People

Over the last few years, the collaboration has enabled artists, professionals and academics to work alongside each other in creative and critical discourse. A wide range of people have been involved in the collaboration both currently and in previous years.

Key people

Tom Lockwood, Professor of English Literature, University of Birmingham

Tom is the University of Birmingham's academic lead for the collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His teaching and research interests move across the early modern and into the Romantic periods, with a particular focus on the way in which later writers respond to, adapt and receive earlier writers. His current projects include research on Charles Lamb's reading of early modern drama for a new OUP edition of his Complete Works, responses to Ben Jonson in the Restoration and Romantic periods, and on early modern manuscript poetry.

Geraldine Collinge, Director of Creative Placemaking and Public Programmes, RSC

Geraldine is the Geraldine is the Director of Creative Placemaking and Public Programmes at the RSC. A new role created to shape inspirational change with people and to make Stratford a better place to live, work, visit and invest.

She previously led the Events and Exhibitions department at the RSC, where she was responsible for changing the company’s relationships with artists, audiences and communities. She built daytime visitors to the RSC to c. 500,000, led the £4.5m Swan Wing capital project and a series of events to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016.

She is a Trustee of Fierce Festival and Culture Central.

Prior to this she spent ten years as Director of the UK’s leading organisation for performance poetry, Apples & Snakes; ran her theatre production company, Jericho Productions; and worked at Battersea Arts Centre in many different roles, finally as Programme Manager.

[Photo by Janie Airey © RSC]

Sally Delbeke, Partnership Manager, University of Birmingham

Sally is an experienced project manager who works on the University’s behalf to develop and programme the activity at the heart of the collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

Michael is the Director of the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute. He writes "My career as a teacher of and writer about Shakespeare’s plays and poems has been devoted not just to examining these extraordinary writings in their sixteenth- and seventeenth-century contexts, but to exploring how they have stimulated and enabled the creativity of other people, individually and collectively, across time – whether actors (both professional and amateur), scholars, directors, philosophers, composers, critics, sculptors, poets, or novelists. As a result I enjoy working as a consultant to theatre directors and actors as well as publishing scholarly essays and books, and although the central focus of my work has been on the interpretation of Shakespeare in the theatre down the centuries since his death, and on the history of our continuing love affair with Elizabeth and the Elizabethans more generally, I take an enthusiastic and informed interest in most things done in Shakespeare’s name in different media around the world."

Professor Ewan Fernie, Chair, Professor and Fellow, University of Birmingham

Ewan is Chair, Professor and Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute. Erica Whyman said his latest book, Shakespeare for Freedom: Why the Plays Matter, "should inspire scholars and theatre-makers alike to treat him once again as a liberating spirit, an existential provocateur and a playwright for our times."

Ewan is co-convenor, with Abigail Rokison-Woodall, of the pioneering MA in Shakespeare and Creativity. His collaborative civic liturgy for St George's Day was performed in major cathedrals across the country. The novel he co-wrote with Simon Palfrey, Macbeth, Macbeth, was described by Slavoj Žižek as "a miracle, an instant classic." Fernie is currently working, with Katharine Craik, on a new play for the RSC based on Shakespeare's Pericles, and on the Birmingham-based Shakespearean, activist and heterodox preacher he considers a lost prophet of incomplete modernity, George Dawson (1821-76).

Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of Learning and National Partnerships, RSC

Jacqui leads the RSC’s work with children, young people, teachers, adult learners and partner theatres across the UK and around the world. As a cultural learning specialist, Jacqui is passionate about providing equitable access to high quality creative arts opportunities, progression pathways to diversify the arts sector, and empowering young people to use Shakespeare, arts and creativity to affect social change. Jacqui has an interest in research, particularly finding accessible ways to share and disseminate it to inform real world decision making. Jacqui is Chair of the Cultural Learning Alliance and a primary school governor. She was also appointed as a Commissioner for the Durham Commission in Creativity in Education.

Abigail Rokison-Woodall, Lecturer in Shakespeare and Theatre, University of Birmingham

Abigail began her career as a professional actor, training at LAMDA. She completed her PhD at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University in 2006 after which she became a lecturer in Drama and English in the Education Faculty in Cambridge. In January 2013 she became Lecturer in Shakespeare and Theatre at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. Abigail has written a number of journal articles and chapters on Shakespeare and other drama. Her first monograph, Shakespearean Verse Speaking, was published in 2010 by Cambridge University Press, and won the inaugural Shakespeare’s Globe first book award. She has published two more books - Shakespeare for Young People: Productions, Versions and Adaptations (Bloomsbury Arden, 2013) and Shakespeare in the Theatre: Nicholas Hytner (Bloomsbury Arden, 2017). She is the co-general editor with Michael Dobson and Simon Russell Beale of a new series of Arden Performance Editions of Shakespeare’s plays for which she has edited A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. She is also writing a book for Bloomsbury Arden about the RSC’s The Other Place.

