Indhu Rubasingham
The Kiln Theatre annouced today that Indhu Rubasingham is to step down as artistic director. She will finish her term in early 2024 and meanwhile the role of artistic director of Kiln Theatre will be advertised, and the recruitment process will begin later this month.
Aside from her impact on the cultural offer at the theatre Rubasingham was embroiled in controversy early in her tenure in 2014 when conflict in the Middle East was intense and the theatre decided not to accept Israeli monetary support for the UK Jewish Film Festival. In the face of misleading press reports the theatre issued this statement
LINK :
The Tricycle has always
welcomed the Festival and wants it to go ahead. We have proudly hosted the UK
Jewish Film Festival for many years. However, given the situation in Israel and
Gaza, we do not believe that the festival should accept funding from any party
to the current conflict. For that reason, we asked the UK Jewish Film
Festival to reconsider its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy. We also
offered to replace that funding with money from our own resources. The Tricycle
serves many communities and celebrates different cultures and through
difficult, emotional times must aim for a place of political neutrality.
Nevertheless the Jewish Film Festival withdrew from what was then the Tricycle and Brent Conservatives proposed that Brent Council stopped contributing to its funding.
May Bank Holiday Protest 2018
The renaming of the Tricycle was the next controversy on her watch when it was proposed that the name of the theatre should be changed to The Kiln as part of a relaunch. This led to demonstrations by angry theatre goers outside the premises, a Facebook group 'Our Tricycle not your Kiln' and the launch of a petition:
The name of the theatre and cinema that the local community has loyally
supported for many years has been changed, without consultation, from
‘The Tricycle’ to ‘The Kiln’. The attempt at re-branding is unnecessary,
costly and squanders the established reputation of The Tricycle. The
loss of loyalty may lead to the theatre closing - already many local
people have declared their intention to boycott it when it reopens. In
addition the name ‘The Kiln’ has unfortunate associations to a fire in
the eighties, when the theatre burned to the ground. Please support us
by signing the petition for the name to be changed back to The Tricycle -
It only takes a moment...
Indhu Rubasingham oversaw a
substantial £9m refurbishment programme at The Kiln and the statement from the
theatre below sets out what they see as her achievements as artistic director:
Kiln Theatre today announces that Indhu Rubasingham
will step down as Artistic Director of the company, leaving early 2024, having
led the company for over a decade.
Indhu Rubasingham said today, “I never had an inkling of
the journey ahead when I was first was appointed. I immediately felt the
responsibility, but what emerged was both challenging and exhilarating, an
experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It has been an immense
honour to be Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre. I have learnt and grown so much
over these past 11 years. It has given me the privilege and opportunity to work
with many brilliant people, who have contributed to the successes of Kiln; a
theatre with a mission that is heartfelt and held by the whole team. I am
deeply grateful to the Board of Trustees chaired by Sita McIntosh and former
trustees and Chairs for their support and guidance and care of Kiln, and also
to the many donors and Arts Council England who have allowed the Kiln to
flourish and achieve all the things it has. It is a wonderful space, that
welcomes us in to immerse ourselves in different worlds, narratives and
experiences. I have been very lucky to be part of its story. It now feels
the right moment to pass the baton and herald the next chapter of this unique
theatre.”
Chair of the Board, Sita McIntosh commented, “Indhu has
brought so many incredible qualities to the role of Artistic Director – a flair
for programming, the innate ability to combine the commercial with artistic
risk, and to bring a wealth of voices into the Kiln, never afraid to challenge,
to ask questions, and to bring out the very best in those whose work she
champions. However, it’s not only on the stage that her presence is felt, she’s
put creative engagement at the very forefront of the company’s ethos, firmly
believing theatre should be accessible to everyone through the work and through
training opportunities. She’s a rare talent, and she will be much missed. Her
greatest legacy is the building, which through a major capital project, she has
future proofed for generations, and it’s that building that will host the next
chapter for the company as we look for a new Artistic Director to build on
Indhu’s evident successes.”
Rubasingham took up her role at Kiln Theatre (then Tricycle Theatre) in 2012
– having previously directed Women, Power and Politics, Stones in His
Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation and Starstruck
for the company – and immediately, with Board support, repositioned the
company’s mission to bring unheard voices to the mainstream.
Her first production as Artistic Director was the critically acclaimed
award-winning Red Velvet by Lolita Chakrabarti, starring Adrian Lester
as Ira Aldridge. The production was nominated for the Olivier Award for
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; and Chakrabarti won the
Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. The production
later transferred to St Ann’s Warehouse in New York and to the Garrick Theatre
as part of Kenneth Branagh’s season.
