Board

Stephanie Sirr MBE has been Chief Executive of Nottingham Playhouse since 2001. Before this she ran Blackpool Grand Theatre for five years and the Merlin Theatre Frome for two. She has programmed several theatres in addition including Sadler’s Wells and The Hackney Empire. Prior to this Stephanie worked as an actress for five years, a stage manager for two and has been, variously, a theatre critic, court reporter and comedy club compere. She is a founder Board Member of Dance Touring Partnership and Ticketing Network East Midlands and a board member of Nottingham City Of Literature. 

Stephanie was recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours during the Platinum Jubilee 2022 and was awarded an MBE.

Jon is Artistic Director and CEO of Birmingham Hippodrome. The Hippodrome reaches over one million people a year through on and off-stage programmes of work, digital presence, and performances in Birmingham and beyond.

Prior to this Jon was Executive Director of HOME in Manchester, the city’s centre for live performances and international contemporary art and film. He worked as Executive Director of the Bush Theatre between 2014 and 2018 and in this time he led on their major capital redevelopment and helped expand the organisation’s reach as a centre of excellence for diverse emerging talent. Before this he worked in marketing roles at theatres across the North West for ten years, including The Lowry in Salford, the Octagon Theatre Bolton, and the Dukes in Lancaster.

Founder and Artistic Director, Phizzical Productions, a theatre and dance producing company specializing in narratives associated with the diversity of South Asian cultures, ethnicities and heritage.

Creative Director of UK Asian Film Festival, organized by Tongues on Fire Ltd, a 23-year-old touring film festival that takes place annually presenting premieres of feature films, short films and digital commissions and masterclasses with global A-list South Asian film talent.

Senior Producer, Belgrade Theatre, delivering the theatre’s UK City of Culture programme culminating in May 2022.

Julien is the Chief Executive and Creative Director of Hall for Cornwall (HFC), with twenty years of experience in senior management in both the private and public sectors. He has made significant contributions to regional theatre and London’s West End. Julien served as Chief Executive for Theatre Royal Brighton and Churchill Theatre Bromley, among other roles. His extensive experience collaborating with funding bodies, sponsors, and the broader community has enabled him to provide valuable mentorship to artists and theatre companies. Julien’s commitment to cultural regeneration and transformation of HFC was evident when he raised £26 million to rebuild Hall for Cornwall. He is dedicated to leveraging theatre as a force for creativity and providing opportunities for artists through exciting collaborations and innovative digital means.

Kathy Bourne became Executive Director of Chichester Festival Theatre in May 2019 and shares the leadership of the Theatre with the Artistic Director Justin Audibert, overseeing every aspect of CFT’s operations.  Since joining CFT has originated over 30 productions and co-productions and West End transfers including South Pacific, The Unfriend and Crazy for You.

Kathy has over 30 years’ experience working in theatre. As Associate and Festival Producer at Chichester Festival Theatre between 2006 and 2015, she managed over 75 shows, as well as CFT productions on tour. She was lead producer for the Children’s Touring Partnership on tours of Goodnight Mr Tom, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Swallows and Amazons and Running Wild with co-producers Fiery Angel. She also oversaw many of CFT’s transfers into the West End including The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd. As Head of HR, Kathy launched CFT’s apprenticeship scheme, offering young people formal training in areas including technical, producing and education.

In 2015 she left Chichester to become Executive Producer at Jonathan Church Productions where she managed all business matters for the company, producing shows in the West End including Frozen, Pressure and Misty, as well as productions internationally and on tour.

Prior to Chichester, she was Producer at Spymonkey; Head of the Theatre Division at Tiger Aspect; General Manager of Tamasha Theatre Company; and Development and Events Manager at the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Kathy is Chair of the Board of Headlong Theatre, on the Board of UK Theatre, a Trustee of Spymonkey, and a Governor of Oakwood School

Kris joined Pitlochry Festival Theatre as Executive Director in 2016 and was appointed Chief Executive in 2018.

