Proto-type are a company of multi-disciplinary artists led by Rachel Baynton, Gillian Lees, and Andrew Westerside.
We create original performance work that is diverse in scale, subject and medium. Recently, this has included touring theatre (A Machine they’re Secretly Building), a two-week long theatrical experience using pervasive technologies (Fortnight), a multimedia concert-performance featuring a live laptop orchestra and animation (The Good, the God and the Guillotine) and a radio drama with the BBC (The Forgotten Suffragette).
We’ve been making work and supporting young artists in the US, the Netherlands, Russia, China, Armenia, France, Zimbabwe and the UK since 1997. Critics have called our work ‘an intriguing brush with altered reality’ (New York Times), ‘Smartly intelligent… coolly reasoned theatre’ (The Guardian) and ‘enthralling’ (Zambezi News).
“We are utterly delighted to be partnering with Lincoln Arts Centre as one of their inaugural Associate Artists. As an internationally touring company, based in Lincoln, we have a long history of working with LAC, and with the staff and students of Lincoln School of Creative Arts. We’ve just come to the end of a significant body of work, The Truth to Power Project, which began in 2014 and used creative, cultural, and participatory activity to shed light on the complex, hidden systems that govern our lives. The Arts Council England funded project included performance, digital animation, workshops and artist masterclasses, mentoring, publications, conversations with artists, audiences, academics, and a trilogy of critically acclaimed touring theatre shows.
All of this work was supported by LAC who have continually championed what we do and share our belief in the power of the arts to change the world.
We find ourselves now at an exciting moment as we look ahead to the next few years, to creating new works, having new conversations, and to considering new, sustainable models of working as mid-career artists. This opportunity to confirm our relationship with LAC and to be able to give back to new artists through support and mentorship is one we are immensely grateful for. We’re excited for what these next three years might bring!”
– Gillian Lees – Co-Artistic Director, Proto-type