Artist in Residence

This new position of Artist in Residence will play an integral role in delivering our strategic plans, supporting the realisation of our creative and community ambitions for the city of Newcastle.
The Artist in Residence will help to ensure that the realisation of our new 5-year strategy is of the greatest artistic calibre, is focussed on supporting our communities, compliments our ambitions for bettering the outcomes for young people in the city and furthers our goal of ensuring the highest levels of talent development opportunities and training are available in the North East.
Main Tasks
• Create a large scale community theatre production, working with participants from one of our key priority areas, to be performed in the main house at the theatre in 2026 using their stories as the source material.
• Support the learning and development of young people using theatre and drama, with a focus on literacy and oracy through classroom based learning.
• To develop systems of working that support the wellbeing of community members through theatre and drama, using best rehearsal room practise.
• To support the development of creative thinking and learning in emerging young professional artists.
• Support the development of new audiences and participants, supporting and harnessing a love of theatre for people of all ages through participatory arts.
• To provide mentorship and support to participants across the Creative Engagement programme.
• Working collaboratively with the Creative Engagement team and wider creative teams to successfully deliver professionally led, community projects and productions of all scales.
• To work closely with colleagues on specific funding applications, ensuring the appropriate project delivery information and reporting is in place.
• Developing positive and trusted relationships with partners, beneficiaries, communities and peers.
• Collaborate and build dialogue and creative channels of support between the theatre and identified communities who experience obstacles in accessing our work.
• To promote and share approaches to increasing wellbeing through engagement with culture, and developing new skills with participants.
• Embrace and artistically contribute to the city’s developing multicultural ecology supporting access to the arts for all.
• To respectfully work with participants across all socio-economic, denominal, age and groups of characteristic protection, across the city.
Responsibilities as a member of the Newcastle Theatre Royal team;
• To assist in the Creative Engagement teams’ departmental delivery of the business plan, assisting with specific strategies and plans that ensure the successful delivery of the organisation’s strategic goals.
• To work collaboratively with colleagues across departments to achieve common goals and overcome challenges in a constructive and collegiate way, ensuring effective open two-way communication.
• Work with the Head of Creative Engagement, Creative Projects Producer, Talent Development Producer and Creative Practitioners to successfully deliver on key partnership work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Dance Consortium, Children’s Theatre Partnership, New Adventures and other large scale arts organisations.
• To champion Newcastle Theatre Royal and ensure our strategic ambition and creative programme are confidently represented in all internal and external forums and communication.
• To be fully committed to the Trust’s Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Policy and demonstrate the values in the delivery of your own work.
• To be committed to improving the Theatre’s environmental sustainability and consider this when planning and implementing your department’s activity.
• To be fully committed to the Trust’s Environmental Sustainability Policy and Plan and take a proactive role in the organisation’s development in this area.
• Ensure all work is compliant with relevant legislative and industry best practice standards including, but not limited to, the organisation’s Health & Safety, GDPR and Safeguarding policies.
• Have an inclusive approach to delivering organisational objectives, developing working styles and patterns to accommodate the needs of others, including participants, audiences and colleagues
• Developing, and subsequently sharing, an understanding of the Theatre’s strategic objectives and programme with stakeholders, colleagues, peers, partners, audiences and communities
Experience Required
• Understanding, and a proven history, of delivering cultural community engagement programmes.
• Proven experience of writing/creating theatre at a professional level across varying scales.
• Significant experience of working in/with community settings and participants.
• Experience of working with professional actors, directors, producers, designers and other creatives to realise high quality artistic projects and productions in community settings and/or with community participants.
• Experience and evidence of acting as a spokesperson for the work you create and the sector as a whole.
• Proven track record of delivering high quality artistic projects, developed from a preconceived project brief.
• Evidence of having supported and developed the wellbeing of participants through professionally led, community projects.
• A track record of having created new, distinctive and unique theatrical productions in a collaborative environment, keeping stakeholders and colleagues up to date with progress.
• Delivering work of the highest artistic quality to a production schedule and within deadlines, responding to constructive feedback from peers and stakeholders.