Vital Xposure artistic director to leave after a year for freelance roles

Stephen Bailey is to depart Vital Xposure after just over a year as artistic director.

Bailey, who joined the organisation at the start of 2024, will leave his role at the disabled-led company in March 2025.

The director and producer, winner of the 2022 Sir Peter Hall Director Award, said he was "immensely proud of what Vital Xposure has achieved this year".

He nodded to the "successful launch" of the VX Labs Programme, a three-year development scheme aimed at career development, as well as the expansion of the company’s relationships with the likes of Bristol Old Vic, Phizzical Productions and its main research partner Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Bailey told The Stage he would be leaving to pursue freelance creative commitments, as well as to continue his work as part of nine fellows looking into the future of creative practice with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In a release advertising the artistic director vacancy, the team behind Vital Xposure said it had "identified a need to re-evaluate and reshape what disabled-led work looks like and how it engages with audiences into 2025".

The company said it would be prioritising "research and academic partnerships", with chair of Vital Xposure’s board of trustees Sue Williams adding: "Stephen has made a significant impact during his tenure at Vital Xposure, leading on both our upcoming production of ...blackbird hour but also on the ongoing development of our VX Labs programme, strengthening our position to deliver the company’s long-term ambitions.

"As we plan for the future, we are looking for someone to help us to continue to examine, experiment and explore the scope of disabled-led theatre, to amplify under-represented voices and diversify the stories on stage to reflect the identities of our theatre practitioners and audiences across the UK today."