerging artists with the resources and exposure needed to build sustainable careers. Musicians will play alongside a live band and spoken word artists will have the opportunity to build networks with the theatre industry.
Bradford 12 | Tribe Arts
Production | Leeds & touring England | 7 freelancers
Bradford 12 – Black Community on Trial is a new work produced by Leeds-based production company Tribe Arts. Marking 40 years after the Bradford 12 events, the play will revisit the “trial of the decade” and shed light on the little-known history of British black & Asian people, who were displaced and affected by colonialism. Project in R&D.
Bridge the Gap | Stage One
Education | London | 11 freelancers
Bridge the Gap is a development programme, launched by Stage One, enabling those underrepresented across the theatre industry to build key skills for a sustainable career. Aspects of the programme include grants, workshops facilitated by industry professionals and mentorship. The Genesis Kickstart Fund will fund two 12-month placements for underrepresented producers.
Rise and Fall and Rise Again | Stephanie Street
Participatory theatre | London & Online | 4 freelancers
Rise and Fall and Rise Again is a new, participatory musical, created by Stephanie Street, Abigail Graham, Helen Chadwick and Zoie Kennedy. The work will use the story of a community choir for mothers to explore the challenges of modern motherhood and gently invites the audience, both in-person and virtual, to take part and sing. The work is currently in R&D stage and there will be a sharing in London this July.
MUSIC
Snape Residencies – Emerging Artists | Britten Pears Arts
New Music | Suffolk | 15 freelancers
The Snape Residencies – Emerging Artists Programme will support three Kickstart artists ILLYR & SAMUEL (collaboration between ILLYR, singer, record producer, director and choreographer, and Jacob Samuel, former Somerset House resident artists); Alya Al-Sultani (dramatic soprano and composer of new opera) and Evadney (singer and digital artist). They will perform at the Festival of New in September 2022.
Five Beacons of Light | Cheryl Frances-Hoad
New writing | London | 7 freelancers
Composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad leads an artistic team in the development of ‘Five Beacons of Light’, a 90-min cantata. The work will incorporate choral music for children, amateurs and professional singers and live performance will include cutting-edge technology that enables the audience to contribute to the performance creatively. Research and development will take place in London this year, between May and December.
ChoirMaker | Ex Cathedra
Education | Birmingham & West Midlands | 30 freelancers
Led by members of choir Ex Cathedra, ChoirMaker is an education project that aims to build choral singing practices in ten of Birmingham’s multi-cultural secondary schools. Through teacher training and student workshops, ChoirMaker aims to revive a precious tradition in the West Midlands and provide meaningful work opportunities to freelance vocal tutors.
2022 Commissions | Explore Ensemble
Chamber music | UK & Online | 12 freelancers
Explore Ensemble will commission four new ambitious works that push the idea of chamber music to new limits, including a new installation-performance work for sextet and electronics by Mark Fell that responds to India’s Carnatic music tradition, a new large-scale immersive live performance work with experimental pop duo Hyperdawn, and two new works for sextet and electronics by composers Lawrence Dunn and Alex Paxton.
Opera for young hearts | OperaEd
Education | London | 10 freelancers
Opera for young hearts is OperaEd’s education programme that offers participatory workshops in music, dance and design to schools across London. The programme will be led by director Aran Cherkez whose artistic practice involves telling stories from unheard voices within our community. The Genesis Kickstart Fund enabled Opera Ed to reach five additional schools between Summer 2022 and Spring 2023.
Treephonia: Live and Play | Treephonia
New Writing | London | 30 freelancers
Treephonia will present a series of concerts and educational workshops to encourage people to engage with natural spaces. Treephonia: Live presents free, outdoor, public concerts from August to September in Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens. Treephonia: Play will run educational workshops for students to inspire future generations to engage with art, science, and ecology in creative and sustainable ways.
MUSIC RECORDING
Debut recording | The Corvus Consort
Choral music | London & Online | 16 freelancers
Vocal ensemble Corvus Consort joins forces with the Ferio Saxophone Quartet to record Baroque and Renaissance vocal works, uniquely reimagined for voices and saxophones, as well as music by living composers re-worked for the same forces. The disc is due for release on Chandos Records this Autumn.
