Theatre alum James Dacre ’10 has launched Living Productions, a company focused on developing and producing a diverse range of creative works in the United Kingdom. Dacre, who previously served as the Artistic Director at Royal & Derngate, produced over 120 shows during his tenure.
Living Productions is segmented into three branches: Living Theatre, Living Music, and Living Arts, each focusing on different facets of the arts. Living Theatre is working on stage dramas and musicals with artists such as Anna Zeigler, Bola Agbaje, Anthony McCarten, and Roy Williams. This branch is also reimagining several classic plays for modern audiences.
In contrast, Living Music is involved in concert and opera performances, as evidenced by their recent event at Bold Tendencies featuring Derek Jarman's Modern Nature with spoken word by Tilda Swinton and music by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Max Richter. Future projects include collaborations with artists like Jack Peñate and Jessica Walker. Living Arts, the third arm of the company, is dedicated to producing podcasts, albums, radio plays, live broadcasts, and films.
James Dacre is a director and creative producer. Of the more than 120 shows he produced as Artistic Director of Royal & Derngate Theatres, 60 toured both nationally and internationally and 42 transferred to London and were recognized with Olivier, Evening Standard, WhatsOnStage and The Stage awards. During this time the venue saw a marked development of its artistic activities, its audiences across the UK and standing within the region and sector, welcoming over two and a half million audience members in Northampton and being twice shortlisted for Regional Theatre of the Year by The Stage (2022 and 2016) and chosen as 2020 Outstanding Theatre of the Year by Michael Billington. Meanwhile, the venue engaged over 165,000 children and young people through its extensive Creative Learning Programmes and touring productions were seen by a further 1 million audience members nationwide and made over 500 venue visits across the UK and abroad, winning three UK Theatre Awards.
