Conference Chair

Joyce McMillan is theatre critic of The Scotsman, and also writes a political and social commentary column for the paper. She has been a political and arts columnist, theatre critic and broadcaster for 25 years, living in Edinburgh and working for various Scottish and London-based newspapers. She also broadcasts regularly, mainly on Radio Scotland and Radio 4. She has been involved in Scottish and European campaigns for democracy and human rights, and was Convener of the Scottish Civic Forum from 2002-2004. She is Chair of the Hansard Society Working Group in Scotland, and a member of the judging panel for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. From 2006-2010, she was a Visiting Professor in the School of Drama and Creative Industries at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Joyce was born in Paisley, brought up in Renfrewshire, and educated at Paisley Grammar School, St. Andrews University, and Edinburgh University.

Operations Director, Delfont Mackintosh

Billy Differ worked in Glasgow for 20 years for the local authority apart from a brief spell as a trainee accountant, mainly in the performing arts running the King’s and Mitchell Theatres as well as working at the Kelvin Hall on duty management for the circus before it became the Transport Museum and programming events at the City Halls where the then car park is now the celebrated Fruit Market venue and also Tramway, the ex tram depot now a multi-award winning arts space home to Scottish Ballet, recently moved from their previous home an old territorial army HQ. Having moved to London in 1995 he has worked for Cameron Mackintosh initially in the marketing department at Bedford Square and after a spell at Dewynters returned to the job of Operations Director involved in merging 7 venues in various states of repair into Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. Sir Cameron has spent in excess of £40m of his own money to rejuvenate these mainly Edwardian theatres into the magnificent seven reclaiming many spaces to enable them to operate effectively for 21st Century audiences and producers. He also presents BBC Radio Scotland’s DRESS CIRCLE and regularly contributes to programmes and articles on the arts.

Project Director, Chichester Festival Theatre

Dan is currently project director for Chichester Festival Theatre and previously ran The Production Desk for 9 years specialising in production/event management and consultancy. Dan started his career with the Pleasance theatre and co-designed and project managed the build of the Pleasance Islington, London. Whilst with the Pleasance he has worked alongside Christopher Richardson at Theatre Futures for 6 years as technical theatre consultant and subsequently carried the work into The Production Desk. Projects include Theatre by The Lake – Keswick, The Opera House – Jersey, Westminster School, Queenswood School, St Margaret’s School, Cox’s Yard Studio – Stratford and National Opera Studio – London. Dan has production managed shows for 16 years in the West End, Broadway, on tour and at Chichester.

Executive Director, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

Deborah has been Executive Director of Liverpool’s Everyman and Playhouse theatres since 2003, alongside Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz. Their tenure has encompassed artistic renaissance, extended reach into Merseyside’s communities, the nurturing and production of new work and the creation of both the theatre programme and a lasting legacy for European Capital of Culture 2008. The Liverpool team are now focussing on the much-needed redevelopment of both theatre buildings, and work is about to begin on site for new, Haworth Tompkins designed Everyman. As Project Champion, Deborah is leading the redevelopment in terms of advocacy, planning, management, funding and fundraising.

Head of Programmes at De Doelen

Neil Wallace occupied a number of cultural posts in the UK before becoming Deputy Director of Glasgow’s 1990 Cultural Capital of Europe programme. As part of the project he opened and programmed the Tramway between from 1988 until 1995, when he moved to the Netherlands to create Offshore Cultural Projects, a production bureau. In 1999 he became Director (later Artistic Director) of the concert hall and municipal theatre in Haarlem, overseeing ambitious renovations of these historic buildings. In 2006 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ largest concert hall. In 2007, at the request of the Gergiev Festival, he created a site-specific music theatre piece, Sleeping Without Schumann and has since staged more productions, including Wolfgang Rihm’s Sérapin-Stimme, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

www.doelen.nl

www.artez.nl

www.koorbiennale.nl

Artistic Director, Finborough Theatre

Neil McPherson has been Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre since 1999. In 2010, he was awarded the Writers’ Guild New Writing Encouragement Award and was named Best Artistic Director in the inaugural Off West End Awards – while the Finborough Theatre was named London Theatre Reviews’ Empty Space Peter Brook Award, and The Stage 100’s Fringe Theatre of the Year.

