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Emma Rice to Establish New Theater Company at London’s Old Vic

Emma Rice: ShakespearesGlobe/ YouTube

Emma Rice is wasting no time setting up her new theater company, Wise Children. According to BBC News, the Globe’s exiting artistic director has unveiled plans to launch Wise Children at London’s Old Vic. Rice called The Old Vic “the perfect first home for my company and for our first production.”

Scheduled during the Vic’s 2018–2019 season, the company’s inaugural production will be a stage adaptation of its namesake, Angela Carter’s 1991 novel “Wise Children.” Carter’s book tells the story of twin chorus girls Dora and Nora and their encounters with another eccentric theater family.

“I named my new company after Angela Carter’s seminal novel, which is set in south London and is a love letter to theater,” Rice explained. “It makes total narrative and thrilling sense to start the Wise Children journey at The Old Vic.”

“Emma and all she stands for is symbolic of the optimism and irrepressible spirit that has kept The Old Vic at the forefront of artistic adventure for the last two centuries,” Old Vic artistic director Matthew Warchus commented.

Wise Children, which Rice announced a few weeks ago, will receive funding from Arts Council England for its 2018–2022 lineup. In addition to staging productions at the Vic, the company plans to tour nationally and abroad. The company has also made a commitment to promote inclusivity in the theater via Emma Rice’s School for Wise Children, a training and apprenticeship program.

While Rice is obviously busy organizing and planning Wise Children’s official debut, she will still serve as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe until April 2018. Rice began her tenure at the Globe in April 2016; news of her planned exit broke in October 2016. Reportedly, Rice decided to leave after she and the Globe’s board clashed over the presence of technology in her plays. Many Globe execs feel strongly that — in order to preserve the authenticity of the original Globe — artificial lights and other effects should be avoided as much as possible.

This April, Rice wrote an open letter that suggested her issues with the Board ran much deeper than artistic differences over technology. “I chose to leave because, as important and beloved as the Globe is to me, the Board did not love and respect me back,” she explained. “Never think that my decision to step down in 2018 was simply about lights and sound. It was about personal trust and artistic freedom.”


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