FREELANCE MANAGER, COACH & CONSULTANT

Mary Caws

Mary Caws has a leadership track record as Executive Director of Dance Umbrella, The Dukes, Watford Palace Theatre, and Theatre Royal Stratford East. She has also been interim/fixed term ED/CEO at the Young Vic, Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Oldham Coliseum, Tobacco Factory Theatres, and Oxford Playhouse.  At Watford, she managed a successful £8m capital refurbishment, and during her time at Stratford East secured a major corporate hire during the 2012 Olympics. Mary is also a mentor.
www.marycaws.co.uk

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ACTORS TOURING COMPANY (ATC)

Matthew Xia

Matthew Xia was appointed Artistic Director of Actors Touring Company in November 2018. Matthew is one of the busiest and most exciting directors in the UK. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; Director in Residence at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; Associate Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East. He is currently an Associate Artist at Nottingham Playhouse.

Actors Touring Company produces international contemporary theatre that travels – making the global, local and the local, global.
We are one of the only British theatre companies committed to producing international plays; and to touring the work of those global voices throughout  the UK (and beyond).

Matthew Xia, one of British theatre’s most exciting talents, has been Artistic Director since 2019. Matthew brings with him fresh thinking about the global identities within contemporary British society. Matthew’s work explores voices from the cultures that make up our globe and our nation – and the ways in which they intersect.

• We create theatre with a global perspective
• We engage with the issues, the events and the changes that impact and affect all of us – across society – at this moment in history
• We are the only British theatre company dedicated to the production of international plays for UK audiences
• We give voice to ‘the other’, exploring cross-cultural and internationalism, how tribes and nations interact, exist with and effect one another in a hyperconnected world
• We place the actor at the heart of our ethos
• We employ a lean aesthetic which promotes environmental sustainability

View Matthew Xia’s website 

CHAIR OF THE BOARD, AND INDEPENDENT THEATRE DIRECTOR

Pooja Ghai

New Writing, Contemporary plays and a re-imagining of the classics all provide a template to produce thought provoking and innovative work. As artists we have the platform to respond to the socio-political climate and explore, for example, issues causing the polarisation of our society. Reflections and representations are powerful tools that can heal and create a sense of belonging. Theatre in all its myriads, has the ability to reflect our stories back at us, challenge our beliefs and precipitate change.
I believe in creating work that responds to UK and the wider demographics of the planet we live on. This means being accountable for stories that are representative and deliver a depth of experience. Giving voice to underrepresented groups, telling stories that respond and resonate with working class, the colonial and post-colonial experience and stories that re-dress the balance of the whitewashing of history, all contribute to a more inclusive and representative theatre ecology.
In my extensive work as a dramaturg, for both established and emerging playwrights, I have supported the nurturing of new writing from page to stage through a process of constructive criticsm, mentorship and collaboration.
I am represented by Mark Price at AHA Talent https://www.ahatalent.co.uk/creative/pooja-ghai/