Video: The Yard Theatre – “Our role in culture should be to disrupt”

The Yard Theatre is a hidden gem in east London, producing and programming new writing and risk-taking work. Once a disused warehouse, it has been converted with care, consideration and recycled materials into an intimate amphitheatre with nods to both classical theatre architecture and to the building’s industrial past.

“We punch above our weight,” says Jay Miller, Artistic Director, who founded The Yard in 2011. In the video above, he tells us how he aims to create a safe space for artists and build strong links with the local community. “Our role in culture should be to disrupt, should be to provoke, and should be to create something new.” Despite operating on a small budget, the venue has won awards for its innovation and its support of emerging artists, and two of its productions have transferred to the National Theatre.

“I am worried for London,” Miller continues in our longer written interview. He tells us about the increasing costs of the city and the problems they’re causing: “London has been a brilliant influencer culturally for generations, but unless things change in terms of the way in which arts and culture are valued, then I fear that it won’t be the city that it’s become for future generations.”

In early 2017 The Yard launches NOW17, an annual festival of new performance that takes place from 31 January to 4 March and features an exciting group of leftfield artists including Greg Wohead with Rachel Mars, Deborah Pearson, Sylvia Rimat and Mamoru Iriguchi.

This interview is part of the British Council’s online London arts tour. We’re featuring arts from around the UK, visiting a different city each month, as part of our UK-India 2017 celebrations.

Find out more:

> Read our full interview with Jay Miller

> Check out the festival programme for The Yard’s NOW17

> See a profile of Jay Miller on our Creative Economy website

> Watch performance trailers on The Yard’s vimeo channel