Steven Atkinson

Steven Atkinson (born 4 May 1984) is an award winning[1] British producer working in theatre and film.

Steven Atkinson
Steven Atkinson
Born
Steven Atkinson

(1984-05-04) 4 May 1984
Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Alma materUniversity of Reading
OccupationTheatre producer, film producer
Years active2005–present

He co-founded and led HighTide, one of the UK's leading theatre companies, and a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England. He commissioned and produced over eighty new plays in theatres including the National Theatre, The Old Vic, Royal Court Theatre, Young Vic, in the West End, and Off-Broadway. He produced fourteen HighTide festivals in Suffolk and London.

Education

Atkinson read Film & Theatre at the University of Reading, graduating in 2005.

Career

Early career

His career started in script development working at the Donmar Warehouse under Michael Grandage, the Royal Court under Ian Rickson, and Hull Truck Theatre under John Godber.[2] He produced Hull Truck's first new writing festival in 2007.[3]

HighTide

In 2007 Atkinson co-founded and became artistic director of HighTide,[4] quickly establishing it as one of the UK's leading theatre production companies.

“Under artistic director Steven Atkinson, the festival – a tempting mixture of new productions, readings and discussions - has grown to become one of the little gems of the artistic calendar in Britain. And, with alumni such as Ella Hickson and Nick Payne poached in the past for shows at the National Theatre in London and the Public Theatre in New York, it has become a real hunting-ground for new talent.” The Telegraph[5]

In his opening season he produced Adam Brace's Stovepipe, which transferred from the HighTide Festival to London with the National Theatre and Bush Theatre. Stovepipe was widely acclaimed and called 'a five-star production in its power and ambition' by The Sunday Times and 'exhilaratingly convincing[6] by The Independent. The production was ranked in The Sunday Times Best Theatre Productions of the Decade and it was nominated for Best Off-West End Production in the Whatsonstage awards. In that season he also produced Joel Horwood's I Caught Crabs In Walberswick, which transferred to the Bush Theatre,[7] and Switzerland, the first play by Nick Payne who then went on to win the George Devine Award.

At HighTide, Atkinson produced and championed many of the leading new writers of the last decade, including Anders Lustgarten,[8] Luke Barnes,[9] Tallulah Brown,[10] E V Crowe,[11] Elinor Cook,[12] Rob Drummond,[13] Kenny Emson,[14] Kieran Hurley,[15] Theresa Ikoko,[16] Branden Jacobs-Jenkins,[17] Ella Hickson,[18] Eve Leigh,[19] Vinay Patel,[20] Nick Payne,[21] Beth Steel,[22] Al Smith,[23] Sam Steiner,[24] and Jack Thorne.[25]

In 2016 Atkinson gave an interview to The Stage where he said of the HighTide Festival: ‘we want to be theatre’s Sundance.’[26]

He has twice been awarded by The Society of London Theatre with their Emerging Producers Bursary for Stovepipe and Lidless. In 2009 he was awarded by Esquire magazine as one of the 60 Brilliant Brits Shaping 2009.

In 2019 he stepped down from HighTide after twelve years to pursue new opportunities.[27]

London Theatre credits

Bush Theatre
  • Collapsible by Margaret Perry, directed by Thomas Martin (2020)
  • Rust by Kenny Emson, directed by Eleanor Rhode (2019)
  • The Trick by Eve Leigh, directed by Roy Alexander Weisse (2019)
  • Forget Me Not by Tom Holloway, directed by Steven Atkinson (2015)
  • True Brits by Vinay Patel, directed by Tanith Lindon (2014)
  • Incognito by Nick Payne, directed by Joe Murphy (2014)
  • Moth by Declan Greene, directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah (2013)
  • Mudlarks by Vickie Donoghue, directed by Will Wrightson (2012)
  • I Caught Crabs In Walberswick by Joel Horwood, directed by Lucy Kerbel (2008)

Young Vic
  • See Me Now by Molly Taylor, directed by Mimi Poskitt (2017)

Royal Court Theatre
  • Harrogate by Al Smith, directed by Richard Twyman (2016)

Soho Theatre

Royal National Theatre
  • Stovepipe by Adam Brace, directed by Michael Longhurst (2009)

Old Vic Theatre
  • Ditch by Beth Steel, directed by Richard Twyman (2010)

Trafalgar Studios
  • Lidless by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, directed by Steven Atkinson (2011)

The Yard Theatre
  • Pilgrims by Elinor Cook, directed by Tamara Harvey (2016)
  • BRENDA by E V. Crowe, directed by Caitlin McLeod (2015)

Arcola Theatre
  • The Sugar Coated Bullets Of The Bourgeoisie by Anders Lustgarten, directed by Steven Atkinson (2016)
  • Peddling by Harry Melling, directed by Steven Atkinson (2014)

Gate Theatre
  • Pink Lemonade by Mika Johnson, directed by Emily Aboud (2019)
  • Since U Been Gone by Teddy Lamb, directed by Billy Barrett (2019)

Regional Theatre credits

Nottingham Playhouse
  • LIT by Sophie Ellerby, directed by Stef O’Driscoll (2019)

Live Theatre
  • Pops by Charlotte Josephine, directed by Ali Pidsley (2019)