[Photo © Keith Morris]

Erica Whyman, Deputy Artistic Director, RSC

Erica is Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Director of The Other Place. She works closely with Artistic Director Gregory Doran on all aspects of artistic strategy, taking a particular lead on the development of new work, and on extending access, equality, diversity and inclusion across all RSC activities. Directing for the RSC includes Revolt, She Said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch ("witty, invigorating and inventive" Guardian), Hecuba by Marina Carr ("beautiful, terrifying...uncannily eloquent" Independent) and The Seven Acts of Mercy by Anders Lustgarten ("fiercely resonant" The Stage), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation ("dusted with magic" Guardian).

Erica was Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Northern Stage (2005-2012), Artistic Director of Southwark Playhouse (1998-2000) and of The Gate Theatre, Notting Hill (2000-2004). She chairs the Board of Theatre503. She was one of the first fellows on the Clore Leadership Programme. In 2012 she won the TMA Award for Theatre Manager of the Year, and was awarded an OBE for services to UK Theatre. In 2016 she won the Peter Brook Empty Space Special Achievement Award.

Collaborators

Year 1 (2015-2016)

Justin Audibert, Director
Alice Birch, Playwright
Claire Birch, Assistant Producer, RSC
Alison Bomber, Voice & Text Practitioner
Little Bulb, Theatre Company
Greg Clarke, Sound Designer
Jacquie Crago, Voice & Text Practitioner
Dr Katharine Craik, Reader in Early Modern Literature (1500-1750), Oxford Brooks University
Helen Cross, Writer
Tom de Freston, Artist
Simon Godwin, Director
Rachel Gartside, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Aileen Gonsalves, Director
Vince Herbert, Lighting Designer
Pippa Hill, Literary Manager, RSC
Mel Hillyard, Director
Alex Hughes, Senior Venue Technician, RSC
Tracy Irish, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Iqbal Khan, Director
Dr Adam Ledger, Senior Lecturer, Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham
Nia Lynn, Voice & Text Practitioner
Rory Mallarkey, Playwright
Jane Moriarty, Director
Tom Piper, Designer
Phil Porter, Playwright
Josh Roche, Director
Miles Tandy, Head of Professional Development, RSC
Richard Twyman, Director
Claire Windsor, Sound Designer
Hannah Young, Actor

Year 2 (2016-2017)

Claire Birch, Assistant Producer, RSC
Gemma Brockis, Theatre Maker
Tony Byrne, Actor
James Corrigan, Actor
Derbhle Crotty, Actor
David Edgar, Playwright
Waleed Elgadi, Actor
Lucy Ellinson, Actor
Sarah Ellis, Head of Digital Development, RSC
Maria Evans, RSC Teachers’ Programme Developer
Dr Catriona Fallow, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Zoe Ford, Director
Rachel Gartside, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Hugo Glendinning, Photographer
Aileen Gonsalves, Director
Fraser Grace, Playwright
Matt Hartley, Playwright
Dr Tim Haughton, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham
Vince Herbert, Lighting Designer
Pippa Hill, Literary Manager, RSC
Owen Horsley, Director
Kirsty Housley, Playwright/Director
Wendy Hubbard, Theatre Maker
Alex Hughes, Senior Venue Technician, RSC
Ed Hulme, Director
Tracy Irish, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Dr Chris Laoutaris, Birmingham Fellow, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Anders Lustgarten, Playwright
Nia Lynn, Voice and Text Practitioner
Simon Manyonda, Actor
Tom Morton-Smith, Playwright
Georgia Munnion, RSC Education Programme Developer
Terry O'Connor, Theatre Maker
Matt Peel, Lighting Designer
Lucy Phelps, Actor
Tom Piper, Designer
Phil Porter, Playwright
Mark Quartely, Actor
Dr Caroline Radcliffe, Lecturer, Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham
Josh Roche, Director
Jonathan Ruddick, Sound Designer
Dr Will Sharpe, Teaching Fellow in Shakespeare, University of Birmingham
Dr Erin Sullivan, Senior Lecturer, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Kimberley Sykes, Director
Miles Tandy, Head of Professional Development, RSC
Jennifer Tang, Director
Chris Thorpe, Director
James Turner, Designer
Chris White, Director
Dr Martin Wiggins, Lecturer, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Dr Robert Wilcher, Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Olivia Winteringham, Artistic Director of KILN Ensemble
Dr Gillian Wright, Reader in English and Irish Literature, University of Birmingham
Hannah Young, Actor

