Conference 24 Contributors

Biographies for Conference 24: Making Theatres Thrive speakers and chairs.

Suzie Bridges, Suzie Bridges Architects
Suzie specialises in performing arts and sustainability projects. She has led the design and delivery of more than 20 major arts projects including the award-winning Pitlochry Festival Theatre Studio and Foyer; Pitlochry Festival Theatre Phases 1B and 2; Sadler’s Wells Theatre; Wigmore Hall; Royal and Derngate Theatres; Victoria Palace Theatre, Doncaster CAST, Chigwell School Drama Centre, Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Criterion Theatre, and various West End theatres for Delfont Macintosh Theatres. Fundamental to Suzie’s design approach is an open and creative dialogue with her clients and project teams, based in a genuine desire to collaborate with her clients and respond to their vision. Repeat work for many of these clients demonstrates the strength of these relationships. She established Suzie Bridges Architects in 2011 having formerly been a Director at Arts Team RHWL.

Selina Cartmell, Creative Director and Deputy Chief Executive, Royal Exchange
Selina Cartmell is the Creative Director and Deputy Chief Executive of the Royal Exchange, Manchester. Previously the Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre, Dublin (2016-2022), she commissioned world-class productions featuring Irish and International talent. Her freelance director work includes Shakespeare, revivals, new writing, musical theatre, opera and site-specific, including work for the RSC, Royal Court, The Unicorn, Curve Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Watford Palace, Irish Opera Company, Abbey Theatre and Theatre For A New Audience, New York.  She founded interdisciplinary company Siren Productions, creating ambitious projects inspired by unexpected performance spaces. She is a three-time winner of the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Director, and directed The Date (RTE), which won Best Short Film at Galway Film Fleadh.

Ian Chalk, Ian Chalk Architects
For over a decade, Ian has led an award-winning studio focused on adaptive re-use of theatres and heritage buildings. He is a member of the Theatres Trust Specialist Advisor Panel and a Tutor at Cardiff University. Current projects include an ambitious refurbishment of the Grade II listed Cambridge Arts Theatre, and a sensitive redevelopment of the iconic Art Deco Troxy in London. The studio’s in-depth understanding of performance spaces allows them to create resilience through flexible layouts supporting a variety of performances, improve experience for theatre companies and audiences, cultivate community relevance and make sensitive interventions which preserve the legacy of heritage theatres.

Colin Cobb, Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Colin joined FCBStudios in 2007 having previously delivered projects in the performance venue and education sectors.  At FCBStudios he developed these specialisms and has been now project partner for a range of venue buildings. Colin delivered the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, a £43m project to create a new-build, world class, music performance and teaching facility for Birmingham City University.  He has since developed a specialism for working alongside local councils to redevelop their performing arts facilities, having led major expansions and refits to performance venues at Yeovil Octagon, Fareham Live and Watford Colosseum. These projects all involve significant proportions of retrofit, work with existing buildings and the creation of new performance spaces and auditoria.

Anna Collins, Theatres Trust Trustee
Anna spent her early career in Scotland managing front of house operations for ATG and Glasgow Life across their portfolio of cultural venues. Anna became freelance in 2012 when she managed a London 2012 Olympic venue, followed by leading the development and operation of a new build competition venue for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games.For the last ten years she has been providing strategic leadership for clients undertaking significant new build and refurbishment projects within the Arts. Previous clients include, The Guardian News and Media Group, The National Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Northamptonshire Council and The Factory International. More recently Anna acted as Project Director for the RIBA-award winning Mountview Academy of Performing Arts’ new home in Peckham, and for the last two years has been leading the Dunard Centre project, the UKs first Nagata / Chipperfield designed concert hall which will become a flagship venue for the Edinburgh International Festival. Anna also sits on the committee of Edinburgh’s Royal High School project to develop Thomas Hamilton’s grade A listed building into a new performance space. Anna has a keen interest in architecture and is the co-founder of an award winning, sustainable accredited architecture practice alongside her husband. Anna became a Trustee on 29 April 2024.

