PRODUCTION COMPANY IS A CUT ABOVE THE REST AS IT SECURES PRESTIGIOUS ART FUNDING

Prime Cut Productions, one of Northern Ireland’s award-winning theatre companies is pleased to announce it has secured significant Arts funding from leading independent funder Jerwood Arts, the Funding and Development Agency and Arts Council Northern Ireland. This combined support will enable Prime Cut to continue delivering its Reveal Artist Development Programme for the next two years.

Reveal 2020 will aim to develop both individual artists and the sector through various strands of practice. In this next two-year iteration, Prime Cut is bringing on board four new practitioners in collaboration with international partners in Manchester, Paris, Sibiu, New York and Washington. It will continue to provide bespoke support to several artists developing projects independently and broader sectoral provision.

The first iteration of Reveal was delivered between 2014-18 and culminated in the Reveal-Ed Showcase in January 2019 at the MAC, Belfast where audiences had the opportunity to experience a curated variety of works created by 10 independent Northern Irish Artists including, performances in progress, rehearsed readings, short films and rare insights into artist development.

Una NicEoin, Executive Producer of Prime Cut Productions said: “Reveal was first made possible when Emma Jordan, Artistic Director of Prime Cut Productions was awarded The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Breakthrough Award in 2014 and used it to create the Programme. The aim was to empower our artists to seek out new opportunities to develop and grow both and home and abroad. We are now excited to continue doing this with vigour as we support our passionate and talented artists. The original Reveal proved extraordinarily successful, developing as it did, internationally successful shows such as Hard To Be Soft, Scorch and Removed and we look forward to being able to continue to develop and showcase thought-provoking theatre, community engagement and artist development into the future.”

Jon Opie, Deputy Director, Jerwood Arts said: We are delighted to support Prime Cut’s Reveal programme over the next two years. The company’s track record in dedicated support for performance makers in Northern Ireland is outstanding, and these new opportunities for a theatre maker, playwright and producer will provide much-needed, sustained development for them to create exceptional work at a time when there is very little direct funding in NI for independent creatives.

Caoileann Curry Thompson from Arts Council NI adds her support by saying: “Prime Cut’s ambitious and highly specialised programme of artistic development, Reveal 2020, is the only one of its kind in Northern Ireland. The programme’s reach, creative ambition and tailored nature make it an invaluable and no doubt game changing experience for any emerging artist. Prime Cut’s high artistic quality, and outward looking, progressive nature is writ large across this programme. The Arts Council Northern Ireland is proud to support this venture and look forward to see the results of its fruition.”

Established in 1992, the Prime Cut Productions ethos has been to delve into subjects that matter across various communities and isn’t afraid to shy away from Northern Ireland’s chequered past as it explores topics within society that provokes conversations about diversity, inclusion and community.