News Story
Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director and CEO of National Theatre of Scotland has announced today that Paul Fitzpatrick will be joining the Company in November 2020 in the newly created role of Director of Creative Engagement, following an extensive recruitment process.
Paul Fitzpatrick is currently Chief Executive of Imaginate, a unique organisation in Scotland committed to promoting, developing and celebrating theatre and dance for children and young people, and responsible for the annual Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.
Paul is one of the most respected arts producers and cultural leaders in Scottish theatre.
He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and was a fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme. Prior to joining Imaginate, he was Producer and joint CEO at Catherine Wheels Theatre Company (2002 to 2015) and was also the long-standing producer for theatre maker Shona Reppe.
“I’m delighted that Paul Fitzpatrick will be joining us in the new role as Director of Creative Engagement. Paul is an incredibly inspirational, dynamic arts leader whose current work throughout the Scottish cultural sector is widely recognised both at home and far beyond. Paul brings an exciting vision for creative engagement involving Scotland's incredible theatre talent, ensuring that the broadest range of communities across Scotland are at the centre of our work going forward. It is even more vital that we connect with communities culturally in these challenging times”
Paul Fitzpatrick commented
“I have been a huge fan of the National Theatre of Scotland since the day it began, so I am delighted to be joining the team. This marks a new chapter in my professional life, having worked in theatre and dance for children and young people for the last 25 years. I’m looking forward to building on my experience from that incredible sector and working with the team at the National Theatre of Scotland to engage even more people in the arts whatever their age, background or circumstance.”
The new Director of Creative Engagement will work with the Executive Leadership team on planning, developing and implementing the National Theatre of Scotland’s Creative Engagement Strategy. The Director will lead on a future-facing, exceptional programme of co-created, community driven projects at a vital time, ensuring that this area of work serves and reflects contemporary Scotland.
The National Theatre of Scotland is internationally renowned for its acclaimed participatory projects and recognised in Scotland for the its innovative outreach and engagement programmes. Recent successes include the Futureproof festival involving ten world premieres, co-created with young people across Scotland and co-produced with leading international performance companies as part of Year of Young People 2018 and Nic Green’s acclaimed Like Flying project in 2019 taking aerial arts and performance into schools, presented in partnership with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health), in association with East Ayrshire Council and the City of Edinburgh Council and with support from Aberdeen Standard Investments.