Year 3 (2017-2018)

Aileen Gonsalves, Director
Alex Cobb, Actor
Alex Hughes, Senior Venue Technician, RSC
Alex Thorpe, Director
Alison Bomber, Voice & Text Practitioners
Amy Draper, Director
Anders Lustgarten, Playwright
Aneta Mancewicz, Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham
Angie Wootten, School of Education, University of Birmingham
Ayse Tashkiran, Movement Director
Becky Barry, BSL Interpreter
Becky Loftus, Head of Audience Insight, RSC
Byron Mondahl, Actor
Caroline Wilkes, Director
Catherine Silverstone, Reader in Theatre and Performance, Queen Mary University of London
Charlotte Josephine, Actor
Chris New, Actor
Chris Thorpe, Director and Playwright
Chris White, Director
Ciaran Bagnall, Lighting Designer
Claire Birch, Assistant Producer, RSC
Cristina Delgado-Garcia, Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham
Darren Clark, Music Director
David Acton, Actor
David Edgar, Playwright
David Ridley, Music Director
Dinita Gohil, Actor
Dympna Callaghan, William Safire Professor of Modern Letters, Syracuse University
Eloise Secker, Actor
Emma Rice, Artistic Director for Wise Children
Erin Sullivan, Senior Lecturer, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
Esh Alladi, Actor
Floriana Dezou, Director
Georgia Munnion, RSC Education Programme Developer
Graeme Brookes, Actor
Hannah Young, Actor
Harriet Affleck, Publishing Manager, Digital Theatre
Islam Issa, Writer, Curator and Broadcaster
James Turner, Designer
Jennifer Tang, Director
Jeremy Dunn, Head of Sound, RSC
Joan Iyiola, Actor
Jonathan Dollimore, Philosopher and social theorist
Joseph Kloska, Actor
Julia Lupton, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of California
Juliet Gilkes Romero, Journalist and Playwright
Karen Salt, Assistant Professor in Transnational American Studies, The University of Nottingham
Katherine Craik, Reader in Early Modern Literature (1500-1750), Oxford Brookes University
Katherine Fletcher, International Education Programme Developer, RSC
Kelly Williams, Actor
Kerry Cooke, Shakespeare Institute Alumna
Kiernan Ryan, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Kimberley Sykes, Director
Lotte Wakeham, Director
Lucy Ellinson, Actor
Lyn Gardner, Theatre Critic, Writer and Journalist
Maria Evans, RSC Teachers’ Programme Developer
Marieke Audsley, Director
Matt Dann, Director
Matt Hartley, Playwright
Miles Tandy, Head of Professional Development, RSC
Naomi Dawson, Designer
Nia Lynn, Voice and Text Practitioner
Niamh Cusack, Actor
Nicholas Bishop, Actor
Nicky Cox, Director
Olivia Winteringham, Artistic Director of KILN Ensemble
Peter Holbrook, Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Queensland
Phil Porter, Playwright
Pippa Hill, Literary Manager, RSC
Rachel Gartside, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Richard House, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Birmingham
Richard Wilson, Sir Peter Hall Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Kingston University
Robin Belfield, Young People’s Performance Developer, RSC
Ruth Cooper-Brown, Fight Director
Sir Roger Scruton, Writer and Philosopher
Stephen Collins, Actor
Terry O'Connor, Theatre Maker
Tom de Freston, Artist
Tom Piper, Designer
Tracy Irish, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Will Brown, Actor
Will Sharpe, Teaching Fellow in Shakespeare, University of Birmingham

Year 4 (2018-2019)

