Laurie Sansom will take up his new role as artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland in spring next year.
Sansom leaves The Royal & Derngate, Northampton, where amongst his successes are a TMA Award for Best Director for Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O’Neill which transferred to London's National Theatre and for which he was also nominated for Best Director in the Evening Standard Awards. Royal & Derngate was named “the most exciting regional theatre of the decade” by The Guardian critic Michael Billington and in 2010 the company won Regional Theatre of the Year in the Stage Award's inaugural year.
Leading up to this new appointment, Sansom, who has a First in English from Cambridge, has had a stint as an Arts Council England Trainee Director at the Palace Theatre, Watford, and four years as associate director to Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
The National Theatre of Scotland is one of five national companies and will receive £4.4m of core funding over 2012-2013 from the Scottish Government. A complement of 41 permanent staff are joined by 600 or so performers, stage managers, technicians and other practitioners who annually deliver a programme worth a £6.1m in turnover (2011–2012) in venues all over Scotland and further a field.
Next year's varied programme includes a cult Swedish romantic horror film adaptation, Let The Right One In, and a site-specific production on Shetland with community participation that will look at how cars and fuel impact island life.
Meanwhile as this year comes to a close, new musical Glasgow Girls gets a showing at the Citizens Theatre Glasgow and The Guid Sisters has just opened at the King’s Theatre Glasgow. The city also has Lifeguard playing in Govanhill Baths, whilst large-scale community theatre projects are running in Glasgow, Fife and Shetland. The touring programme continues with performances around the UK and internationally in South Korea, Chinese and Chicago.
Vicky Featherstone leaves the National Theatre of Scotland to join London's Royal Court Theatre in December 2012.