Paines Plough Appoints Kully Thiarai As Chair Of The Board Alongside New Trustees Lauren Dark And Farha Quadri

Paines Plough has today announced a number of new appointments across the organisation. Kully Thiarai will replace the outgoing Kim Grant as Chair of the Board, and new Trustees Lauren Dark and Farha Quadri join the Board of Trustees. Debo Adebayo will join as Deputy Artistic Director, covering the maternity leave of Joint Artistic Director Charlotte Bennett.

Kully Thiarai joins as Chair of the Board, replacing the outgoing Kim Grant after nine years on the board with just over four years as Chair. Kully Thiarai is Creative Director and CEO of LEEDS 2023, the city's international year of culture, and has previously served as the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of National Theatre Wales, the founding Director of £22 million performance venue Cast, Doncaster, Artistic Director of Theatre Writing Partnership, Co-Artistic Director of the Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Artistic Director and CEO of Contact Theatre Manchester and Red Ladder Theatre Company. She is currently a Trustee of The Art Foundation and an Artistic Advisor to Slung Low and a member of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP). Kully was awarded the inaugural Northern Asian Powerlist Cultural Icon Award in 2020 and is also part of the Northern Power Women Power List 2023.

Kully Thiarai says: "I'm thrilled to be joining Paines Plough as their incoming Chair following in the footsteps of the wonderful Kim Grant.

It's particularly exciting as it takes me back to my new writing roots. I've had the privilege to work with some brilliant playwrights over the years from offering Roy Williams his first commission to commissioning and directing new works by Noel Greig in an international collaboration, Amanda Whittington on the main stage at Leicester Haymarket and Louise Wallwein on a site specific show for National Theatre Wales to name a few. Supporting, nurturing and advocating for artists and particularly new writing has always been a vital and important need and one I have always passionately supported.

Now more than ever we need brilliant leaders like Charlotte and Katie championing and developing the work of our writers, particularly during these precarious times for so many artists. I'm excited by the prospect of working with them and fellow trustees to support all of the work of this important company and look forward to playing my part in helping it to flourish and deliver its artistic ambitions."

Kim Grant, Outgoing Chair, says: "It has been such a privilege to have become a trustee during the second half of James Grieve and George Perrin's hugely successful decade, then take over the chair and support the beginning of Charlotte and Katie's Paines Plough journey. I am so proud of everything they have achieved so far, in particular their work in addressing the imbalance of women's voices on our theatre stages. I'm absolutely thrilled to pass the mantle to Kully, ensuring writers remain at the centre of everything we do."

Joining Kully Thiarai will be Lauren Dark and Farha Quadri as new Trustees of the Board. Lauren Dark is a BAFTA-winning film and TV producer at Aluna Entertainment, and a former Executive Producer at Film4, having produced and commissioned Florian Zeller's Oscar-winning debut The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. Farha Quadri is a Policy Lead for NHS England and has held several management roles in the NHS. Formerly she worked as a strategy consultant at KPMG, advising business leaders on growth strategy, organisational change and global health systems. Whilst studying at Columbia, Farha worked as a policy advisor to former US president Bill Clinton at the Clinton Foundation.

Lauren Dark says: "Paines Plough has a reputation for championing bold, original new plays and creative risk taking and has long been one of my favourite places to discover some of the very best story tellers and creatives. I couldn't be more excited to support them through their next chapter."

Farha Quadri says: "As a writer myself, I'm passionate about Paines Plough's vital mission to develop new writers, who reflect back the diversity of today's world."

Also announced today, Paines Plough has appointed Debo Adebayo as Deputy Artistic Director. Debo Adebayo is currently the Lead Producer for Tamasha, having worked with them for the last eight years. He has previously worked with Tangle Theatre Company and The Red Room, as well independent consultancy work for Talawa, Utopia Theatre and Collective Artistes. He also collaborated frequently with playwright Mojisola Adebayo as producer and sound designer. Notable productions at Tamasha include Approaching Empty, Does My Bomb Look Big in This? and I Wanna Be Yours.

Debo Adebayo says: "Making the transition from producing into Artistic Direction for a company that is such a leading light in platforming new, socially relevant stories, is an incredibly exciting challenge. For many years I have admired its work, from all the writers launched and the new plays produced, to the innovative Roundabout, and the inspiring Women's Prize for Playwriting; it's a privilege to become part of the company, take up Charlotte's mantle for the next year and work alongside Katie Posnerand all the fantastic team. I cannot wait to get started!"

Valerie Synmoie, Executive Director & CEO at Tamasha, says: "Debo has been part of Tamasha for over seven years and in that time, he's made himself invaluable - leading our producing team and delivering all of our national productions - and so much more. He's highly respected by the industry, extremely knowledgeable, collaborative and a creative producer in the truest sense of the word. It's hard to imagine Team Tamasha without Debo - he's become part of the furniture, so we're very sad to see him go. But we know he'll thrive working with our friends and partners at Paines Plough and look forward to working with him again in the coming years".

Katie Posner and Charlotte Bennett, Joint Artistic Directors of Paines Plough, say: "After nine incredible years; as trustee and then as Chair, we want to first celebrate Kim Grant's tenure at Paines Plough and thank her for all her incredible governance over the years. It has been the greatest of honours to work with Kim over the past three and a half years. Her support, guidance and tenacity has been outstanding and we have learnt a tremendous amount from her which will continue to guide us into the future.

We are thrilled to announce that we are welcoming Kully Thiarai into the role as Chair from Autumn 2023. We have both long been admirers of Kully's work as an inspirational pioneer in theatre and passionate leader of organisations who put audiences and communities at the centre of their practice. We are hugely excited to see what Kully will bring to Paines Plough as we begin our new business plan and launch the next chapter of our artistic vision. We are also delighted to announce Farha Quadri and Lauren Dark as new trustees; between them their wealth of experience in strategic policy in the NHS and in film and television producing will be an incredible addition to the existing skills on the Paines Plough board and we look forward to working with all three of them in this new board structure.

Finally, we cannot wait to welcome Debo Adebayo as Deputy Artistic Director to cover Charlotte's maternity leave. Debo is an exceptional cultural leader and great supporter of artists. He has a deep passion for new writing and has a wealth of experience in developing new work. We know he will lead our 2023 programme alongside Katie with kindness, generosity and vision. We are beyond excited to welcome him to the team."

Paines Plough is currently touring Ahlam's political debut You Bury Me, which plays Edinburgh's Lyceum Theatre until 18 March, and the Orange Tree Theatre, London, from 27 March - 22 April. You Bury Me is the joint winner of The Women's Prize for Playwriting 2020, an award founded in 2019 by Ellie Keel and Paines Plough to secure equality in the number of male and female writers whose plays are produced on national stages in the UK and Ireland. Submissions for the 2023 Prize are open now, and will close on 17 April.

The company is also currently running Open Writers Labs around the country as part of a new nationwide writer development programme. These sessions are open to all levels of experience, and are taking place in Peterborough, Colchester, Barnstaple and Coventry, with more opportunities to come. Visit Paines Plough's website for more information on the Open Writer's Labs: https://painesplough.com/news/open-writers-labs-2023/