TakeOver Festival
A week-long green festival at York Theatre Royal
Hannah was the Associate Director of TakeOver Festival 2019.
Hannah worked within the TakeOver Senior Management Team to curate and programme a week-long green festival. This involved communicating and developing relationships with a range of theatre companies and local organisations to ensure the festival was inclusive and engaged with a wide audience. As Associate Director, Hannah co-created and ran two engagement projects. E-Reality? was a touring educational performance and workshop that reached over 400 primary children, and Celebrate! involved working with local youth groups aged 8-18 that may not have access to the arts.
The Festival
TakeOver is an annual festival that is designed and ran by young people who are mentored by industry professionals. Young people aged 18-26 take on production roles within a Senior Management Team to deliver a large-scale theatre and arts festival at York Theatre Royal. The team are responsible for programming, producing and marketing a diverse and ambitious programme which spans the arts; TakeOver promises an exciting celebration of contemporary culture. TakeOver provides industry experience, and throws young people straight into the workings of a theatre. See link for more information about the Festival.
In 2019, TakeOver had a green theme and aimed to promote an environmental message. It explored how to create a more eco-friendly arts festival, whilst raising more conversations about our planet. Now in its tenth year, the festival also celebrated young people and its 10th birthday.
Senior Management Team
Artistic Director: Rachel Flannagan
Associate Director: Hannah Stacey
Associate Director: Emily Wilson-Knight
Producer: Lucia Rimini
Marketing Officer: Henry Longstaff
Volunteer Coordinator: Rebecca McGreevy & Tala Pattinson
Development Officer: Harri Kylie
Outreach Director: Jessy Roberts
Festival Line Up
28th October 2019
Welcome to TakeOver Tea
Baby Box- Sleepless
You and I- Collavoce
Launch Party
31st October 2019
Hansel and Gretel Halloween
Wonder of Trees- Alice Courvoisier
2nd November 2019
New Voices Festival
Jessica Fostekew
Aliens vs Zombies- Haus of Dench
Reviews & Tweets
“Takeover is one of the most important schemes for young people anywhere in the UK arts sector. It is brilliant because it is bold and clear. The young people run the theatre. They are mentored, not managed, and have the freedom to do whatever they like with their theatre.”
— Tom Bird, York Theatre Royal
“A huge happy birthday to @TakeOverYork - 10 years today! Such an incredible initiative, the experience (Artistic Director 2013) undoubtedly helped get me onto my current career path and I know has done the same for so many others. Thank you @YorkTheatre.”
— Ruby Clarke, Crucible Theatre
“Takeover Festival helped me get my dream job, now working as a Marketing Assistant at the Royal Shakespeare Company! Thank you for the opportunity to get involved and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who asked!”
— Robyn Taylor Mcewan, RSC
“Excited to see so much fantastic work happening at @TakeOverYork this year!! workshops for young people, awesome comedians and of course some really cool theatre! Going to be a fun week to be a part of! Green heart”
— Teastain Theatre
“I was part of the first Takeover festival in 2009 and was Head of Communications shadowing Abbi. It was an amazing opportunity and helped me pursue my career in the arts. I am now Senior Marketing Manager at The Old Vic…”
— Izzy Madgwick, Old Vic
“Happy birthday to @TakeOverYork! I was one of the original artistic directors 10 bloody years ago and it changed my whole outlook on theatre thank you @YorkTheatre and esp Damian Cruden who took a thousand chances on me and let me fly x”
— Charlotte Bennet, Plaines Plough