Lee Craven, Bradford Live
Lee Craven is a Bradford-based director of a textile company who developed a fascination with the former Bradford Odeon, one of the largest and greatest of the inter war ‘palaces of entertainment’. He founded Bradford Live, an organisation dedicated to finding a viable long-term use for this much-loved landmark building. Bradford Live launched in 2012 and Practical Completion was reached this year. The venue comprises a main auditorium, ballroom, and several other performance spaces; all brought back to beautiful life under the direction of Tim Ronalds Architects.

Suba Das, Theatres Trust Trustee
Suba Das is an award-winning director, producer and dramaturg, brought up in the North East of England before reading English at Cambridge. He was Creative Director of the iconic Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres and previously Artistic Director and Chief Executive of HighTide, one of the UK's leading new writing theatre companies. Prior to HighTide, Suba was Associate Director at Leicester Curve, overseeing all artist development and community engagement; and Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio and English Touring Theatre. Suba's other directing credits include the world premiere production of Ravi Shankar's only opera Sukanya for the Royal Opera House and London Philharmonic Orchestra; and for the Young Vic, The Roundhouse, Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse and Bolton Octagon. Suba is passionate about access to theatre buildings and cultural activities for audiences of all backgrounds across the UK and he is also a trustee of the North Music Trust (Sage Gateshead); and the Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival.

Liam Evans-Ford, Theatres Trust Trustee and Executive Director and CEO at Theatr Clwyd
Liam is Executive Director and CEO at Theatr Clwyd, the biggest producing theatre in Wales, taking up the post in 2016. During his time the organisation has increased its annual turnover from £5m to £7.2m, won UK Theatre, Olivier, and Stage awards for their work, and progressed an ambitious and essential £50m capital redevelopment. Before joining Clwyd Liam was Associate Producer and Capital Development Associate at York Theatre Royal; General Manager and Producer at Sheffield Crucible Theatres; Community Producer on the York Mystery Plays 2012 production; and set up two companies – The Factory Theatre in London and Sprite Productions in Yorkshire. Liam is Chair of Creu Cymru, the development agency for theatres, arts centres and theatre producers in Wales; sits on the Business Advisory Board for the North Wales Growth Deal; the Strategic Advisory Group for the North East Wales Investment Zone; and the Advisory Group for the UK wide Access Scheme, All In. 

Lilli Geissendorfer, Director, Theatre Green Book
Lilli is Director of Theatre Green Book, responsible for taking it on the next stage of its development as a national resource and network for theatre and performing arts practitioners across the UK. Climate crisis has been a golden thread - from putting on a ‘theatre by bike’ festival at Arcola in 2006, to embedding carbon reporting in Arts Council England funding agreements in 2012, to six years as Director of Jerwood Arts (now Jerwood Foundation) where she funded artist-led projects speaking to and/or about climate change. She was most recently Deputy Director of the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre.

Andrew Miller, UK Arts Access Champion, All In
Transforming perceptions throughout his 35-year career in the creative industries, Andrew is recognised as one of the UK’s most influential disability advocates with extensive experience of the arts, film and tv sectors. Starting out in broadcasting, Andrew belongs to the first generation of disabled presenters on British television after which he went on to produce and direct BAFTA nominated tv arts documentaries. Later becoming the first wheelchair-user to run a major arts venue at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, he also established the role of UK Government Disability Champion for Culture, co-founded the UK Disability Arts Alliance #WeShallNotBeRemoved and was founding chair of the influential BFI Disability Screen Advisory Group. His current portfolio of roles includes: UK Arts Access Champion for All In - the new national arts access scheme for disabled audiences from the 4 UK Arts councils. He is a member of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority Co-creation Council and the Museums Strategic Disability Network; he is a National Council member of Arts Council England, a trustee of BAFTA and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Andrew is currently placed in The Stage 100 of the most influential people in British theatre.

Jon Morgan, Director, Theatres Trust
Jon joined Theatres Trust in January 2017. He is responsible for leading the work of the Trust, and the development and delivery of the Trust's strategy. With a wealth of experience across the theatre and arts industry, Jon joined Theatre Trust from the Federation of Scottish Theatre (FST) where he had been Director since 2008. Jon's previous roles include Director of Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Executive Producer of Contact Theatre in Manchester and General Manager of TAG, Glasgow with earlier periods at Royal Conservatoire Scotland and Orchard Theatre, Kent.

