PAUL VIRIDES PRODUCTIONS
Paul Virides Productions is a London-based theatre producing company. It was formed in 2015 as Shrapnel Theatre, initially to produce the 25th London anniversary production of Jim Cartwright's Two, launching the Above the Arts studio space in the West End, and has gone on to produce new writing and revivals in London, New York and around the UK.
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, PVP was one of the creators and founding members of Theatre Together, a collective of industry professionals that presented a live, online event, All the Web's a Stage, to coincide with Shakespeare's birthday, 23rd April, the same date that theatre censorship was ended in the 18th century - the last extended shutdown of theatres. ATWAS featured performances from scores of artists across a wide range of live performance disciplines.
PAUL VIRIDES
Paul has worked as a producer of theatre and live events since 2011, where he cut his teeth as producer for TakeOver Festival for York Theatre Royal in summer 2012. After leaving York, he took his first show to Edinburgh, and on returning home to London, joined Hartshorn - Hook Productions as their associate producer.
With Hartshorn - Hook, Paul associate produced, general managed or assisted on the general management of dozens of productions, including Rotterdam (Olivier Award for Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre - Theatre503; Trafalgar Studios; 59E59 Theaters, New York; Arts Theatre); Away From Home (national and international tour); tribute shows to The Rat Pack and The Blues Brothers which played in the West End, Edinburgh, and the Seychelles; American Idiot (Arts Theatre); and Richard II (House of Commons and Arcola).
Paul left Hartshorn - Hook in 2016, joining Iris Theatre as marketing manager for their 2017 summer season at the historic St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, where they presented an annual site-specific, semi-immersive season of outdoor theatre. His role there rolled over into the company's indoor concerts that Christmas, and then productions through 2018. He left Iris in October 2018 to focus on running PVP, but returned in summer 2019, initially as interim senior producer, and then as executive director and joint CEO from autumn 2019 to August 2020 alongside artistic director Paul-Ryan Carberry.
Alongside PVP, Paul is also associate general manager for David Adkin Limited and a member of the League of Independent Producers. With DAL, Paul has worked on the general management of a number of unannounced projects, as well as Bright Half Life (King's Head) and A Christmas Carole (Southend Palace) in 2022, and in 2023 Windfall (Southwark), F**king Men (Waterloo East) and numerous other productions.
In 2022, Paul general managed the UK tour of Unfortunate: the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch for Wildpark Entertainment and Fat Rascal Theatre.
In 2018, Paul was awarded the Stage One Bursary for New Producers, and in 2022 took part in the Stage One/Columbia New York exchange.
Shrapnel Theatre was created in 2015 by Paul with playwright Isla van Tricht, and between 2015-17 produced four of her plays. Following the New York transfer of her play Underground in 2017, Isla left the company to focus on her writing projects. Shrapnel became Paul Virides Productions in October 2018.
For a full list of previous PVP / Shrapnel Theatre productions, click here.
