Belgrade adds two to Springboard talent programme

Published: 15 November 2019
Reporter: Steve Orme

Lou Sarabadzic (left) and Lisa Franklin of Gertrude Credit: Nicola Young
Katie Walters of Radical Body Credit: Nicola Young

Coventry’s Belgrade has announced two additions to its Springboard talent development programme: digital arts duo Gertrude and disability arts organisation Radical Body.

The Springboard initiative was established in 2015 to support emerging artists and newly formed performing arts companies to develop their work, offering tailored support over a three-year period.

Gertrude, comprised of British actor and theatre maker Lisa Franklin and French novelist and poet Lou Sarabadzic, is a two-woman poetic theatre company based in Coventry. It combines theatre, poetry, dance and digital tools to create work that is “interactive, inclusive, challenging and fun”.

The duo often performs in non-traditional spaces and challenges people’s relationships with and ideas about the world around them.

Radical Body, led by performance poet Katie Walters, produces performance art by and for disabled people. It aims to make disabled perspectives prominent while improving accessibility for audiences.

Hannah Barker, creative producer (participation and talent development) at the Belgrade Theatre, said, “Springboard plays an essential role in supporting talented emerging artists. But it also offers the Belgrade and its communities fresh ideas and perspectives as well as opening up new, different ways of working and connecting with audiences.”

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