Cork Opera House and University College Cork's Department of Theatre have announced a new theatre residency programme that will provide a €20,000 bursary for a professional theatre artist that identifies as autistic.

According to a press release regarding the news, the application is open to artists that work in but are not confined to areas involving creating, writing, production, and direction.

Eibhlin Gleeson, the CEO of Cork Opera House, said, "We are very proud to launch this initiative in collaboration with our partners in UCC and extremely excited to welcome a new artist into the fold while promoting the creation and development of theatrical work with an autistic artist."

Welcoming the new programme, she continued by saying, "We will use this opportunity to learn how to better facilitate neurodiversity within our industry and to celebrate how wonderfully diverse the artistic community is. We look forward to what we can achieve with this programme."

On working with the opera house, Yvon Bonefant, Head of Department of Theatre at University College Cork, stated that "University College Cork's Department of Theatre is thrilled to support this initiative in collaboration with Cork Opera House."

"This is amongst a number of initiatives at UCC that seek to better include autistic people/people with autism in our artistic and learning communities. As we look towards the future of The Granary Theatre, we are delighted to focus on Theatre on this occasion. This programme is an integral part of our vision - a vision of a brighter future, one where wider outreach, inclusion, and historically 'outside' voices are invited 'in' with passion."

Applications for the programme close on Friday, March 11, with further information available by emailing [email protected].