Temper Theatre are delighted to host our second INCUBATOR RESIDENCY with Internationally acclaimed British Theatre Director Rich Rusk. An intensive making space for bold ideas, experimental process, and fearless storytelling.

‍Fresh off the back of directing the award-winning Metamorphosis in Shanghai, international theatre director Rich Rusk invites you into a one-of-a-kind residency: a 5-day incubator for directors, theatre-makers, and interdisciplinary storytellers ready to create, clarify, and evolve their work.Rich has been a core mentor and creative ally to Temper Theatre since its founding in 2014, supporting the company’s growth, strategy, and devising practice. Most recently, he joined as Associate Director on Temper’s critically acclaimed production HOME, touring the UK and China in 2024.

This December edition will focus on devising, theatre-making, company development, and adaptation, exploring how to take existing plays and reimagine them for contemporary audiences. Rich has adapted and directed works including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Metamorphosis, and Peer Gynt, blending physical theatre and classic literature into vivid, emotionally charged performance.

As a former Associate Director for Gecko (Missing, Institute, Time of Your Life, The Dreamer) and an international director working extensively across the UK and Asia, Rich offers insight drawn from 20 years of mistakes, little victories, problem-solving, streamlining, and opening shows, from pub theaters to 2,000-seat grand stages, and everything in between

.More about Rich: https://www.richruskfilm.co.uk/theatre 

What to Expect:

‍An eclectic mix of making, analysis, planning, and discussion, rooted in practice. You’ll share ideas, test them in real time, and be supported by a room of peers equally committed to risk, honesty, and innovation

.This residency is for:
• Directors (early and mid-career)
• Devisers and interdisciplinary theatre-makers
• Artists developing or reworking an existing idea
• Anyone seeking to create bold, borderless work that speaks across form and culture

“We won’t make your show in this residency, but we will provide you with an essential toolkit developed over decades of devising.”

HOW TO START
Break through hesitation and begin. Tangibly. Creatively. Now.

ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS THROUGH VIDEO 
Learn to use film as a dramaturgical tool for structure, world-building, and clarity.

FUNDING AND THE ARTS ECOLOGY 
Join an afternoon with a highly experienced producer exploring pitching, funding strategies, arts ecology in England and internationally, and support with Arts Council DYCP and Under £30K Project Grants. This hot-seating session offers a unique chance to pitch your work and receive tailored feedback.

REIMAGINING THE KNOWN
In a landscape where venues often feel more confident programming recognized titles, explore how to creatively adapt existing stories… transforming the familiar into bold, contemporary theatre that still carries ‘a name.’

MAKING FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE
Translate your ideas across languages, cultures, and continents.

FINDING THE CORE OF YOUR PROJECT
Clarify what you’re truly making... for your cast, funders, collaborators, and yourself.
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“STORYBLOCKS”
Explore Rich’s unique method of generating narrative through manageable, bite-sized creative chunks.
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MAKING QUICKLY WITHOUT FEAR
Create under pressure, chase instinct, and bypass the critic in your head.