Theatre & Touring Symposium speakers announced
6 June 2022
Today (Monday 6 June), Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre have announced the next set of speakers appearing at this month’s Theatre & Touring Symposium, taking place both at The Brewery, London and online on Monday 27 June 2022, sponsored by Ecclesiastical, Spektrix, Tysers, Theatre Tokens and Yesplan.
Keynote speaker Bernard Donoghue OBE, Chief Executive of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), will open the conference, with Rachel Tackley (Creative Director, Riverside Studios) leading a discussion session interrogating the main themes from Bernard’s talk. Giving the closing keynote speech is one of The Stage 25’s ‘Theatremakers to watch out for in 2022 and beyond’, Ameena Hamid (Company Director & Creative Producer, Ameena Hamid Productions), who will be reflecting on the overarching theme of the conference – ‘A New Landscape for Theatre’. Appearing on the conference’s opening panel discussion, highlighting the challenges facing the sector around programming, attracting audiences to drama, and competing for consumer leisure time and spend, are Jonathan Church CBE (Director, Jonathan Church Theatre Productions), Natalie Ibu (Artistic Director and Joint CEO, Northern Stage) and Stuart Griffiths OBE (Programming Director, ATG), in a panel discussion facilitated by Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE (Joint CEO Eclipse Theatre, Interim Executive Director Inc Arts).Addressing one of the biggest challenges facing the sector at present, Jo Crowley (Executive Producer, 1927) and Rebekah Jones (Executive Producer, Curve Leicester) join our panel discussing the issue of cost around producing and touring, within the context of global disruption and a looming recessionRepresenting both the former and the recently announced UK Cities of Culture Chenine Bhathena MBE (Creative Director, Coventry City of Culture 2021) will be joined by Nicola Greenwood (Head of Cultural Partnerships, Bradford City Council) discussing the benefits to local areas of developing City of Culture bids and Local Cultural Plans. Jamie Snelgrove (Business Development and Relationship Manager, Theatre Tokens) and Nathan Naylor (Theatre Tokens Manager) will focus on practical solutions to the current challenges of bringing audiences back to theatre post-pandemic, and reveal how personalised marketing and new distribution channels can increase theatre ticket sales. Other names just announced include Elspeth Barron (Project Coordinator, Chichester Festival Theatre) and Jason Culverwell (Technical Director, National Theatre) highlighting practical solutions to embedding sustainability into our working practices, in a discussion facilitated by Phill Brown (Head of Risk & Safety, SOLT/UK Theatre). Also appearing are Jennie Green (Owner, Great Leap Forward) on stemming the industry talent drain, facilitated by George Perrin MBE (Coach, Consultant and Creative), and Carmel Cardona (Founding Associate, The Leadership Collective) and Sarah Holmes (Chief Executive, New Wolsey, Ipswich) exploring how to make our workplaces more inclusive. More speakers are to be announced in the coming days. Booking is now open for the Theatre & Touring Symposium. To find out more and to book your tickets visit https://hopin.com/events/theatre-touring-symposium/registration.