Chaired by our Amplify Producer Craig Gilbert, hear from Artistic Directors Adam Penford (Nottingham Playhouse), Sarah Brigham (Derby Theatre), James Dacre (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), Nikolai Foster (Curve, Leicester) and Natalie Ibu (Northern Stage) on topics including: pathways to becoming an artistic leader, recruitment of Artistic Directors, the day-to-day running of an organisation and the challenges currently facing the sector.
This event will be a guided conversation followed by Q and A, and is expected to last around 90 minutes.
How It Works
This event will take place online. At the time of booking, you’ll be sent an email with an e-ticket attached.
The e-ticket will contain two links to our website. The first link will first take you to a login screen, as access to the event will be tied to your Nottingham Playhouse account. Please enter the email and password you used at the point of booking.
Once logged in, the second link will take you to the page where the event will be hosted. If you are testing the link in advance (which we recommend you do to avoid delays on the day), you’ll see a message letting you know you’re in the right place.
On the day of the event, simply repeat the above process. Once you reach the event page, you’ll see a Zoom screen has appeared on the page as the event will be ran as a Zoom webinar. You don’t need a Zoom login, but if you’d like to create a free account you can do this here.
Anyone wanting to ask a question can do so via the Q and A function. This can be anonymous, or with your name attached. We’ll also ask if you’d like to turn on your microphone and ask the question yourself. It’s completely up to you!
If you don’t receive your e-ticket straight away after purchasing, please check your spam/junk folders. You can find help and advice about our digital performances on our FAQs page.
Please note, this event will be recorded for archive purposes. Only those who unmute/share their video for the Q and A will be shown.
Panellists
Sarah Brigham is CEO and Artistic Director of Derby Theatre. She joined the organisation in 2013 and has launched a number of programmes including the RETOLD series which focusses on developing women’s voices in theatre through new commissions, In Good Company, the flagship artistic development programme for the midlands, Derby CAN which connects communities and artists and Plus One which supports young people in Care and Care Leavers. Sarah is originally from Hull and worked first as an actor and then a director
James is in his ninth year as Artistic Director at Royal & Derngate, Northampton during which time the theatre’s productions have received UK Theatre, Evening Standard, The Stage and Olivier awards and the venue has regularly engaged over 20,000 people in its award winning creative learning activities across the region. Before Royal & Derngate, he held Associate Director roles at The New Vic Theatre, Theatre503 and The National Youth Theatre and directed productions at Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal Exchange, National Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal and in the West End amongst others. He is a Trustee of Britain’s primary Black-led theatre company, Talawa, a Board Director of the Olympics legacy charity Spirit of 2012 and a member of the Franco-British Council’s Young Leaders.
Nikolai is Artistic Director at Curve. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, grew up in North Yorkshire and trained at Drama Centre London and at the Crucible, Sheffield.
At Curve, Nikolai most recently directed Sunset Boulevard (“a game changer” – The Telegraph) the theatre’s first fully-digital, streamed production. He has also directed a major revival of West Side Story, the world-premiere productions of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette, the award-winning Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual, by Riaz Khan (adapted by Dougal Irvine), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (also at Dominion Theatre, London), Leslie Bricusse’s Scrooge, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard (and UK tour – winner of Best Musical at the Manchester Theatre Awards and Best Regional Production at the WhatsOnStage Awards), the 50th anniversary production of Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw (Theatre Royal Bath), Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s Grease (2016 & 2019 UK tour), Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (with Birmingham Rep), Spring Awakening (with National Youth Music Theatre), Legally Blonde The Musical (Opéra Garnier, Monaco, and Daegu Opera Festival, South Korea – winner of Best Musical at the Daegu International Musical Festival Awards), Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Haymarket Theatre, London, and UK tour), Roald Dahl’s The Witches (with Rose Theatre, Kingston, Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, and UK tour), Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Shakespeare’s Richard III, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good, a performance to celebrate the reveal of the tomb of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral, and Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing (Nottingham Playhouse and UK tour).
Nikolai’s acclaimed production of the Broadway musical Annie is currently enjoying a second UK tour, having played seasons in London’s West End, South Africa and Toronto. Nikolai has also served as an associate director at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, where he directed Orwell’s Animal Farm, Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (adapted by Bryony Lavery and Jason Carr), Louise Page’s Salonika and Amanda Whittington’s Bollywood Jane. At the Crucible, Sheffield (supported by the Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme), he staged A Chorus Line, Sondheim’s Assassins and Shaffer’s Amadeus.
Natalie Ibu is the new Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of Northern Stage (beginning November 2020), the largest producing theatre in the North East of England, with a regional and national sector support role.
Before Natalie joined Northern Stage, she was Artistic Director and Chief Executive of tiata fahodzi (Dec 2014- Sep 2020), the only Black-led theatre company in the UK with a sole focus on new work. During her time there Natalie increased the company’s activity levels including seven productions in five years, revived tiata delights in a reimagined format as a talent development festival at Watford Palace Theatre, presented work during the summer festivals, brokered their first international collaboration and opened up talent and career development pathways for African heritage individuals.
For tiata fahodzi, Natalie’s director credits include i know all the secrets in my world which played 12 venues in spring 2016, Arinzé Kene’s good dog which toured in spring 2017 and again in 2019 for a large eight-week midscale tour as well as a co-production with RADA of bricks and pieces — a newly commissioned work by Charlene James in summer 2016 — and mixed brain by Nathan Bryon in summer 2017.
Adam has been Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse since 2017. The venue won Regional Theatre of the Year 2019 in The Stage Awards, with the judges saying:
“The resurgence of Nottingham Playhouse under artistic director Adam Penford is a reason to rejoice.”
Adam trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).
His directorial credits for Nottingham Playhouse include: Holes (UK Tour), An Enemy of the People, Coram Boy, The Madness of George III and Wonderland.
For the National Theatre: A Small Family Business (Olivier), Dorfman Opening Gala (Dorfman) and Island (Cottesloe). Revival Director on One Man Two Guvnors (West End, Broadway, UK and International Tour). Associate Director on NT 50 Years on Stage.
Other directing credits: Committee (Donmar Warehouse), The Boys in The Band (Vaudeville and Park Theatre), Platinum (Hampstead Theatre), Unfaithful (Found111), Watership Down (Watermill Theatre), Deathtrap (Salisbury Playhouse and UK Tour), Ghost the Musical (ETF), Stepping Out (Salisbury Playhouse) and The Machine Gunners and Run! (Polka Theatre).
Assistant/Associate director credits: The Winter’s Tale (Propeller at the Watermill), The Vagina Monologues (National Tour), 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Bush), Imagine This (Theatre Royal, Plymouth), Dying For It (Almeida) and Charley’s Aunt (Oxford Playhouse).
Access
This event will be BSL Interpreted. We suggest pinning the Interpreter’s video within the Zoom screen so that they remain visible throughout. You can find instructions for this here.
There will also be automatic captioning of this event provided by Otter.ai.