We were thrilled to find out yesterday that ex-Paines Plough Artistic Director Roxana Silbert is to succeed Rachel Kavanaugh in heading up the mighty Birmingham Rep.
This is fantastic news for audiences and artists alike – Roxana is not only a superb director, but a brave champion of new talent. In her time running Paines Plough she commissioned and produced work by Dennis Kelly, Rona Munro, Sebastian Barry, Che Walker, Levi David Addai, Mark Ravenhill, Sean Buckley, Enda Walsh, Laura Lomas, Tom Wells, Steve Thompson, David Greig, Robin French, as well as producing innovative projects such as Wild Lunch, Future Perfect, LATER and the Rod Hall Award.
Since she left PP she has directed for the Globe, the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and the RSC, where she is currently an associate director. She joins Birmingham at an exciting time, with a brand new 300-seat space for new work due to open in 2013.
PP has a rich history of working producing with Birmingham Rep. In recent years we’ve worked together on Orphans by Dennis Kelly, Come To Where I’m From featuring Alia Bano, David Watson, David Edgar and Cheryl Payne, and on our upcoming commission of Kate Tempest.
We’d like to wish Roxana as well as all our friends at the Rep huge congratulations and best wishes for a sparkling future.