Fifth annual MGCfutures Bursaries recipients revealed

Michael Grandage's bursary scheme to aid aspiring professionals, MGCfutures, has unveiled its fifth round of recipients.

Aiding aspiring theatre makers who are looking to progress to the next stage of their development, MGCfutures was launched in 2013 with the bursaries first distributed in 2016. Applicants are able to apply for up to £5000.

This year, in a major expansion for the scheme, there are 33 recipients: Waleed Akhtar, Tom Bellerby, Rebecca Brewer, Teresa Burns, Ghost Chan, Zhui Ning Chang, Liz Daramola, Beth Flintoff, burn/gobscure, Sam Hardie, Natalie Haslam, Kitty Hawkins, Courtenay Johnson, Eve Kann, Júlia Levai, Tom Lightbody, Rafaella Marcus, Tony Mills, Will Monks, Madelaine Moore, Laurie Motherwell, Anna Orton, Nisha Oza, Claire Rimington, Luke W. Robson, Nye Russell-Thompson, Lucía Sánchez Roldán, Amber Sinclair-Case, Freya Smith, Lexie Ward, Naomi Westerman, Christopher Worrall and Lilac Yosiphon.

This year the recipients come from a variety of disciplines including directing, writing, producing, designing, choreography, digital, casting and performance-making.

Grandage said today: "This year it feels more vital than ever before to support and nurture the theatre makers of the future and to create new work by offering them money, time and mentorship. I'm enormously proud of the achievements of our past bursary recipients – to witness their work and growth as artists is a wonderful part of this initiative. The charity continues to support the vast network of jobs that make up the whole theatre ecology as we believe it is only this way we can build an industry for the future. We're grateful to the Theatre Community Fund whose generosity has enabled us to award our largest ever number of bursaries in honour of the fifth anniversary of the scheme."

This year's bursaries include new partnerships with the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre for a literary associate (trainee) and Pilot Theatre for two creative assistants. This year the scheme was also aided following a grant of £300k from the Theatre Community Fund, spearheaded by Olivia Colman, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Francesca Moody.

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