Leading Scotland’s largest producing theatre and the UK’s most northerly major theatre producer, Kris operates one of the region’s largest employers and is responsible for the £20m creative and capital redevelopment of the organisation as the single cultural project named by government within a regional transformation programme.

Before taking up his current role, Kris was Head of Operations at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre from 2011. Previous to this, he held management positions in theatres and multi-art form venues across the country. Kris spent ten years working with arts organisations and festivals in Vancouver including six years in a sector link role at Ticketmaster Canada before relocating to the UK in September 2004.

Kris is currently a board member of Stellar Quines Theatre Company, Scotland’s touring theatre company inspiring excellence in women and girls, and supports UK Theatre’s workforce consortium as the member representative from Scotland. Kris has an MBA with a focus in Creative Industries and has a professional interest in strategic management and the development of future workforces, mentoring and supporting future arts leaders.

Tom formed ROYO in 2019 with producing partner Hamish Greer after several years of producing together in the UK, on tour and in the West End, and around the world.

Their musicals include The Cher Show, directed by Dame Arlene Phillips, and choreographed by Oti Mabuse, Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical which opened the new Hall For Cornwall in Autumn 2021, and The Osmonds: A New Musical, the Osmond family’s biographical musical, touring the UK in 2022.

ROYO also produces a number of profile driven events including Oti Mabuse: I am Here and Johannes Radebe: Freedom throughout the UK.

They also own stream.theatre: a digital venue, ticketing platform and production studio that has created events with partners including Sky Arts, ENO, The London Evening Standard, TikTok, WhatsOnStage, and The Shanghai Grand.

Prior to starting ROYO, Tom was Production Director for Bill Kenwright Ltd., producing numerous musicals in the West End, on the UK road and in particular, developed the companies international presence with new production relationships in Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Australia, Turkey, the Middle East, South East Asia and Scandinavia.

Prior to becoming a producer, Tom was a Musical Supervisor and Musical Director for productions in the West End and on tour including Cabaret (Savoy) Evita (Phoenix) Scrooge (Palladium), Starlight Express (UK and International tours), Blood Brothers, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Whistle Down the Wind and Jesus Christ Superstar. 

Alan Dix is the Artistic Director of 509 Arts, based in Bradford. He has directed shows in regional theatres, streets, parks, castles and warehouses and worked on cultural regeneration and development programmes for over 40 years. He has produced work for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the Tour de France and in 2017 his large-scale community opera Calderland won a Royal Philharmonic Society award. Alan has been deeply involved in Bradford’s successful bid for UK City of Culture, is Chair of both Hull Truck Theatre and the coastal climate change programme Tide and Tide Bell. He is interim Chair of Lancaster Arts and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Bradford University in 2021.

Roddy is passionate about regional theatre and local audiences. He has been Chief Executive of Octagon Theatre Bolton since 2012. Over recent years the theatre has expanded its local audience and its national reach. Roddy has played a leading role in placing culture at the heart of the borough’s future vision, including a major reconstruction of the Octagon.

He is the Chair of the Dukes theatre and cinema in Lancaster, and has previously had non-exec roles in education, cultural, and homelessness charities.

Roddy’s career has included several roles at Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre before joining the Arts Council England, where he was a Touring then Theatre specialist before moving into managing funding programmes and policy. As National Portfolio Director, he was responsible for the Arts Council’s largest funding programme. Roddy cares about both how the industry can be more resilient, sustainable, and healthier; and how theatre can be a positive life-changing force in people’s lives and communities.

Ameena is London based commercial producer, general manager, festival curator and facilitator. She runs Ameena Hamid Productions and co-founded HD General Management with Grace Dickson.

She was named Best Producer at the Black British Theatre Awards 2022 for her work as a Producer on the Wiz with Hope Mill Theatre Manchester. Ameena was heralded as “a true role model to the future generations” by Official London Theatre, was one of The Stage 25 2022, and one of The Stage 100 in 2023. At just 23, Ameena is the youngest producer and general manager currently working and, having cut her teeth on Death Drop (Garrick Theatre) as an Associate Producer in 2020, the youngest ever woman to produce on the West End.

