Exeter Northcott Theatre Launches Artists Assembly and Appoints Seven New Trustees

Exeter Northcott has announced the appointment of seven new trustees to its board of directors. Ellie Fitz-Gerald, Julian Stoneman, Kingsley Jayasekera, Lauren Berry, Lauren King, Paul Clay and Tom Littler will join current trustees Becky Chapman, David Balcombe, Jane Milling, James Anthony-Edwards, Linda Peka, Mia Hodge, Sarah Elghady and Tom Begbie to set the strategic direction and guide the charity.

Co-Chairs Becky Chapman and David Balcombe said: ‘This is an exciting moment in our story. We have a clear view of Exeter Northcott as a driver for creativity in the South West making work with and for people in our region. We are delighted to welcome new trustees who bring a terrific range of experience and expertise to propel this vision forward.’

This announcement coincides with the theatre launching its first artists’ assembly, an initiative that will see artists embedded in conversations and structures that inform the artistic and strategic decision making. Held four times each year, each artists’ assembly will be joined by a member of the executive, creative engagement and programming teams and a nominated artist from the assembly will be invited to attend a board meeting.

‘We want to make space for more voices at every level’ said Exeter Northcott’s Joint Chief Executives, Emma Stephenson, Kelly Johnson and Martin Berry. ‘Last year we returned to producing work, we committed to opening up applications for creative roles and we launched our new artist development programme, Elevate. We’re here to support artists and we do that best by implementing structures than enable them to influence what we do’.

The Northcott Theatre is also developing a mechanism for young voices to feed into strategic decision making: ‘We’ve had student trustees on the Northcott board for some time and we’ve seen how incredibly useful it can be to have the perspective of young people at the table’ said the theatre’s Chief Executives. ‘We’re looking to amplify that opportunity and we’ll be announcing a Youth Voice programme soon. For now, it’s thrilling to know that we’ll be shaping the next chapter in the Northcott’s story with brilliantly talented trustees working closely with the team at the Northcott and communities of artists and young people to ensure creativity in the South West flourishes. The future looks bright.’