When people ask what my job, is it can be tricky to explain. The short answer is, I programme plays, then work with groups of artists to get them on stage. Being the artistic leader of a company can be daunting, you’re tasked with deciding what work you think is of value for an audience in any given year; what will connect with people, expand people’s thinking, and enrich their lives.
I’ve always found it works best when I’m dialled into my own curiosity as a person, which has made programming a deeply personal process for me. Over the last eleven years, the seasons I have presented have inevitably reflected my own attractions, concerns, questions, losses, discoveries, and joys. They have mapped my own life experiences in many ways.
As I come to the end of my time at Silo, and the closing of a big chapter in my life, I’ve been drawn to stories that examine what it means to evolve. What does that look like over the course of a lifetime, and how can we continue to challenge the limited thinking that who we are, or what we are capable of, is fixed.
There is also the theme of motherhood in its many forms across the season. What does it mean to mother, to be mothered, to be unmothered. This is explored in different ways in these four productions: biological mothers, reluctant mothers, terrible mothers, wonderful mothers, drag mothers, Papatūānuku. These are stories and artists that are expansive, extending their arms to you.
Life continues to be difficult for many people and the world feels scary, unstable, and increasingly dystopian. The 2025 season is life affirming, tender, funny, fearless, and populated by artists who bring joy and colour into the world through their work.
For my final season I have tried to focus on work that encourages us all to live distinct, audacious, and intentional lives. That is what I’d like to leave you with. I hope these works make you feel big feelings, that they make you feel brave, that they make you feel part of the world. Being part of Silo has made me feel all these things and so much more.
Ngā mihi nui
Sophie Roberts,
Artistic Director