Traverse Theatre
  • Mouthpiece by Kieran Hurley, directed by Orla O’Loughlin (2018)
  • In Fidelity by Rob Drummond, directed by Steven Atkinson (2016)

Theatr Clwyd
  • Heroineby Nessah Muthy, directed by Steven Atkinson (2017)
  • Pilgrims by Elinor Cook, directed by Tamara Harvey (2016)

Royal Exchange Theatre
  • So Here We Are by Luke Norris, directed by Steven Atkinson (2015)

Paines Plough

Ustinov Studio Theatre Royal Bath
  • The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc, directed by Michael Boyd (2014)

Sheffield Crucible
  • Stuart: A Life Backwards by Jack Thorne, directed by Mark Rosenblatt (2013)

Nuffield Theatre

Watford Palace Theatre
  • Dusk Rings A Bell by Stephen Belber, directed by Steven Atkinson (2012)

Off-Broadway Theatre credits

59E59 Theaters
  • Peddling by Harry Melling, directed by Steven Atkinson (2014) NYT Critics' Pick[28]

The Public Theater
  • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs by Mike Daisy, directed by Jean-Michelle Gregory (2012)[29]

Radio credits

BBC Radio 4
  • The Shores by Vinay Patel, directed by Jessica Dromgoole (2019)
  • Silver Darlings by Tallulah Brown, directed by Jessica Dromgoole (2019)
  • The Afghan and The Penguin by Michael Hastings, directed by Steven Atkinson (2012)

The Guardian
  • Lampedusa by Anders Lustgarten, directed by Steven Atkinson (2015)[30]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Stage Play Result
2009 Society of London Theatre New Producers' Award Stovepipe Won
2009 Whatsonstage Award for Best Off West End Production Stovepipe Nominated
2010 Fringe First Award Lidless Won
2011 Society of London Theatre New Producers' Award Lidless Won
2012 Fringe First Award Educating Ronnie Won
2016 Manchester Evening News Awards Best Production So Here We Are Won
2016 Manchester Evening News Awards Best Play So Here We Are Won
2017 Evening Standard Theatre Awards Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright Harrogate Nominated

References
  1. Lidless & Hickson's Talent Next up for Trafalgar 2 - Lidless at Trafalgar Studios (previously the Whitehall) - London - News - Whatsonstage.com
  2. The Stage / News / Hull Truck expands senior team before £13.8m move
  3. The Stage / News / Hull Truck launches new playwriting festival
  4. http://hightide.org.uk
  5. "HighTide Festival, Aldeburgh review", The Telegraph, 2013
  6. "Stovepipe, West 12 Shopping Centre, London". The Independent. 15 March 2009.
  7. Bush Theatre Archived 23 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Lampedusa Soho Theatre London Review". The Guardian. 12 April 2015.
  9. "Edinburgh 2012: Bottleneck, Pleasance Courtyard, review". The Telegraph. 17 August 2012.
  10. "Tallulah Brown: 'Robert Redford was talking about dragons with our song in the background'". The Guardian. 18 September 2018.
  11. "HighTide Festival, Aldeburgh, review: 'an inspiring programme'". The Telegraph. 13 September 2015.
  12. "Review: Pilgrims (HighTide Festival)". Whatsonstage. 12 September 2016.
  13. "Review: In Fidelity review – cheating hearts and audience chemistry". The Guardian. 22 August 2016.
  14. "'Rust' review". Time Out. 2 July 2019.
  15. "Mouthpiece review: Touching and humane reflection on the responsibility of storytellers". Evening Standard. 8 April 2019.
  16. "Theatre: HighTide Festival at Aldeburgh, Suffolk". The Times. 13 September 2016.
  17. "Actors to wear blackface for 'hackle-raising' new play". The Guardian. 4 January 2013.
  18. "Boys, Soho Theatre, London". The Independent. 16 June 2012.
  19. "The Trick's Eve Leigh: 'The more you enjoy your life, the better your work is going to be'". The Stage. 26 February 2019.
  20. "Playwright Vinay Patel: 'Putting on the play is not enough – it's who you get in the room'". The Stage. 11 September 2018.
  21. "HighTide festival review – new plays put across with zest". The Guardian. 14 April 2014.
  22. "Ditch, Old Vic Tunnels, London". The Independent. 28 May 2010.
  23. "Harrogate's dark, tender drama defies interpretation – review". The Telegraph. 25 October 2016.
  24. "The second coming of Kanye: rapper is reborn as a woman in new play". The Guardian. 11 September 2016.
  25. "Stuart: A Life Backwards – review". The Guardian. 13 August 2013.
  26. "HighTide Festival's Steven Atkinson: 'We want to be theatre's Sundance'". The Stage. 9 September 2016.
  27. "Steven Atkinson to step down as artistic director of HighTide, 2018 programme announced". Whatsonstage. 3 July 2018.
  28. "THEATER REVIEW A Lost Boy, Trying to Find His Way". The New York Times. 18 May 2014.
  29. "Mike Daisey gives anyone a free byte of his Steve Jobs play". The Guardian. 14 February 2012.
  30. https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2015/jun/11/podcast-lampedusa-audio-play-migration
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