Interplay Theatre Reveals New Senior Team

Leading sensory theatre company Interplay Theatre has confirmed its new senior team. Current Associate Director of Young People and Communities Kirsty Pennycook will become Artistic Director from 8th January 2024 taking over from the departing Steve Byrne and is supported by Richard Oyarzabal as Executive Director and Joint CEO. Though more will be announced in the coming months about the 2024 programme, Kirsty and Richard will bring together their combined knowledge of social engaged theatre, community celebration and sensory theatre to continue and build on Interplay's mission to create accessible theatre for the communities of Armley and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Kirsty is a theatre director and facilitator specialising in community engagement. She has worked at many prominent venues in the North of the UK including the Leeds Playhouse and Mind the Gap. Her directing credits include Falling Star, a sensory theatre show touring community spaces and children's festivals, and the music experience Doorstep Jukebox, with Scottish Arts & Early Years organisation, Starcatchers, that toured communities and nurseries. She has also worked extensively in applied theatre, focusing on accessibility in arts for disabled artists and audiences.

Richard is a producer, senior manager and fundraiser with over forty years experience in the cultural and events sector. He has led many notable arts organistions including Cardboard Citizens and The Junction (Cambridge), creating financially sustainable models and managing change and growth.

Interplay has a 50 year history of working with the communities of West Leeds and an international reputation for its Sensory Theatre produced with and for young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities, which it tours nationally. Their recent productions include My Life with the Wave, a story of friendship which used music, movement, digital technology and physical interaction to help engage audiences and This Land, the story of folk hero Woody Gutherie which immersed audiences in the in the action as it unfolded around them, with sights, smells, tastes heightening the experience.

Kirsty said ''I'm thrilled and honoured to be taking over the role of Artistic Director at Interplay in the New Year. Our overall aims remain to create sensory theatre which places audiences with learning disabilities at the centre of the experience, and to increase access to the arts locally and across the country."

Rachael Welsh, Chair of Interplay Theatre Trust said, "It's a wonderful moment for Interplay to have Kirsty and Richard in our senior team. We're looking forward to the blend of their vast experience amplifying what we do and continuing the great work from Steve Byrne''