12pm, Creating meaningful connections digitally: bringing artists & communities together

Panel Discussion with:

• Lily Norton, Access & Content Artist, Stopgap Dance
• Javaad Alipoor, Founding Artistic Director, The Javaad Alipoor Company
• Terry O’Donnovan, Co-Artistic Director and joint CEO at Dante or Die

Lily Norton, Access & Content Artist, Stopgap Dance

Lily Norton (They/Them) is an autistic dance artist, access consultant and audio describer. Lily is Access & Content Artist with Stopgap Dance, a company driven by diverse creatives using dance as a movement for change. With a committed investment in equity and an inclusive culture, Stopgap’s mission is to create a world where diversity is pursued and no one is limited by prejudice against Deaf, Disabled and neurodivergent people.

As Access and Content Artist Lily collaborates across artistic, educational and digital projects to ensure that the company is realising its vision of inclusive and accessible dance. Their latest work on Lived Fiction showcases a new evolution of Stopgap’s work with explorations in creative integrated audio description for dance. Lily’s approach is firmly rooted in artistically equitable access and they are fascinated by the many different ways we experience this world.

Lily is also a trustee of South East Dance, an arts charity challenging perceptions of dance; what is it, who it is for and what it can achieve.

Javaad Alipoor, Founding Artistic Director, The Javaad Alipoor Company

Javaad Alipoor is a British-Iranian writer, director and performer. He founded The Javaad Alipoor Company in 2019. The Company’s most recent work, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, opened to five-star reviews and sell-out audiences at Battersea Arts Centre and HOME, Manchester. Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World then began a world tour, opening in the USA at The University of Michigan and Australia at The Sydney Opera House.

Previously, Javaad Alipoor wrote, co-directed and performed in The Believers Are But Brothers as an international touring show, and wrote and performed in the TV adaptation for BBC Four. Its follow up, Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, also co-created with Kirsty Housley, won a Fringe First Award before the COVID-19 lockdown led it to transform into an immersive digital experience. The digital version opened at Battersea Arts Centre, before it toured to Sundance Film Festival and The Public Theatre's Under the Radar Festival.

Together with Chris Thorpe, Javaad Alipoor wrote and directed the trilingual theatre production, Made of Mannheim, which had its world premiere with Nationaltheater Mannheim and Theaterhaus G7.

Javaad was Resident Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres from 2017-18 where he directed a new version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Prior to this he was Associate Director at Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill from 2015-17. Javaad is involved in politics and activism, co-founding The International Alliance in Support of Iranian Workers, The Syria Solidarity Campaign and a Bradford-based network supporting EU migrants after Brexit. His writing about politics and culture has been featured in The Guardian, The Independent and The Stage. His plays have been published by Oberon and Nick Hern, and his poetry by Art in Usual Places.

Terry O’Donnovan, Co-Artistic Director and joint CEO at Dante or Die

Terry O'Donovan has worked as an actor, director and producer since 2005. As Co-Artistic Director of Dante or Die he has co-created all productions and performed in most. Most recently he co-wrote and directed the company's first interactive film, Odds On. He specialises in creating intimate and immersive performances.

He recently directed the acclaimed new site-specific production, Bread Not Profits which the Irish Times described as "truly exceptional in both scale and content." On The Wire, Terry's original production for Irish company Wildebeest Theatre was nominated for Best Production in The Irish Times Theatre Awards in 2015. Other directing credits include The Secret Princess of Severndroog (Look Left Look Right commission for Greenwich & Docklands International Festival) and Blackout R&D (China Plate with Katie Lyons & Ella Grace).

In 2012 he co-founded TOOT (now TalkShow) to make Ten Out of Ten, an Ovalhouse commission toured throughout 2013 & 2014. Since then he has co-created Be Here Now and Focus Group* which have both toured the UK. The company has collaborated with a variety of organisations such as Shoreditch Town Hall, Cambridge Junction, South Street & New Wolsey Theatre to make accessible and challenging interactive work.

Unfortunately, Angie Bual is no longer available to speak at this event, but we are very pleased to welcome Lily Norton from Stopgap in her place.

12pm, Radical change and moving forward: navigating difficult change and maintaining momentum

Panel Discussion with:

• Nicola Clements, Executive Director and CEO, The Gate
• Lian Wilkinson, Executive Director at New Earth Theatre
• Rhys Thomas, Director, Chelmsford Theatre

Nicola Clements, Executive Director and CEO, The Gate

Nicola is the Executive Director and CEO at the Gate Theatre, joining at the end of 2022 and leading the company's transition from theatre venue to producer in response to drastic arts cuts and the changing economy.

Nicola was previously Interim Executive Director and Joint CEO at Camden People's Theatre, where she managed the theatre's reopening following both pandemic closure and capital redevelopment. Prior to this, she spent a decade in events and fundraising at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Nicola is a trustee of WAC Arts, a Camden based youth arts charity, and she is excessively proud of her Knitstagram.

Lian Wilkinson, Executive Director at New Earth Theatre

Lian is the Executive Director of New Earth Theatre, producing work created for, by and with British East and Southeast Asian voices, artists and communities. They are a touring company that presents shows and readings across the year, nurtures BESEA talent as well as engage artists with communities, museums and schools.

Previously, Lian was the Sustained Theatre Regional Associate Producer at Belgrade Theatre Coventry with Tamasha Theatre, where she managed projects spanning creative production, talent development and audience development. She has also produced shows in the UK, Adelaide and New York, and found her roots in technical theatre at the COMEDIA Theater in Cologne, Germany.

