Established by John Studzinski in 2001, the Genesis Foundation supports programmes that nurture the careers of outstanding young artists, providing opportunities for directors, playwrights, actors and musicians at key stages in their professional lives. The Genesis Foundation’s support of the National Theatre’s Director Rufus Norris began in 2003, when he was the first Genesis Young Director at the Young Vic.

Since 2017, the Genesis Foundation has supported artists at the NT as they develop bold, accessible, new forms of British music theatre. The Genesis Music Theatre Programme creates meaningful opportunities for theatre-makers to develop their practice and ideas, giving them space and support to think, test and create. The programme has three strands of activity to give bespoke support to artists: attachments to develop early ideas; workshops with performers and creative teams; and commissions with deep developmental support and professional mentoring.