We today announce the new Trustees to our Boards, appointed to work alongside our leadership team and help shape the future of the organisation.

Joining the Sheffield Theatres Trust Board is: esteemed academic Anni Domingo; educational IT Director James Garnett; Executive Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East Eleanor Lang; Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Kirsten Major; retired solicitor and former Group Chief Executive of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors John Pickering; and Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at Sheffield Hallam University Umar Zamman.

Also returning to the Board is long-term supporter of Sheffield Theatres: Neil MacDonald OBE. The new members join the current members of the Sheffield Theatres Trust Board, including: LordKerslake (Chair), Stephen Betts, Ruth Bourne, Surriya Falconer (Vice Chair), Cllr Anne Murphy, Rosie Neave, Cllr Sioned-Mair Richards and Arnie Singh.

Alongside this board, we welcome to the Sheffield Theatres Crucible Trust Board: independent Theatre Producer and Consultant Kate Pakenham, and Executive Director at The Old Vic Kate Varah, who both join independent theatre Producers: Matthew Byam Shaw (Playful); Robert Noble (Cameron Mackintosh and Mathew Bourne); from AKA, Director of Audiences, Research and Insights Richard Huntrods; and Neil Adleman of Harbottle & Lewis.

All trustees contribute a wealth of knowledge and insight into local, regional and cultural agendas, helping to provide clear strategic direction to our organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and evaluating performance. The new trustees will ensure positive change in our organisation through actions and words that advocate inclusion and equality.

The new trustees form the Board following a successful year in the face of unprecedented circumstances: we continue to produce and present a diverse programme of work, including classic and contemporary drama, musicals, comedy, and dance on each of our stages. Gaining national recognition for our high calibre work such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Life of Pi and Standing at the Sky’s Edge, under the leadership of Dan Bates as Chief Executive and Robert Hastie as Artistic Director, we were awarded the title of the UK’s Regional Theatre of the Year in 2020 - a title it has held on an unprecedented four occasions. On average our theatres attract audiences of 400,000 people each year.

Dan Bates, Chief Executive of Sheffield Theatres said:

‘It’s a real delight to welcome new experts to our Board. We are looking ahead to the future of Sheffield Theatres and having individuals from different sectors, professions and backgrounds is invaluable to us, especially in offering exciting innovations and making significant decisions about the next steps ahead as we re-open and recover from the pandemic.’

This autumn, we have a full programme across all three of our theatres, having recently reopened the Lyceum theatre. The Crucible season opens with Typical Girls, by Morgan Lloyd Malcom. This new play is a co-production with Clean Break. Further information can be found on our What's On page.