COMPANY
Lightwork was founded in 1999 by Andy Lavender.
We are a non-profit making organisation and became a company limited by guarantee in October 2000.
The company is artist-led. Andy Lavender is Artistic Director. The company is overseen by a board of three directors who have a range of experience, in particular in theatre writing, performance, direction, project management, policy development and teaching drama and theatre at higher education level.
Lightwork also has a group of Associate Artists. These are project participants who have made substantial contributions to the company's work and ongoing development, in recognition of which they are invited to be Associate Artists. The company works to foster their continuing collaboration through project participation but also through mentoring schemes and forward-planning workshops.
The company has a broad network of collaborators and supporters who value the company mission and contribute to fulfilling it through their constructive participation as artists/makers — and as audiences who provide feedback throughout our developmental processes.
The company currently seeks funding on a project-by-project basis.
We receive regular and significant support in kind (including use of rehearsal facilities and technical equipment).
MANAGEMENT
Andy Lavender, as Artistic Director, is the key driver in terms of the artistic direction of the company and the management of our productions.
He works closely with the Board of Directors. The Board meets 4-6 times a year in response to need. Its key role is:
- assurance: to ensure that the company and its productions are well and appropriately run.
- enhancement: to ensure that a sound and efficient infrastructure is established and maintained.
- development: to ensure the ongoing development of the company in pursuit of its mission.
The company produces an annual business plan. This ensures that we keep our objectives, management and development strategies under review.
PRODUCT
The company's productions develop innovative methods of using mixed-media technologies in live performance.
Performances draw upon audiences' established pleasures in storytelling and spectacle, and they do so in a contemporary, accessible but exciting manner. The shows aim to be emotionally and intellectually stimulating, fun and innovative.
The work is concerned with narrative, but the company encourages a conscious recognition of the form and texture of the event.
Typically, the productions involve layerings of themes, and shifts of time, place and persona. The intended effect is of a world of theatrical transformations that are playful and meaningful, and help to create a larger whole.
All performances are artist-led. They are collectively devised and managed by a range of artists, including performers, designers, writers and technicians.
The practice of developing work through several developmental stages allows our artists to explore and develop their own practices; to explore the potential of cross-disciplinary work (eg performers working with video artists); to maintain a high level of artistic control; and to achieve a high level of artistic outcome.
Lightwork currently has two projects in development for production in 2007/8: Sarajevo Story and You Kill Me.
Three further projects are undergoing longer term development: The Hecabe Project, The Irving Project and Utter.