Theatremaker Emma Rice is to be honoured with this year’s Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards, in recognition of the unique, innovative and socially relevant work that she has created and directed all over the country, and her significant influence on the contemporary theatre landscape.
The award will be presented by designer Vicki Mortimer during the ceremony on Sunday 27 October at London’s Guildhall.
Ahead of accepting the award, Emma Rice said:
‘Oh my! I am proud, excited and utterly thrilled to be receiving the Outstanding Contribution Award at the UK Theatre Awards. This award is particularly meaningful to me as it not only recognises the body of work I have made over the years, but also the community of artists that I have made it with – a treasured community that remains loyal and inspirational to this day, as Wise Children goes from strength to strength. I started my career in the South West, found my directorial voice in Cornwall and have toured the country finding friends and ideas wherever I went. Regional theatre is the pumping blood of British theatre and has given me a real and creative home to invest in, flourish in and return to. I am truly lucky and so grateful. 27 October here I come!’
A performer, director and Artistic Director at Kneehigh for 20 years, Emma went on to become Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe in 2016, before founding her own company Wise Children last year, based in the South West.
Over the course of a prolific career, Emma has created and directed iconic and critically acclaimed productions including The Flying Lovers Of Vitebsk, Tristan and Yseult, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, Brief Encounter and A Matter Of Life And Death for Kneehigh, the West End production of The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, the Shakespeare’s Globe productions Romantics Anonymous and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the RSC production of The Empress, and recent touring adaptations of Angela Carter’s Wise Children and Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers for Wise Children. Wise Children also runs a unique professional development programme training a new and more diverse generation of theatre practitioners.
Past recipients of UK Theatre’s Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award include critic Lyn Gardner, actor Ian McKellen, choreographer Matthew Bourne and actor Maxine Peake.
For more information on the UK Theatre Awards, including the full list of nominations and to book tickets to the ceremony. visit the UK Theatre Awards page.
The UK Theatre Awards are sponsored by Harbottle & Lewis, Integro, John Good, Seat Geek, White Light and Theatre Tokens.
