Jackie Wylie, one of the UK’s leading creative producers, has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland, a post she will take up in Spring 2017. She replaces Laurie Sansom after his 3 years at the helm. Jackie brings a list of great credentials to the post not least her success as the Artistic Director of The Arches in Glasgow between 2008 and 2015 when she saw the organisation become a leading European powerhouse of cultural activity.
She lives in Scotland and is currently Co-Director of Take Me Somewhere, a new city-wide festival based at Tramway in Glasgow, that will build on the legacy and international programming of The Arches. During her time there, she supported a generation of innovative Scottish theatre-makers such as Rob Drummond, Cora Bissett, Nic Green and Kieran Hurley who have gone on to win numerous Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), Herald Angel, Total Theatre and Fringe First awards. She commissioned world-class, cross-discipline work that toured to the National Theatre in London, Barbican, Brits off Broadway New York, Spoleto Festival Charleston, Brighton Festival, Push Festival Vancouver, Cultura Inglesa Festival Brazil, NZ, Sydney, Hong Kong and Luminato Festivals.
The search for the National Theatre of Scotland’s new Artistic Director was far-reaching and attracted a strong field of candidates from Scotland, the UK and internationally, with the recruitment panel looking for a candidate who could build on the National Theatre of Scotland’s reputation and loyal audiences whilst further extending its work to new partners, new audiences, new forms of theatre and new talent.
Jackie herself commented, “It’s an incredible privilege to be given the opportunity to lead the National Theatre of Scotland. Ten years ago it pioneered the ground-breaking model of a theatre without walls and since then it has combined world-class artistic distinction with a particular commitment to involving the entire population of Scotland. I look forward to continuing that spirit of innovation, building on the organisation’s many existing successes and relationships whilst also bringing in new voices, seeking out exciting collaborations at home as well as looking outwards, across the world. … We are fortunate in Scotland to have so many extraordinary, world-class theatre-makers and I’m looking forward to working with them – on both local and global stages – as we go forward.”