She worked as Theatre Producer at Soho Theatre from and is on the board of the League of Independent Producers.

Anthony Lilley is a media and theatre producer, strategist and consultant.

He is the co-founder with John Berry CBE of Scenario Two.  In 2019, Anthony and John produced The Light in the Piazza starring Renée Fleming which opened in London and toured to Los Angeles Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  After the pandemic, they were delighted to present Terry Gilliam’s production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods which premiered at The Theatre Royal Bath in 2022 and intended to transfer to the West End in 2024 as well as the high tech, Offie-winning stage event, CAGES, at Riverside Studios They are currently hard at work producing a project based on the life and music of legendary tenor, Luciano Pavarotti and on a new family musical written by David Baddiel and Dan Gillespie Sells, The Parent Agency.

Anthony is also Non-Executive Chairman of Time and Space Ltd, a developer and operator of media studios and creative clusters around the UK and internationally, and previously he was the CEO of Magic Lanterns Productions, one of the UK’s first digital media content agencies and consultancies.  He holds a professorship in Creative Industries at the University of Ulster and was founding chair of the AHRC Creative Industries Clusters Programme.

He is a trustee of NESTA and previously, he has chaired the Board of Lighthouse, Brighton’s digital culture agency, been a trustee of English National Opera, a Member of the Content Board of OfCOM and a Gambling and National Lottery Commissioner.

Conrad is a Freelance Producer and Cultural Consultant based in the glorious Eden Valley in Cumbria.

Current projects include The Queen and The Rebelsby Ugo Betti, adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker for Shared Experience,#LocalLegends for Not Too Tame, Street for Imitating the Dog, Brewery Arts Centre & HIghlights, and Immediate Family by Paul Oakley Stovall for TEAM.

Clients include MIF, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, Bated Breath & Jackson’s Lane.

Janthi Mills-Ward has been Executive Director of Hull Truck Theatre since August 2013. During this time, she has dramatically improved the theatres resilience through developing the organisations business model – balancing the theatres producing work alongside a programme of visiting and community productions.  She has built a strong team and introduced new personnel and diversity initiatives to ensure the continued growth and development of the theatre.  She was instrumental in Hull Truck Theatres delivery as a key partner in Hull UK City of Culture 2017; building an ambitious programme, relationships with key partners and a national profile for the theatre.  

Previous experience in other regional producing theatres; include 6 years at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry as General Manager where she set up the theatres award winning Apprenticeship scheme and 4 years as Community Development Manager at Derby Playhouse where she set up the Hot Tickets scheme which went on to become a  DCMS model of best practise.

Michael has been Chief Executive of Mayflower Theatre since October 2012 and Creative Director of MAST since its inception in November 2020. He started as an actor before moving into theatre management when he became House Manager at the London Palladium. Michael has worked in UK regional theatre since 1999.

Michael is responsible for the overall strategy of both venues but also oversees the programming of all the productions.

Michael has produced several regional shows, at Grand Opera House, Belfast he produced Richard Dormer’s award-winning production of Hurricane directed by Rachel O’Riordan and A Night in November by Marie Jones. At Mayflower Theatre he produced the UK Tour of The Santa Trap and and was an Associate Producer on Titanic the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof and the UK tour of Beautiful.

Michael’s passion is offering young people the opportunity to engage in live theatre. He has directed 12 Mayflower Theatre summer youth productions, enabling over 3,000 young people the opportunity to appear on the stages of some of the best regional theatres in the UK.

Michael is a Member of Dance Consortium, Chair of Tessitura, Board member of Southampton Forward and Chairs several regional cultural forums.

Julia is the Business Director (UK Venues) at Ambassador Theatre Group.

Dafydd is an independent theatre producer.