Co-Artistic Director of Belt Up Theatre & Creative Director for Flanagan Collective

Alexander Wright is currently Co-Artistic Director of Belt Up Theatre & Creative Director for the newly established Flanagan Collective, a cross-genre, multi-dimensional arts collective. Since graduating from The University of York in 2009 Alexander has worked as directer, producer, writer, composer and performer for Belt Up. Belt Up began it’s routes in 2008 whilst the four co-artistic directors were still at university, having their first major success at the National Student Drama Festival in 2008. Since then Belt Up has made work across Great Britain including Edinburgh, London, Wales, Cornwall and York, where Belt Up is now resident company at York Theatre Royal. As part of the company Alexander has made work in parks, in studio theatres, in proscenium arch main houses, in empty buildings, under railway arches, in burnt out buildings, in hotel conference rooms, in dressing rooms and across cities. Alexander’s most recent production with Belt Up, ‘Macbeth’, closed on the 14th May after running for five weeks in an old underground prison in Clerkenwell, London. Over the coming months Alexander is producing a new piece of storytelling and a new musical as well as working with York Theatre Royal on their In The Round ensemble season.

Former owner, Watermill Theatre, Newbury

James Sargant and his wife, Jill Fraser, bought the Watermill Theatre from the Gollins family in 1981 and sold the freehold to the Watermill Theatre Trust in 2008. The original conversion had been achieved over a number of years with the first public performance being given in 1966. Improvements to the conversion continue to the present day. James Sargant fulfilled a number of roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the period from 1971 to 2000, which included the original alterations to the old Other Place, the building and move into the Barbican in London, the building of the Swan (1986) and the new Other Place (1991). He is currently also the Chairman of Propeller Theatre Company Limited.

Founder, Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol

George Ferguson is Chairman of Ferguson Mann Architects, owner founder of Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatre and Past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. George built up his Bristol based architectural practice in 1978 and founded the UK wide group of architects, Acanthus, in 1986. He has broad experience in urban regeneration and mixed use projects including his own Tobacco Factory Arts Centre and Brewery projects in South Bristol. He writes, broadcasts and lectures extensively on the environment, planning and architecture. He was awarded a CBE in 2010 for services to Architecture and to the community in the South West.

Architect, Square Chapel, Halifax

Jessica Sutcliffe is an architect specialising in building conservation and has worked on historic buildings in West Yorkshire for the past twenty five years.She has also taught Conservation Studies at the University of York Department of Archaeology. She was a founder trustee and continues to serve on the board of Square Chapel, Halifax, a grade 11&#42 listed Georgian building, closely associated and sharing an architect with the outstanding adjacent Piece Hall. In 1988 she and five others bought Square Chapel from the local authority for a nominal sum, formed a charitable trust and set about rescuing the ruined building and transforming it into a performing arts centre. Repairs and improvements were carried out as and when funds became available and performances took place even before windows were restored. This unique building is now a successful venue for concerts, theatre, lectures, tea dances, comedy, conferences, band rehearsdals, dance classes, piano club and dozens of activities serving all sections of the population. It is now bursting at the seams and the Trust is working on plans to expand the building and introduce a second auditorium.

Theatre Critic, The Guardian

Lyn Gardner writes about theatre and performance for the Guardian, both in print and on the Guardian Theatre Blog. Prior to the Guardian, she was theatre editor of City Limits Magazine and a regular contributor to the Independent. She also writes novels for children. Olivia’s First Term, the first of a new series, is published on June 2nd 2011 by Nosy Crow and is set in a stage school. It is probably the only novel ever written for 8-12 year olds to quote Samuel Beckett.

Head of Historic Buildings, John McAslan and Partners.

Pauline is Head of Historic Buildings at John McAslan and Partners, a practice renowned for its adaptive reuse of buildings, including the internationally acclaimed Roundhouse in London. Pauline leads the team currently working on the renewal of the Grade ll&#42 listed Hornsey Town Hall, which will incorporate a new flexible performance space. She is working on a range of other historic projects including renewal of the Friends House meeting room at Euston and the transformation of Kings Cross Station. She has just completed a project repairing and restoring the earthquake damaged Iron Market in Haiti and is advising on the dismantling and re-erection of a traditionally constructed house in Qatar.

