Newcastle artist Kema Kay is to create a new theatre work and help develop opportunities for Black creatives in the North East after securing more than £237,000 from Arts Council England.
The writer, rapper, actor and performer is at the centre of a Newcastle-based partnership with Northern Roots and Live Theatre which has been awarded £237,084 through the Theatre Breakthrough Fund.
The funding will support the creation of Kema’s new work, Bred and Roses, alongside a wider programme aimed at building infrastructure for Black-led theatre in the region.
That will include paid opportunities, mentoring and leadership pathways for Black, Asian and ethnically diverse creatives, with the partnership also looking to develop audiences for a broader range of stories and address underrepresentation within the theatre sector.
Kema, artistic director of the Northern Roots project, said: “Receiving the Theatre Breakthrough fund is an incredible moment for me and the communities I represent. This investment lets us build something bigger than one production.
“With Northern Roots and Live Theatre, we’re creating a programme that nurtures Northern Black talent, opens real opportunities for Black theatre makers, and brings audiences together to listen, learn and celebrate our voices.”
The Newcastle partnership is one of nine projects across the North of England sharing £2m through the Theatre Breakthrough Fund, which was launched by Arts Council England in December 2025 following the closure of Eclipse Theatre Company.
The fund was established to maintain investment in the kind of new theatre, touring and artist development for which Eclipse had been known, with Black, Asian and ethnically diverse theatre makers invited to propose ambitious new work and collaborations.
Across the nine successful projects, the investment is expected to support around 12 new theatre productions, eight commissions and approximately 200 performances, as well as creating jobs, partnerships and talent development opportunities.
Other recipients include Sheffield-based Roots Mbili, Bradford-based Kully Thiarai, Manchester theatre maker Darren Pritchard and Liverpool’s Keith Saha. Projects range from new touring productions to initiatives designed to strengthen opportunities for underrepresented theatre makers across the North.
Jen Cleary, Arts Council England’s Director North and Combined Arts, said the nine awards demonstrated “the rich talent and the wealth of ideas that exists across the North”, adding that the fund had also sparked new conversations with artists which the organisation was keen to develop further.