Yorkshire theatre designer Kate Marshall has been announced as the new Jerwood Resident Designer at the Playhouse and Leeds based children’s theatre company Tutti Frutti Productions.

This year-long paid placement, supported by Jerwood Foundation, is an exciting chance for an early career Yorkshire-based theatre designer to take their creativity to the next level.

Kate, who begins her placement this month, trained at Leeds College of Art and University of the Arts London, where she recently graduated from Wimbledon College of Art in Theatre Design. As both a designer and maker she has contributed creative work to various community productions at Cast in Doncaster and made her assisting debut on The Odyssey: The Cyclops as part of the National Theatre’s Public Acts production.

“It’s incredibly exciting to be joining Leeds Playhouse as the Jerwood Resident Designer, as well as working alongside the delightful Tutti Frutti on some of their upcoming shows,” said Kate. “I’ve been world-building and immersing myself in stories for the longest time, and I’m over the moon to be selected for this opportunity and to be part of creating moments of magic on stage alongside such incredible producing companies.

“Audiences deserve to experience incredible theatre regardless of where they are from, and I am so thrilled to be taking on this role surrounded by amazing regional talent and being a part of the next wave of storytelling coming out of the north.”

Amy Leach, Deputy Artistic Director at Leeds Playhouse, said: “We’re thrilled that Kate is joining us as our new Jerwood Resident Designer. She is a brilliant local artist with fresh ideas and an incredible enthusiasm for her craft. While she’s learning and developing with our amazing in-house teams of artists, I’m sure we’ll be learning from her too!

“We can’t wait to work with her on exciting projects across the coming year, while we continue our successful partnership with the Jerwood Foundation and Tutti Frutti to support early career designers in our region.”

Kate will be offered unique opportunities to learn from a wide range of activities and production departments across the Playhouse. She will work closely with Furnace, the theatre’s renowned artistic development programme, which is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious and well-respected initiatives of its kind in the UK. She will also work with Tutti Frutti, which is based in Harehills, Leeds, and has 30 years’ experience in creating high quality, inventive theatre for children aged 3+ and their families.

Wendy Harris, Artistic Director of Tutti Frutti, said: “It’s brilliant to have Kate join Tutti Frutti this year as we have lots of exciting projects, including our national and USA tours plus our work with Leeds children in our Tutti Frutti Club, for her to explore her creativity and to learn. We are so thrilled to be part of the Jerwood programme for the third year and to be partnering with Leeds Playhouse to support artists.”

Lara Wardle, Executive Director and Trustee of Jerwood Foundation, said: “Through our partnership with Leeds Playhouse and Tutti Frutti, Jerwood is pleased to be supporting this career-changing opportunity: the Jerwood Resident Designer role will give Kate an exciting chance to enhance her skills and build her portfolio with the support of a brilliant team of established artists and makers. We hope she has a wonderful year, honing her craft and creating a strong foundation for her future career.”

This is the third career-changing residency offered by the trio of arts organisations. In 2020/21, they joined forces to create a year-long Resident Designer role via the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme, which was awarded to Bradford-based designer Warda Abbasi. Last year, West Yorkshire theatre designer Delicia Sorhaindo was made Jerwood Resident Designer as part of a raft of new opportunities funded by Jerwood that included two consecutive one-year placements, two short-term placements and two Introduction to Design training courses.

Locally rooted designers and theatre-makers are encouraged to join Furnace, the Playhouse’s free network for artists, which gives them access to career-enhancing workshops, rehearsal space, discounted tickets and regular newsletters filled with placement and development opportunities at the Playhouse and across the region.