We are delighted to present our new Generate Associate Artists for 2025-27. They will be supported with tailored packages by Royal & Derngate over 18 months to focus on their career and artistic ambitions. This will include mentorship, rehearsal space, production support, funding, shadowing and introductions, amongst other tailored opportunities. We are incredibly excited to see the work of each of the below artists and producers, and how their ambitions and careers progress.
Emily Browning
Emily is an award winning, Midlands-born and based theatre director with a passion for bold new writing and intersectional feminist storytelling. She graduated from the University of Durham in 2024, during which time she directed and produced shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in both 2023 and 2024. Alongside this, she was awarded the Buzz Goodbody Directing Award at the 2024 National Student Drama Festival. She’s currently directing A Sudden Disturbing To Do List, an exciting new piece of writing premiering at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Emily is also thoroughly enjoying her role as Assistant Director on Royal & Derngate’s Young Company production of Boudica. Emily is especially interested in creating politically engaging work that champions emerging voices and is so excited to begin collaborating with the fabulous team at the Royal & Derngate.
BoonDog Theatre
BoonDog Theatre is a multi award-winning collaborative theatre company based in the Midlands, creating exciting new stories for the stage. A core team of Creative Director Lucy Roslyn and Productions Director Jamie Firth focus on making intimate, character driven pieces working with a team of collaborators from various disciplines to bring them to the stage, telling stories that start conversations that last long beyond the audience leaving the theatre.
Their work is almost always darkly comic, always aims for the heart, and what they describe as “covertly political”. Their work is led with a passion for detailed research when it comes to historical or psychological elements.
Jude Taylor
Jude Taylor is a composer, lyricist and writer from Leicestershire. He has been a Resident Creative at Curve in Leicester since 2021.
His original musical theatre work includes The Unconventionals (VAULT Festival), Is He Musical? (Curve, Leicester; The Other Palace, London; University of Wolverhampton), Make Me Infamous (Original Audio Production) and Steep Themselves in Night (The Other Palace, London).
Jude also wrote music and lyrics for the original stage adaptations of ‘The Owl Who Came for Christmas’ (2023) and ‘Pirates Love Underpants’ (2024), which both premiered at Curve in Leicester before subsequently touring the UK. Jude was Musical Supervisor on both original productions and for the Pirates Love Underpants UK Tour. As an arranger, he has also worked on productions including The Phase (VAULT Festival) and on Trans Voices Cabaret (Turbine Theatre).
Jude’s debut EP, (Hey) Jude Taylor, was released in 2019 and is available to stream online.
Kitty Benford
Kitty is a director and theatre-maker based in Northamptonshire, whose work spans community-led projects, youth theatre, and new writing. Her practice is playful, political, and collaborative — often rooted in local stories and driven by a desire to ask big questions in accessible, imaginative ways.
She’s directed work across village halls, rehearsal rooms, and regional stages — and is passionate about creating theatre that surprises audiences and champions unheard voices. Recent credits include Assistant Director on One Person Hamlet for Regeneration Theatre, and directing Fantastic Foxes at Curve as part of their Made at Curve programme — a full-scale production featuring 37 community actors.
Kitty has a long-standing relationship with Royal & Derngate — from first appearing on its stages as a teenager in NT Connections, to leading holiday projects and delivering training for emerging facilitators. Most recently, she assisted on The Jolly Christmas Postman. As a Generate Associate Artist, she’ll be focusing on scaling up her practice, deepening her artistic voice, sharpening her craft and developing bold new work that blends political intent with playful form.