Yellow Earth Theatre is an internationally touring theatre company based in London and established in 1995 to raise the profile of British East Asian theatre. [1] The company also runs several initiatives to support and develop British East Asian talent. [2]
The company has received national attention for its support of minority actors, writers and directors. [3]
The current artistic director is Kumiko Mendl. [4]
In 2011, the company began collaborating with Academy of Live and Recorded Arts to increase the number of East Asians attending drama school in the United Kingdom. [5]
The company was founded by David K.S. Tse, Kumiko Mendl, Tom Wu, Veronica Needa and Kwong Loke.
David K.S. Tse was the Artistic Director 1995–2008; Jonathan Man and Philippe Cherbonnier co-Artistic Directors 2009–2010; and Kumiko Mendl the current artistic director from 2011–present. In 2017, Mendle spoke out on this issue of under representation of actors with Asian heritage. Self-identifying as British Asian, she stated that there were "a great many wonderful, talented British Asian actors, but we get few enough roles as it is, because we're not seen as English". [6]
In 2020, the company rebranded as New Earth Theatre. [7]
Timothy Lancaster West, CBE is a retired English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on stage and television, including stints in both Coronation Street and EastEnders, and Not Going Out, as the original Geoffrey Adams. He is married to the actress Prunella Scales; from 2014 to 2019, they travelled together on UK and overseas canals in the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and on tour across the UK and internationally.
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The Moscow State Jewish (Yiddish) Theatre, also known by its acronym GOSET (ГОСЕТ), was a Yiddish theatre company established in 1919 and shut down in 1948 by the Soviet authorities. During its time in operation, it served as a prominent expression of Jewish culture in Russia under Joseph Stalin. Under its founding artistic director, Alexander Granowsky, productions were heavily influenced by the avant-garde trends of Europe and many reflected an expressionistic style. Summertime tours to rural shtetls were extremely popular. At the end of a 1928 tour in Germany, Granowsky defected to the west, and Solomon Mikhoels became artistic director in his place. During Mikhoels' tenure the theatre branched out beyond classic Yiddish theatre productions to include works by Soviet Yiddish writers and William Shakespeare. The theatre continued to operate during World War II in Moscow and, after the evacuation of the city in 1943, in Tashkent. Mikhoels was murdered by the MVD in 1948 and his successor, Benjamin Zuskin, was arrested shortly after. In 1948 the Soviet authorities ordered the theatre to be shut down along with all other Yiddish theatre companies in the Soviet Union.
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