Theatre shakeup! MTC announces three new artistic appointments
Artistic opportunities, education programs and new Australian works will have a special place in Brett Sheehy’s MTC from 2013.
It’s a big day for arts management news in Australia. Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Brett Sheehy, has announced three new artistic appointments for MTC: Sam Strong as Associate Artistic Director, Leticia Cáceres as Associate Director, and Chris Mead as Literary Director.
These appointments reflect MTC’s ongoing commitment to fostering Australian writing and directors by providing creative, directorial and literary leadership and development opportunities within the Company.
“I am very excited that three artists of such extraordinary calibre are joining MTC to create one of the most dynamic artistic teams in the country,” Sheehy said.
“This is a great coup for MTC, and I and the entire MTC team are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Leticia, Sam and Chris in this way as we collectively take the Company forward.”
“I am very excited to return to Melbourne to contribute to the national theatrical conversation in a new era at Melbourne Theatre Company. Brett Sheehy is one of the country’s great arts leaders and I’m looking forward to working with him and wonderful practitioners, Chris Mead and Leticia Cáceres,” said Sam Strong, current Artistic Director of Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company.
[pull_left]I am very excited that three artists of such extraordinary calibre are joining MTC to create one of the most dynamic artistic teams in the country[/pull_left]
Strong’s role as MTC Associate Artistic Director will include developing artistic opportunities and directing some main stage productions. His most recently critically acclaimed works include Les Liaisons Dangereuses for Sydney Theatre Company and The Boys for Griffin and Sydney Festival. It is understood he begins his appointment on January 1, 2013.
Director Leticia Cáceres has been lauded as one of the most exciting talents in the country, in particular as co-founder of the highly acclaimed RealTV. Of the appointment, she says “I’m thrilled to have been appointed Associate Director of one of the most prestigious theatre companies in the country. This is an important milestone in my career as a theatre director.”
Cáceres will direct for the main stage, develop initiatives for MTC’s education programs, and investigate and enable creative opportunities – in particular for women directors. She is the first female MTC Associate Director in eight years.
Chris Mead as Melbourne Theatre Company’s new Literary Director will bring strong credentials as an advocate for New Australlian work, as evidenced by his role as Artistic Director of PlayWriting Australia, Australia’s peak playwriting body. This non-directing role enables Mead to focus on developing and mentoring new stories and diverse voices onto our theatre stages.
Mead said ‘After six years of national play development and the joy and challenges of starting up a new organisation with PlayWriting Australia, I am hungry to get back into the business of plays moving regularly from the rehearsal room to the stage. I am thrilled to be a part of such an august and time-honoured institution as Melbourne Theatre Company and all this is made more sweet as I’ll be joining a dynamic, electric team.”
MTC Artistic Director, Brett Sheehy said “I look forward to the extraordinary contribution each will will make to our activities in 2013, and to the program we will develop together for 2014.”