Rhys Thomas, Director, Chelmsford Theatre

Rhys is an executive and creative director, producer, programmer and writer. He has worked extensively in the performing arts, local government and actor training sectors in this country and abroad. Rhys was the founding Artistic Director of The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, a former Head of Post-graduate Acting at East 15 and, until recently, the Director of Hertford Theatre and East Herts Arts Advisor.

He led on the transformational design and development of Hertford Theatre into BEAM, a new £30m arts venue comprising a 550-seat auditorium, 150-seat studio, 3 cinemas and 2 community spaces. With a commitment to the live experience and everyday creativity, Rhys encourages the expansion of theatres and arts buildings to support the delivery of ‘cradle to the grave’ arts programmes to grow engaged and sustainable audiences. He was recently appointed as Director of Chelmsford Theatre.

1.45pm, Building new models & identities: approaches to reimagining venues & programmes

Panel Discussion – Chaired by Peter Glanville, CEO at Farnham Maltings with:

• Sofi Berenger, Executive Producer (Acting CEO), Kings Head Theatre
  
• Matt Burman, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Cambridge Junction
• Adrian (Ade) Berry, Artistic Director and CEO, Jacksons Lane
• Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director and CEO, Battersea Arts Centre

Sofi Berenger, Executive Producer (Acting CEO), Kings Head Theatre

Sofi is currently Executive Producer and Acting CEO of Kings Head Theatre. She also produces independently with Metal Rabbit Productions and Wound Up Theatre. Previously, she was the Producer & General Manager for VAULT Festival, General Manager of Olivier-award nominated Les Enfants Terribles & Producer of London’s Free Open Air Theatre Season at The Scoop. Sofi is the chairwoman for Iris Theatre and sits on the board of Angel BID.

Sofi led the opening of the new Kings Head Theatre in 2024, a purpose built 220 seat space and 50 seat cabaret venue in Islington. Recent productions include Boy Parts, Cuckoo (Soho Theatre), Mediocre White Male, The Haunting of Susan A, La Boheme, Freud’s Last Session (Kings Head Theatre), Tones: A Hip Hop Opera (Paines Plough Roundabout & Brixton House), The Misandrist (Arcola Theatre), The Prince (Southwark Playhouse), We’re Staying Right Here (Park Theatre), Spiderfly (Theatre503)

Sofi has won Off West End and Broadwayworld awards for her shows. She also teaches on the producing courses at the Central School of Speech and Drama and Mountview.

Matt Burman, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Cambridge Junction

Since 2018, Matt has been Artistic Director & CEO of Cambridge Junction, leading on the curation and production of theatre, dance, live art, circus, and artist development programmes. During his tenure at Cambridge Junction, Matt has commissioned and co-produced more than 60 new projects, including Quarantine’s 12 Last Songs, Marikiscrycrycry’s Goner, Back to Back Theatre’s The Democratic Set Cambridge, Igor x Moreno’s Karrasekare, Bert & Nasi’s x ATRESBANDES’ It Don’t Worry Me, and Laura Murphy’s A Spectacle of Herself.

Since early 2024, he is a co-lead of Create Cambridge, the city’s new cultural compact. Between 2016-2018 he developed an independent producing and programming portfolio, working across artform, locating radical structures for the creation of new work. Projects included Leeds 2023 (developing the programme for Leeds’ bid to be European Capital of Culture), LIFT (producing the UK tour of Lola Arias’ Minefield), Northern Stage, Unlimited Theatre, Proto-type Theater, West Yorkshire Playhouse and independent artists Luca Rutherford and Hannah Jane Walker.

He was Artistic Director of Yorkshire Festival 2016, curating a programme featuring more than 900 artists, 15 new commissions and hundreds of performances and days of exhibition across the whole of the county. He was Head of Programme & Audiences at Warwick Arts Centre (2011-2015), where he co-produced work by artists and companies including Complicite, Forced Entertainment, and Theatre de Bouffe du Nord. Previously he was Executive Producer for Norfolk & Norwich Festival (2008-2011) and General Manager of Forced Entertainment (2003-2008). Matt has been on judging panels, advisory and curatorial groups for the Total Theatre Awards, BE Festival, and international showcases including Caravan and Edinburgh, and on the boards of Something To Aim For, Candoco Dance Company, Reckless Sleepers and Bootworks Theatre Company.

Adrian (Ade) Berry, Artistic Director and CEO, Jacksons Lane

Ade is Artistic Director and CEO of the UK’s leading circus and arts centre, Jacksons Lane. As a venue director and programmer, he has worked with the National Theatre, The Bull Theatre, Stratford Circus, the Albany and Trinity Theatre amongst many others.

He is a producer, writer and director and wrote and directed the successful David Bowie production From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads which toured for two years. He has produced circus work nationally and internationally, as well as representing the UK at circus festivals around the globe.

Ade is also a bass player and songwriter for the BBC6 supported band Alberteen and the dad of Ben (the human) and Rocky (the ginger cat).

Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director and CEO, Battersea Arts Centre

Tarek is Artistic Director and CEO of Battersea Arts Centre. Previous roles include Director for Theatre at Arts Council England and an Artistic Director as part of Up Next – a takeover initiative by Artistic Directors of the Future, Battersea Arts Centre and Bush Theatre, designed to catapult visionary artists into leadership roles in the UK’s theatre industry and broaden representation.

Previously, Tarek was one of the founders and Associate Artistic Director of the Yard Theatre in Hackney and also Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio. Credits as Director include Qudz and Shiver (both at the Yard Theatre and also written by Tarek Iskander), Minotaur (Unicorn Theatre) and A Winter’s Tale (Batumi Drama Theatre/ British Council Georgia). Prior to embarking on a career in theatre, Tarek worked for many years in senior and executive roles with the National Health Service.

Photography credit: Slav Kirichok