Charlotte Arrowsmith, Actor
Justin Audibert, Director
Emma Baggott, Assistant Director
Peter Basham, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Robin Belfield, RSC Young People’s Performance Developer
Brad Birch, Playwright
Dr Niall Boyce, Editor of The Lancet Psychiatry
Stephen Brimson-Lewis, RSC Director of Design
Professor Matthew Broome, Director of the Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham
Greg Clarke, RSC Associate Sound Designer
Nicky Cox, Assistant Director
David Edgar, Playwright
Lucy Ellinson, Actor
Anisha Fields, Designer
Katherine Fletcher, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Rachel Gartside, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Juliet Gilkes Romero, Playwright
Kate Godfrey, RSC Head of Voice
Aileen Gonsalves, Director
Vince Herbert, RSC Head of Lighting
Pippa Hill, RSC Head of Literary
Phil Holyman, Co-Director, Little Earthquake
Alex Hughes, RSC Senior Venue Technician
Kelly Hunter, Artistic Director, Flute Theatre
Caroline Horton, Writer and Performer
Dr Tracy Irish, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Iqbal Khan, Director
Oliver Lynes, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Nia Lynn, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Cathleen McCarron, RSC Voice, Text and Accent Coach
Jane Moriarty, Director
Holly Moyse, Youth Advisory Group Member from the Institute for Mental Health
Gareth Nicholls, Co-Director, Little Earthquake
Laura O’Driscoll, RSC Venue Technician
Julia O’Keeffe, RSC Associate Schools programme
Tom Piper, RSC Associate Designer
Phil Porter, Playwright
Fi Ross, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Amerah Saleh, Spoken Word Artist
Dr Robert Shaughnessy, University of Surrey
Kim Sykes, Director
Miles Tandy, RSC Head of Professional Development
Chris Thorpe, Director and Playwright
Stephen Unwin, Theatre Director and Chair of KIDS charity
Noa Wagner, Director
Georgia White, RSC Regional Associate Schools’ Manager
Angie Wootten, Teaching Fellow in Education (Deafness and Hearing Impairment), University of Birmingham
John Wyver, RSC Director of Screen Productions

Year 5 (2019-2020)

Charlotte Arrowsmith, Actor
Ida Ballerini, RSC Events
Becky Barry, Actor/Director/BSL Interpreter
Robin Belfield, RSC Young People’s Performance Developer
Karin Brown, Shakespeare Institute Librarian
Réjane Collard, RSC Literary Manager
Carolyn Downing, Sound Designer
Amy Draper, Director
Anisha Fields, Designer
Juliet Gilkes Romero, Playwright
Aileen Gonsalves, Director
Natasha Goodge, RSC Marketing
Holly Hayes, RSC Marketing
Charlene Haylett, Film Maker
Owen Horsley, Director
Alex Hughes, RSC Senior Venue Technician
Dr Tracy Irish, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Tom Jackson Greaves, Choreographer/Movement Director
Max Johns, Designer
Debbie Korley, Actor
Sarah Lovsey, RSC Retail Development Manager
Cathleen McCarron, RSC Voice, Text and Accent Coach
Hannah Moore, RSC Events
Laura O’Driscoll, RSC Venue Technician
Oscar Pearce, RSC Education Associate Practitioner
Phil Porter, Playwright
Eleanor Rhode, Director
Eluned Rosser-Stanford, Film Maker
Anna Ryder, Assistant Director
Professor Graham Saunders, DTA
Simon Spencer, RSC Senior Lighting Technician
Professor Tiffany Stern, Shakespeare Institute
Kim Sykes, Director
Miles Tandy, RSC Head of Professional Development
Angie Wootten, Teaching Fellow in Education (Deafness and Hearing Impairment), University of Birmingham

Year 6 (2020-2021)

- Charlotte Arrowsmith, Actor and Director
- Karl Dixon, Creative Director
- Monica Dolan, Actor
- Sarah Ellis, RSC Head of Digital Development
- Anisha Fields, Designer
- Andrew French, Actor
- Juliet Gilkes Romero, Playwright
- Aileen Gonsalves, Artistic Director Butterfly [https://www.butterflytheatre.com/]
- Natasha Goodge, RSC Marketing Manager
- Owen Horsley, Director
- Tyrone Huggins, Playwright and Performer
- Kelly Hunter, Artistic Director Flute Theatre [https://flutetheatre.co.uk/]
- Martin Hutson, Actor
- Dr Tracy Irish, RSC Associate Learning Practitioner
- Tom King, RSC Learning Partnerships Manager
- Darren Raymond, Artistic Director Intermission [https://www.intermissionyouththeatre.co.uk/]
- Eleanor Rhodes, Director
- Anna Ryder, Assistant Director
- Madeline Sayet, Director, Writer and Performer
- Dr Erin Sullivan, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham
- Tabitha Sylvester-Kilroy, Deputy Stage Manager
- Professor Ayana Thompson, Arizona State University
- Leigh Toney, Director
- Angie Wootten, Teaching Fellow in Education (Deafness and Hearing Impairment), University of Birmingham