15 May 2015
Rufus Norris announces the creation of a New Work department at the
National Theatre
Ben Power becomes Deputy Artistic Director; Emily McLaughlin is appointed Head of
New Work
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, today announces the creation of a New Work
department to commission and develop productions for the National’s four stages, bringing
together the NT’s Literary Department and the Studio, its R&D centre. Ben Power, Associate
Director since 2010, becomes Deputy Artistic Director of the NT, with responsibilities across
programming, creative development and commissioning. Emily McLaughlin joins the
National from the Royal Court, where she has been Artistic Associate since 2007, to become
Head of New Work.
Rufus Norris said: ‘The New Work department will become the engine room of the National’s
creative process. All artistic development, from new play commissions to Studio workshops
and the evolution of productions of classic texts, will be led by a single department:
maximising the combined potential of the Literary Department and the unique facility that is
the NT Studio.
‘The department will ensure that the National Theatre is able to lead, shape and respond to
new and emerging theatre practices, and to represent the widest range of voices on our
stages. The NT Studio, as well as being at the heart of our development process, will
prioritise relationships and collaborations with theatres outside London.
‘I’m delighted that Ben Power – who has played a central role in the creative output of the
NT in the last few years, from the programming of the Temporary Theatre to his work on
Medea and Man and Superman – will be taking on the new role of Deputy Artistic Director;
and that Emily McLaughlin joins us from the Royal Court to head the New Work
Department.’
Ben Power said: ‘I’m enormously excited to be working alongside Rufus as his Deputy
Artistic Director, helping to ensure that the impact of the new department is felt across the
NT’s stages; and I look forward to working with Emily and continuing the task of broadening
our programme, growing our range of artists and appealing to the widest possible audience.’
Notes to editors
Ben Power became Associate Director of the National Theatre in 2010 and has
programmed the NT’s Temporary Theatre since its opening in 2013. His adaptations for the
National include the forthcoming Husbands and Sons by DH Lawrence, Euripides' Medea
and Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean. He has worked as dramaturg on over twenty productions
for the NT. Until 2010, Ben was the Associate Director of Headlong Theatre; adaptations for
the company include Six Characters in Search of an Author and Faustus with Rupert Goold
and Paradise Lost. Dramaturgy for Headlong includes ENRON and Earthquakes in London.
Other work for the theatre includes A Tender Thing for the RSC and dramaturgy on
Complicite’s A Disappearing Number, which won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’
Circle Awards for Best Play. Screenplays include the forthcoming The Hollow Crown: The
Wars of the Roses for the BBC. For the first series of The Hollow Crown, Ben adapted Henry
V, and Richard II which won the RTS Award for Best Drama and was nominated for a
BAFTA.
Emily McLaughlin has been Artistic Associate for the Royal Court since 2007 and
has collaborated in the development of many Royal Court productions over the last eight
years, including Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje, Posh by Laura Wade, Get Santa! by
Anthony Neilson and Nick Powell, and most recently, Michael Wynne’s Who Cares. Her
creative producing includes Open Court, a six week playwright-led summer festival, and Off
The Page, with the Guardian. Emily has led playwriting workshops for the Royal Court
throughout the UK and in Europe and the US. She has been a key contributor to the Royal
Court’s International department, working with emerging playwrights from all over the world.
Emily joined the Royal Court Young Writers Programme in 2002 as Education Officer, and
produced the Court’s 50th Anniversary events throughout 2006.
For further information, please contact Lucinda Morrison on
lmorrison@nationaltheatre.org.uk or 020 7452 3232