Artistic Director, Tron Theatre, Glasgow

Andy Arnold has been Artistic Director of The Tron Theatre, Glasgow since April 2008. For the previous seventeen years he was Artistic Director of the Arches, a theatre and arts centre he personally established in 1991. During those years, Andy and his team transformed what was a series of derelict railway arches into a fully equipped cultural venue and production house. Andy personally directed over fifty site specific and studio based productions with Arches Theatre Company. Before that he ran the Bloomsbury Theatre in London for three years and worked at Theatre Workshop Edinburgh after following a brief career as a community arts worker and cartoonist.

Director, Theatre Futures

Christopher Richardson, a designer, trained at the Royal College of Art before teaching Design and Drama for twenty years in Rutland. He designed and ran the Uppingham Theatre before leaving to set up the Pleasance Theatre Festival in Edinburgh and eventually in London. He started Theatre Futures, a theatre consultancy responsible for the auditorium and theatrical components of, amongst others, The Jersey Opera House, The Theatre by the Lake, Keswick and a number of school theatres, studios and small fit-up and temporary theatres. He has designed settings for many plays in the UK and abroad and was Chairman of the Society of British Theatre Designers for 9 years.

Director, Blanch & Shock Food Design

Blanch & Shock combines the equal passions of its founders: food and art. Emphasising critical process and engagement they enact food development and research as artistic practice, producing work ranging from large-scale projects to intimate bespoke dinners. Their major theatrical collaborators are Kindle Theatre, with whom they stage theatrical banquets and immersive shows featuring food, entitled Eat Your Heart Out. Blanch & Shock have recently completed a toolkit – Repurpose: Space for the Arts – presenting practical advice and information for artists and producers looking to mount work in non-standard venues. Repurpose deals with the nuts and bolts of converting spaces, considering both long-term and short-term avenues. Download a copy free at www.blanchandshock.com/repurpose.html

Little Theatre Guild and Archway Theatre, Horley

Eddie has recently stepped down as Chairman of the Little Theatre Guild, having completed his term of office. The Little Theatre Guild has a membership of 105 amateur theatres, that all own or lease the theatre premises, many of which are in converted buildings. The Guild exists to give advice and guidance on all matters relating to the operation of a theatre. Eddie has been involved with Amateur Theatre for 43 years where he has acted, directed, stage managed, set designed. He has been a member of the Archway Theatre Company for 33 years and for much of that time a member of the management committee. In this role he has been closely involved in the decisions relating to expansion of the ‘Arches’. In December 2010 the Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton, invited Eddie to co-facilitate a working group looking at how the Amateur sector might be removed from the Children in Performance regulations. All of this despite having a challenging day job!

Artistic Director, The Park Theatre, London

Jez graduated Hull University with a BA (Hons) in Drama then gained the Channel Four Theatre Director Bursary, training as assistant director at Watford Palace Theatre. Directing includes; Fame Game (Tour of Austria), Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse),Oliver! (starring Rowan Atkinson, Oxford), I Have Been Here Before (Watford PalaceTheatre), The Twits (Tour of Switzerland), Misconceptions (Hong Kong Arts Centre), Big Boys (Croydon Warehouse – Time Out Critic’s Choice), Shot of Genius (Leicester Square),Canaries Sometimes Sing (Kings Head / France) and Risk Everything (Old Red Lion). As Artistic Director of Stages International he worked with the Old Vic producing A Season in South Africa. As Associate Director of Y Touring he company managed six national tours including Sweet As You Are (Fringe First) and Pig in the Middle (UK and Holland). As a dramaturge he has worked with writers at Soho Theatre, Royal Court and Young Vic. Working with architects Hughes Jones Farrell, Jez is currently leading the conversion of an office building into a 200 seat theatre and 90 seat studio in Finsbury Park. www.parktheatre.co.uk

Director, Hughes Jones Farrell

Dave is one of the founding directors of architectural practice Hughes Jones Farrell and has extensive cultural, commercial and residential design experience spanning over 20 years. Over his career he has been involved in numerous design award winning projects and this rich and varied experience provides him with significant experience in resolving the often conflicting demands of value and cost without compromising design quality or user experience. He is currently leading the team on The Park Theatre, London which is Hughes Jones Farrell’s first theatre project. Dave’s particular skills lie in an intuitive understanding of the entrepreneurial approach required to design, construct and manage a privately funded theatre housed within an existing building.