New writing became a mainstay of Rubasingham’s tenure and was followed with
Philip Himberg’s Paper Dolls – a new musical inspired by a true story
with an international company combining languages, musical genres, cultures and
gender identity. Other highlights include Moira Buffini’s Handbagged which
examines the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher. The
production opened to critical acclaim in 2013 winning the Olivier Award for
Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, before transferring to the West End and
Washington, and Rubasingham revived the production last year in what was to
prove timely programming. She also directed Marcus Gardley’s The House That
Will Not Stand and The Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes (with long-term
partners Lucian Msamati, Adjoa Andoh and Sharon D Clarke, the latter who
returned for Susie McKenna’s production of Blues in the Night); and
Ayad Akhtar’s The Invisible Hand, which was one of the last
productions under the Tricycle Theatre name, and was later revived as part of
the reopening season post the Covid-19 pandemic, garnering Olivier Award
nominations for Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for both runs.
Two key relationships under her leadership were with the writers Florian
Zeller and Zadie Smith. The company presented Zeller’s triptych of plays – The
Father, The Mother and The Son, with both The Father and
The Son receiving West End transfers. Rubasingham began her working
relationship with Smith with White Teeth, which was adapted for the
stage by Stephen Sharkey and formed part of the opening season at Kiln Theatre.
A book firmly rooted in the local community, Smith and Rubasingham followed
this with a new collaboration on The Wife of Willesden, which enjoyed
two sell-out runs at the company’s home base, before transferring to American
Repertory Theatre, Harvard University and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Smith now
sits on the Board of Kiln Theatre.
Other writers commissioned, produced and presented during Rubasingham’s
period as Artistic Director include Anupama Chandrasekhar, Samuel Adamson,
Alexi Kaye Campbell, John Hollingworth, Marina Carr, April De Angelis, Inua
Ellams, Suhayla El-Bushra, Alexis Zegerman,Lynn Nottage, Zodwa Nyoni, Amy
Trigg, Chinonyerem Odimba, Colman Domingo, and most recently Ryan Calais
Cameron with the critically acclaimed sell-out production of Retrograde,
directed by Associate Director Amit Sharma. Partnerships and co-productions
included with the National Theatre on The Great Wave by Frances
Turnley, which Rubasingham directed (and is now on the school syllabus), Abbey
Theatre, Tamasha, tiata fahodzi, Fiery Angel, Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Bath
Theatre Royal, Paines Plough, Frantic Assembly, Complicité, Theatre Royal
Plymouth, Opera Up Close and Muju.
Perhaps most significantly, Rubasingham oversaw a £9m major capital
refurbishment future proofing the theatre for the next generation of
theatremakers. The necessary works preserved the glories of the original
building whilst making it a theatre for today, fit for purpose for modern
companies and audiences. The newly-renovated theatre features an upgraded
auditorium with a flexible stage, better seating, improved accessibility; and a
street-front café on Kilburn High Road. The theatre reopened in 2018 with a new
name, Kiln Theatre.
During this period, Rubasingham and her team spearheaded an expansion of
creative engagement work, putting their commitment to the local community and
emerging artists at the very core of the theatre’s output. These initiatives
included the growth of Minding the Gap – a drama project for young people aged
14-19 who are newly arrived in the UK, with lived experience of migration
and/or who identify as refugees and asylum seekers from Kiln’s partner schools
and colleges in Brent, Youth Theatre, Young Companies, and The Agency, which
was part of Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture. In addition to the extensive
Creative Engagement programme, Kiln Theatre also runs an artist development
programme for residents of North West London, to support and inform practice,
inspire and release creativity.
She led the company, with Executive Director Daisy Heath, during the
Covid-19 pandemic, and utilising the support of the Job Retention Scheme and
the Culture Recovery Fund kept the staff and building together, whilst
repositioning themselves during lockdown as a support and hub for the local
area. In recognition of this work, and their reopening season, Kiln Theatre won
The Stage 2021 Award for London Theatre of the Year. Also, as part of Kiln’s
post-Covid reopening, in 2021 Kiln created their new Backstage Designer
Residencies scheme, mentored by Tom Piper, which seeks to have a real impact
both on the relationship between creative freelancers and building-based
organisations, and on the lack of accessible pathways into theatre design
careers. With this paid training opportunity, Kiln piloted Universal
Basic Income-type support for early career theatre designers. Routes in, access
into the industry and artistic excellence are the cornerstones of Rubasingham’s
Kiln Theatre.
The last three words may raise hackles amongst the Tricycle loyalists (It's OUR Tricycle not YOUR Kiln') with one Twitter commenter musing today, 'I wonder what the next artistic director will rename The Kiln.'
Asked about Indhu's futue plans The Kiln said there was nothing to add at this stage.