Graham Fitkin Loosening | Sacconi Quartet
Debut recording | Folkestone & Online | 9 freelancers
Graham Fitkin Loosening is a new double-album by the Sacconi Quartet, in collaboration with composer Graham Fitkin. The quartet will use the album to continue its community engagement with the people of Folkestone through live-streamed rehearsals ahead of the album recording in Spring 2023.
DANCE
Take3 | Eleesha Drennan Dance
Digital & Dance | Online | 8 freelancers
Eleesha Drennan Dance is producing Take3, a trilogy of short films exploring time, memory and loss through intergenerational perspectives by performers aged 20 to 90. Based on the Sadler’s Wells performance of All The Time In The World (a Sky Arts project nominated by Wayne McGregor), the films will explore the dynamics between live performance, VR and digital media and will be released online in 2022.
Costumes for The Forsythe Evening | English National Ballet
Dance costumes | London | 7 to 10 freelancers
English National Ballet presents The Forsythe Evening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and have used their GKF grant to commission 7 to 10 freelancers to create over 75 costumes for the performances. This project supports vital behind-the-scenes work made by skilled freelance costumiers who have struggled to stay afloat in the pandemic. Runs 31 March – 10 April.
A Death Has Occurred | Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre (KMDT)
Dance show | Bristol, Wiltshire, Edinburgh | 5 freelancers
Theatre Dance company KMDT presents A Death Has Occurred, a story about a Christian man trapped in a city condemned to be destroyed. Directed by Zambia-born emerging choreographer Kennedy Muntanga (also part of Akram Khan Company) and set to original music, the show will premiere in Bristol and will tour to Wiltshire and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022 and be available online from August 2022.
Here Lies | Tala Lee-Turton
Dance show | Sheffield | 3 freelancers
Here Lies is a 10-minute ballet duet between a dancer and a cellist, produced by dancer and creative producer Tala Lee-Turton. In collaboration with Sheffield General Cemetery, the project explores the unrecorded lives of women buried in the cemetery. Tala’s creative team features choreographer Krystal S. Lowe and cellist Roxanna Albayati and the team will present Here Lies at Sheffield General Cemetery in the Autumn.
Destroy After Reading | Tuyet Van Huynh
Dance theatre | London | 4 freelancers
Destroy After Reading is a dance-theatre work, led by digital producer and director Tuyet Van Huynh. Melding, dance, film and poetry, the piece will invite audiences into a live-produced time capsule. Tuyet collaborates with poet Natalie Linh Bolderston and dance and performance artist Daniel Phung for development work in July and a performance in London this Autumn.
Acts of Queer Activism | Jonathan Watkins
Dance theatre | London | 8 freelancers
Acts of Queer Activism is a dance-theatre performance by director and choreographer Jonathan Watkins, looking at specific moments over time, from 16th Century Florence to the current century, where resistance, activism and protest have given way for the rights of individuals. The research and development will take place in London between March and May.
VISUAL ARTS
Something New from Repetition | Kleiner Shames
Sculpture | Cornwall | 3 freelancers
Something New from Repetition is a sculpting project, based in Penzance, Cornwall, in which artists Kleiner Shames and Patch Plummer will create 3-Dimensional forms of skateboards from timber and plywood. The sculptors will collaborate with a team of skateboarders in Summer 2022.
The Resident Platform | Strange Cargo
Sculpture | Folkestone | 4 freelancers
The Resident Platform is an artist-residency programme delivered by arts charity Strange Cargo this summer. The artist-in-residence will create a bronze sculpture inspired by the village of Cheriton, where Strange Cargo is based, and this work will be exhibited in its gallery. A second bronze sculpture will be created by the local community, facilitated by Strange Cargo and freelance artists in workshops with local people. The sculptures will be permanently sited at Folkestone West Station in Cheriton.
The TRACE Mentorship | TRACE
Photography training | Online | 3 freelancers
The TRACE Mentorship is a year-long mentoring programme of workshops, masterclasses and industry networking opportunities for 24 female photographers over 35, led by Sian Bonnell, Sebah Chaudhury and Haley Morris-Cafiero. The inaugural TRACE Mentorship will run from June 2022 – June 2023.
