An invitation from Chris Ricketts, Director, Sherman Cymru:

Seven months on from our reopening it seems really fitting to turn our building over to D&D and to the debate and discussion it embodies.  We need a theatre ecology that celebrates the things it does well and has the confidence to reinvent itself for the future.  Tides turn, fresh and urgent voices emerge, new models develop for how to get people involved and our audiences continue to crave memorable, life-affirming experiences.
 
As funding strategies are set to change and develop around us over the coming months, it’s time for a hearts on sleeves and a heads on shoulders weekend of good company, honest reflection and great ideas.  Come and join us.

An Invitation from John McGrath and Lucy Davies, National Theatre Wales
 
Theatre would get nowhere without the passion and questioning that D&D embodies in its name – and Welsh theatre has a proud range of opinions and beliefs about the what, how and where next of our artform, our profession, our obsession.  D&D offers us an opportunity to put all of our hopes and gripes to work in a productive, collaborative forum – to imagine the future, and then make it happen.
 
D&D is a great opportunity for the experienced artist to sit alongside the newest talent, the experimentalist to mingle with the classicist, the individual to rub up with the organisation, audience with maker, and all of us to discover new possibilities. 
In July D&D came to Bangor, and you can read the reports from that event here. We look forward to seeing as many Welsh theatre lovers as possible at this second Welsh D&D event in Cardiff held in partnership with Sherman Cymru.

Welsh translation will be achieved amongst ourselves - we welcome the support of bi-lingual participants in buddying up and translating written reports.

An invitation from Phelim McDermott:

Do you love theatre?
Do you find it frustrating?
Do you feel audiences don't get a voice?
Do you feel like an outsider in your own profession?
Have you just started out and need support?
Been in the profession for years and feel jaded?
Is Wales always left out of the discussions?
Do you usually dread discussions and meetings?
Are you looking to change things?


In 2012 for the first time ever, you have the opportunity to take part in a unique nationwide conversation.

In 2006 I wrote a heartfelt invitation and the first ”Devoted & Disgruntled: What are we going to do about theatre?” took place. This was an open and collaborative conference, a chance to check in with the theatre community, share the news about what we were doing well, talk about what we could be doing better and take action on how to improve things.  

Devoted & Disgruntled has subsequently become an inspiring annual three day event and since then there have been over 100 offshoot D&D events. Some have been monthly themed satellites, some have been regionally based like D&D Scotland and D&D North East, some have been international events like D&D New York and Vancouver. These conferences have kept the important conversations alive and have lead to companies being formed, venues being opened, festivals started, shows created, and many other projects and initiatives.

The Devoted and Disgruntled Roadshow has come about in response to numerous requests for these conversations to reach beyond London, and engage with all parts of the UK.  So as part of the Cultural Olympiad we are going on the road, holding D&Ds in twenty different locations round the country, and we are going online, launching a new interactive D&D website, which will record and connect all the D&D events.

In theatre, as in so many things, it can feel like the agenda is set, and the decisions are made by a faceless, unreachable "them". We wait for "them" to talk about what we think needs talking about and for "them" to solve our problems. Guess what? "They" aren't going to do it. But you can, and D&D is the place to start - so if there are questions that you think should be asked, projects you want support on, things you want changed, join Improbable this summer on the Devoted & Disgruntled 2012 Roadshow in a conversation that could reshape the theatre landscape. This is a unique chance for your voice to be heard and for us to listen to each other, face to face and online, locally and nationally. Join us and let’s work together towards making theatre better and making better theatre.

Phelim McDermott and Improbable