Senior Project Manager, Cragg Management Services

Jon Satow studied architecture at Cambridge and has spent many years working in the public and voluntary sector, latterly specialising in arts and theatre buildings. He was an associate at ArtsTeam@RHWL, was project architect for the Brighton Dome and Museum, and has recently practised independently and in association with Cragg Management Services as an architect and project manager. Having worked in (and on) the Colourworks building in Dalston as a member of Cazenove Architects Co-operative in the 1990s, Jon returned to take part in Arcola Theatre’s conversion of the building in 2010.

Executive Director, Arcola Theatre

Ben joined Arcola Theatre in 2005 and has been instrumental its growth and diversification into environmental sustainability. Ben holds a PhD in engineering from Cambridge University and has worked in R&D, technical and strategy consulting on both commercial and government projects, including at Cambridge Consultants and Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems. As well as managing Arcola Theatre, he is Managing Director UK for Horizon Fuel Cell developing new markets and applications for renewable energy technologies. Ben was Project Director and de-facto Project Manager for Arcola’s Ashwin St move, doing too much of everything from lobbying the Mayor to co-ordinating the internal & external design team, to managing volunteers knocking down walls.

Director, Venue Planning and Design, Arup

Neill Woodger is a Director with Arup responsible for venue planning and design. He has worked with many clients to develop sustainable and integrated design solutions for theatres, concert hall and arenas. Over the last three years he has provided ongoing guidance to the Arcola Theatre, assisting with developing Arcola’s long term vision for Future Arcola, intended to be the UKs first carbon neutral theatre and provided general support in their recent move to the new premises in Ashwin Street. Neill’s other project work includes leading the design for a new multi-format theatre for the University of Bangor and a new concert hall in Krakow.

Joint Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre, London

Over the past fifteen years David has directed and produced his own new work, run theatre spaces for artists, and managed and produced independent artists and companies. Much of his work has been characterised by an interest in facilitating conversations to develop new ideas; in making things happen from scratch. Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre since 2004, Joint Artistic Director and Chief Executive since 2008, David is also Chair of Cornwall’s Kneehigh Theatre. One of the reasons for Battersea Arts Centre’s success has been its building. The building is a critical character in BAC’s history. It has inspired artists to break the mould and develop new artistic practice. It is a creative provocation: a theatre that is not a theatre. It makes connections between BAC’s preoccupations: the local, national and international; the radical, the unexpected and the unknown; ambition, invention and change.

Director, Haworth Tompkins Ltd

Steve Tompkins is a director of London architects Haworth Tompkins. His performance projects include the Royal Court, the temporary Almeida theatres at Gainsborough Studios and Kings Cross, the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, the Egg, the North Wall, the Young Vic, the National Theatre Studio and Snape Maltings. He is currently working on performance projects with the National Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatres, BAC, the Bush, the Donmar, Kings College, the Royal Academy of Dance, Chichester Festival Theatre and Tara Arts. He was a founding member of Bennetts Associates in 1987 prior to forming Haworth Tompkins Architects with Graham Haworth in 1991. The practice was nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2007 and Steve was awarded an Evening Standard Special award in 2008 for his contribution to theatre architecture. Steve has taught and lectured extensively at a number of UK schools of architecture and is currently a visiting critic at Cambridge University and Visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Greenwich. He is a trustee of the Young Vic theatre and sits on the theatre steering group of the carbon reduction organisation Julie’s Bicycle. He has exhibited architectural work at the RIBA and the RA, and paintings at various UK galleries.

Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Roundhouse

His early career included working as Administrator for Dartington International Summer School, the Arts Manager for Dartington Hall Trust and Director of concerts programming for Exeter University. In 1995 he was appointed the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival where he expanded the Festival in length, breadth and number of events. He was appointed Chief Executive of The Roundhouse Trust in 1999, where he oversaw and managed the £30m re-development of the Roundhouse into a world class performance space and a state of the art creative centre (the Roundhouse Studios) for large numbers of young people to take part in new media and creative arts programmes. He is currently Chair of the Dartington International Summer School Foundation, a Trustee of the Longplayer Trust, a member of the Olympic Park Public Realm Commissioning Committee and Chair of the Brook Street Band Trust. He joined the Board of Arts Council London in early 2011.