ETT & Watermill Appoint Female Artistic DirectorsDate: 29 June 2007
English Touring Theatre company and the Watermill Theatre (pictured) have recently appointed new artistic directors, in both cases women – Rachel Tackley and Hedda Beeby, respectively. The appointments significantly raise the female quotient amongst the headcount of those running the country’s leading theatre companies and producing houses.
At the Watermill, Hedda Beeby replaces Jill Fraser, who ran the influential Berkshire theatre for 25 years until she died from cancer last year (See News, 13 Feb 2006). Beeby takes over the reins from interim executive director, and Fraser’s widower, James Sargent.
Beeby has worked in theatre for over 20 years and was for 12 yrs joint director of the Oxford Playhouse. More recently, she has been working in the West End for the Ambassadors Theatre Groupand for Eric Abraham’s Portobello Productions, whose shows have included Embers with Jeremy Irons. Beeby begins work on programming the 2007/2008 season in July and will work closely with Sargant during a transition period from September 2007 to March 2008.
Converted in 1968 from a mill beside the river Lambourn in Newbury, the 220-seat Watermill achieved an international reputation under Fraser’s direction, not least as the home of Edward Hall’s all-male Shakespeare ensemble Propeller (including Rose Rage, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale) since 1997 and as the launching pad for associate director John Doyle’s actor-musician led musicals (The Gondoliers, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd, Mack and Mabel) since 1998. The theatre, now owned by the Watermill Theatre Trust, is about to start a programme of renovations and improvements costing £1.3 million (See News, 5 Jan 2007).
At English Touring Theatre, Rachel Tackley will take over from ETT founder Stephen Unwin when he steps down in spring 2008 after 15 years as artistic director (See News, 13 Mar 2007). Currently creative producer of ETT, Tackley will act as both director and chief executive of ETT and will help plan the programme for Unwin’s final season.
Like Beeby, Tackley has spent many years working for ATG. She was ATG’s head of programming, responsible for programming all of the group’s regional theatres, and has more recently been chief executive of Milton Keynes Theatre. She has also produced for touring company Shared Experience nationally and internationally.
Nic Lloyd, chairman of the ETT board, commented that, with Tackley’s appointment “ETT will be the first producer-led touring company in the country. This is a unique position and Rachel brings to the post an outstanding track record as producer and a widely demonstrated commitment to theatre artists. Her experience in the commercial and subsidised sectors, both in this country and overseas, is invaluable.”
Since its foundation in 1993, ETT has staged over 40 plays and visited more than 75 theatres throughout the UK and overseas. It has transferred several productions to London – four to the Donmar, two to the Royal Court, two to the Old Vic and four to other West End theatres – and won 17 major national awards.
- by Terri Paddock
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