An biennial showcase of contemporary performance for rural touring

New Directions

A 3 day programme, showcasing a range of entertaining, surprising and stimulating performance.

#NewDir12#NewDir14#NewDir16#NewDir18

Run time: Varies

Age: Varies

A room of different people standing and chatting.
An image of an audience watching a band on stage, in a dark room, with some lights on the stage.

New Directions

Between 2012 and 2018, China Plate worked closely with the National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF) to explore how to promote the best contemporary theatre and dance to rural audiences. The main vehicle for this was the hugely successful New Directions Showcase, a biennial festival of performance for Rural Touring Schemes and Village Hall Promotors.

Each 3 day festival was programmed by China Plate and showcased “a range of entertaining, surprising and stimulating performance made for the curious and characterised by a spirit of adventure.”

New Directions enabled NRTF touring schemes, venues and voluntary promoters to sample shows, see work, share experiences with other promoters and broaden their knowledge of work available for the rural touring network. The event brought together those involved in managing rural touring networks that, together, organize over 3,000 shows to over 220,000 audience members each year.

2012 | Warwick Arts Centre
2014 | York Theatre Royal
2016 | AMATA, Falmouth
2018 | University of Worcester

Filmmaker – Rachel Bunce

Photo © Imogen Weatherly

Downloads

    For more information, please contact Ed Collier

    You might also like...

    An image of overlapping head silhouettes, containing images of the ocean, a lighthouse and floating bodies.

    Point of Echoes

    A haunting tale of love, death and monsters, blending the tones of a Wes Anderson movie with the eerie dread of The Twilight Zone.

    Read more about Point of Echoes
    Three men dancing with their arms stretched out and tilted to one side.

    Rural Touring Dance Initiative

    Helping to increase the quality, quantity and diversity of dance promoted by Rural Touring schemes all over the country.

    Read more about Rural Touring Dance Initiative
    Two men in costume pretending to play fight with another man sat down, while two women look on laughing.

    Partnerships

    China Plate work with a network of 65+ venues to tour, commission and co-produce work - find out more.

    View page Partnerships