We are delighted to announce that Nimmo Ismail and Eva Sampson are Stratford East's new Sky Arts Artistic Associates. Both take up the role on 1 April 2022.

In January 2021, Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nadia Fall was appointed as one of five new Sky Arts Ambassadors to mentor the next generation of talent as part of its continuing mission to champion emerging artists and support cultural recovery.

As part of her ambassadorship, Fall created four 12-month artistic associate positions at Theatre Royal Stratford East for early to mid-career creatives. Ismail and Sampson will work closely with Fall to generate and develop artistic ideas for the theatre’s programme, assist with the delivery of creative projects and support the company’s network of freelancers. The 2021 Artistic Associates were Mina Barber and Tabby Lamb.

Nadia Fall, Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, said today, “We are delighted to announce Nimmo Ismail and Eva Sampson as our new Sky Arts Artistic Associates. These are two young artists whose work I’ve been watching closely in recent years, and their unquestionable talent, originality and energy is inspiring.  I can’t wait for them to join our team.” 

Phil Edgar-Jones, Director, Sky Arts also said: “With so many arts organisations and institutions still recovering from the pandemic, opportunities for young arts practitioners to get a foot in the door remain thin on the ground. Our ambassador scheme aims to nurture some of that new talent and provide them with opportunities to make headway in one of the most exciting industries out there. We can’t wait to see what Nimmo and Eva bring to Theatre Royal Stratford East through their work with our brilliant Sky Arts Ambassador for theatre, Nadia Fall.”

Nimmo Ismail is a theatre director and writer. Her credits as a director include Two Billion Beats (Orange Tree Theatre), a meal (Poleroid Theatre) Holding Space, Glee & Me and The Christmas Star (Royal Exchange Theatre), Fragments, My England (Young Vic), SNAP (Connect Now: The Old Vic), Two Palestinians Go Dogging (Sparkhaus Theatre), The Other Day; Twelve Months’ Notice and The Debate and Winter Blossom Karaoke (Camden People’s Theatre). As staff/assistant director includes Oklahoma! (Young Vic), The Antipodes by Annie Baker (National Theatre) Shedding A Skin by Amanda Wilkin (Soho Theatre) Our Town by Thorton Wilder (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge Theatre), The Prudes, Goats by (Royal Court Theatre), Wings (Young Vic) The Phlebotomist (Hampstead Theatre) and Quarter Life Crisis (Brixton House/Edinburgh Festival Fringe). As a playwright her credits include Three Dates (Southwark Playhouse), New Ways of Looking (Bush Theatre) and HATCH (Talawa Theatre Company). She is a member of the Orange Tree Writers Collective 2021/2022 and has previously taken part in the Royal Court Writers Programme, Talawa Theatre Company’s TYPT and Bush Theatre’s 2020/2021 Allotments Programme.

Eva Sampson trained on the National Theatre Studio Directors’ Course and at the University of Birmingham. She is the Co-Artistic Director of How It Ended theatre company and is an Associate of NYT. Her credits as a director includes: Wild (How It Ended/Unicorn Theatre), More Than We Can Bear (Almeida Theatre/Clean Break), Maryland, Meet Mo, Ribena, Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Heart of Hammersmith (Lyric Hammersmith), The Little Gardener (Kew Gardens), Last Nine Months (Vaults), Sticky (Southwark Playhouse), The Tide (Young Vic), The Scarecrows’ Wedding (Watford Palace Theatre), A Peter Rabbit Tale (Singapore Repertory) Rudolf (Leeds Playhouse), Decades (Brixton House), At the Statue of Venus (Royal Opera House). As Staff Director at The National Theatre: The Visit and Downstate with Steppenwolf Theatre. As associate/assistant director: Four Quartets (West End), Noye’s Fludde (Theatre Royal Stratford East/ENO), Twelfth Night (Young Vic), Father Christmas (Lyric Hammersmith), Unprecedented (Headlong / Century Films/BBC Four). As resident assistant director: This is My Family and 8 Hotels (Chichester Festival Theatre). TV/Radio includes: That’s How It Feels, REED TVC Campaign (MYNT/Kingdom Creative), Keep the Home Fires Burning (The Culture Trust Luton).