The Lowry Theatre Senior Programmer & Producer Matthew Eames Lockdown Q&A

This weeks Actor Awareness lockdown Q&A is with The Lowry Theatres producer & programmer Matthew Eames.   We will be discussing how 1 of the biggest regional theatres in the UK is dealing with Covid, how there needs to be more support for emerging producers & if you don't want to be an actor, how to get into the more behind the scenes roles. Alongside the questions you send in to. Matthew is Senior Programmer/Producer at The Lowry in Salford, programming theatre, dance, comedy and circus across all three theatre spaces, leading on the contemporary programme for the organisation. He also produces The Lowry’s biennial cross-art festival – WEEK 53 – commissioning shows such as Nigel Slater’s Toast and Le Gateau Chocolat’s Pandora, and leads on cross-organisational community and audience development projects such as Paines Plough’s Roundabout. Matthew has also worked in artist development and fundraising at The Lowry and remains passionate about supporting artists and theatre-makers at all stages of their career to develop and progress. Matthew trained in Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music in London and worked as a freelancer in theatre for 11 years, firstly as a performer in West End and touring musicals and subsequently as a resident/associate director and director. He refocused his career within arts organisations in 2011 taking an MA in Arts Management at Goldsmiths University and joining The Lowry the following year. Matthew is a proud Midlander, hailing from brewery town Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire where he grew up on the same estate as Paddy Considine. He was introduced to theatre thanks to the intervention of an inspiring teacher at his secondary school at the age of 13. He is still going and he hasn’t finished yet.