Dave Moutrey, Theatres Trust Chair and is Director of Culture, Manchester City Council
Dave Moutrey is Director of Culture at Manchester City Council, taking on the role full time in April 2024 having been seconded to the role on a part-time basis since 2018. He is responsible for advising the council on policy and strategy for culture and working closely with the Cultural Leaders Group on joint working and other collaborative initiatives. Until March 2024, he was Director and Chief Executive of HOME a purpose built multi art form venue that opened in May 2015.  He conceived and led both the merger of Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company and the £25m capital project to create HOME which has attracted almost 1m visits per year since opening. Dave was awarded a Doctor of Arts honoris causa by the University of Salford is a Fellow of the RSA, a member of the Chartered Management Institute, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.  He is also an advisor to the British Council and holds a number of non-executive roles on not-for-profit boards.

Douglas Rintoul, Chief Executive / Artistic Director, New Wolsey TheatreDouglas is a theatre-maker and cultural leader. He studied Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham and participated in the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme. Growing up in a working-class background, Douglas's leadership is influenced by his experiences, focusing on accessible and powerful theatre that often highlights the stories of those on the margins. He has directed a diverse array of productions, with his work showcased at major UK venues and internationally. He is currently the Chief Executive and Artistic Director at New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. His previous roles include leading Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, founding the touring company Transport, and serving as Associate Director at Complicité.

Cllr Hannah Robinson-Smith, Executive Support Member for Culture and Connected Communities, Salford City Council
Hannah has spent her life and career committed to social justice against inequalities. As a teacher and leader in education in a socio-economically challenged area with high levels of deprivation and poverty, she saw keenly the importance of equity of opportunity, cultural understanding, access, and inclusivity for all. Hannah was elected as a Councillor for Cadishead & Lower Irlam in 2021 and has served in the City Mayor’s Cabinet since 2022, currently as Executive Support Member for Culture and Connected Communities. In this role Hannah leads on all things culture, heritage, equalities, sport, and leisure in the City of Salford, and is honoured to hold this important position in our increasingly diverse and changing city. Cultural access, including experiencing and creating, is an imperative part of the human experience that adds so much value to people’s lives; sharing what it means to be human, evoking or expressing a part of yourself, or even changing profoundly in response to what you’ve experienced. In Salford, our Culture and Place Partnership is successfully investing in and driving cultural opportunities across the city and out into the neighbourhoods where people live, work, and enjoy their free time. 

Michèle Taylor MBE, Director for Change, Ramps on the Moon
Michèle Taylor is Director for Change at Ramps on the Moon, having run her own business as a Disability Equality strategist and trainer since 1992. She has been a key part of the Ramps on the Moon endeavour since its inception, supporting arts organisations to enrich the stories they tell and the ways they tell them by elevating the place of disabled people in the mainstream performing arts. Michèle has been working with cultural and heritage organisations over more than 30 years to embed systemic and structural change to ensure that their practices, policies and premises are open to disabled people. She has been the access consultant on a number of award-winning buildings, and she contributed to the second edition of Theatre Buildings, A Design Guide.

Katie Town, Theatres Trust Vice-Chair and Executive Director, Theatre Royal Wakefield
Katie Town is Executive Director of Theatre Royal Wakefield, a Grade II* listed Frank Matcham theatre in West Yorkshire. She has led the theatre since the end of 2015, taking it through a process of rapid creative and organisational change, including building and opening a new extension. Katie previously worked as General Manager for the National Theatre’s Learning Department. Originally qualifying as a non-practising barrister, Katie decided a career in the arts seemed more interesting, initially working at the Royal Opera House and then in a number of smaller arts organisations, including Candoco Dance Company.

Fiona Wallace, Managing Director, New Vic Theatre
Fiona is Managing Director at Staffordshire’s New Vic Theatre. The New Vic is unique - the first purpose-built theatre-in-the-round in Europe and a ground-breaker in the integration of professional theatre-work with an extensive community and education programme. Around 180,000 people visit the New Vic each year making it a key part of the region’s cultural life. Fiona is actively involved in supporting the role that arts and culture play in the regeneration of Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and the wider Staffordshire area. Fiona chairs the local consortium delivering the Arts Council England Creative People and Places programme, Appetite.  Previous roles include Head of Commercial Strategy Development for the Peak District National Park Authority and Head of Losehill Hall, the Peak District National Park Authority’s former environmental college.