Meet Our Board

 

Amy Leach is sitting in a rehearsal room, she is directing, laughing and having fun with her cast and team Amy leach – theatre director

Amy is an Olivier nominated theatre director and an industry leader in creating work with and for deaf and disabled artists and audiences.Amy was Deputy Artistic Director at Leeds Playhouse between 2017-25 where she directed numerous productions including Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies & Macbeth. Amy has directed work for Hull Truck, Sherman Cardiff, National Theatre Wales, National Theatre Studio, National Youth Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre, Unicorn London, Library Theatre Manchester, The Egg Bath, Dukes Lancaster and Royal Exchange Manchester. Between 2003 & 2011, Amy co-founded and ran en masse, an award-winning theatre company which created work for young people.

Bookey is smiling at the camera, she is standing in front of wall and is wearing a print shirt of yellow and organgebOOKEY oSHIN – Deputy Chief Executive of Sheffield Theatres Trust

Bookey a Chartered Management Accountant with wide-ranging experience of finance functions, business planning and strategic decision-making, spanning over thirty years. She joined Sheffield Theatres in 2008 as the Finance Director at the end of the redevelopment of the Crucible Theatre. Sheffield Theatres is the largest theatre complex outside London, it comprises of The Crucible, Lyceum, Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse and The Montgomery Theatres. She has been responsible for developing best practice in the provision of all support services, including strategic planning, financial controls, business development, HR and facilities management. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and has an MBA from Sheffield Hallam University. Bookey is passionate about using her skills in supporting other businesses in her community. This is reflected in her roles as a trustee of Utopia Theatre, a Guardian of the Sheffield Assay Office and is also a Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire. She loves travelling and spending time with her family, she is a devoted Christian and the treasurer of St Cuthbert’s Church in Fir-Vale, Sheffield.

Caronline Parker is smiling into the lens, she has fabulous pink spkey short hair and is wearing a deep red patterned shirt - her right arm is raises in a questioning wayCAROLINE PARKER MBE – ACTOR, DIRECTOR

Caroline trained at Salford College of Technology, The Mime Centre and Desmond Jones School of Mime. She has over the decades worked mainly as an actress, but also facilitated workshops, created a cabaret act in which she performs well known songs in sign language, dance and mime. She has also dabbled in stand-up comedy with Abnormally Funny People, was a consultant to Find the Funny and has directed sign songs for the opera company FormidAbility.  She has also recently appeared in Nottingham Playhouse Jack and the Beanstalk as the Fairy Godmother.

Theatre credits include Derby Theatre The 3 Billy Goats Gruff, and Alice in Wonderland, Shakespeare’s Richard III (Liverpool Playhouse/Rose Theatre Kingston). Much Ado about Nothing  (Ramps on the Moon), Oliver Twist (Ramps on the Moon).Wind in the Willows (Brewhouse Theatre Taunton), Cinderella (CAST Doncaster), Jungle Book (Derby Theatre), Twelfth Night (Southwark Playhouse), Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night Time (National Theatre tour). Our Country’s Good (Ramps on the Moon). 

TV and Film appearances include Where the Light Gets In (Lumo and Drummer TV ).  Moving On (BBC), Doctors (BBC), Murphy’s Law (BBC), Stuart a Life Backwards (BBC/HBO), Switch (BBC), If I Don’t Lose, I Will Lose (BSLTV Zone) for which she won 3 Best Actress Awards. 

With such companies as Krazy Kat Theatre and Hot Coals Theatre The Bone Ensemble and Formidable Opera Caroline has also consulted/directed tweaking their visual creations. Finding and evolving the funny, and clear physical storytelling.

For various organisations Caroline has facilitated sign song, physical storytelling workshops exploring how to communicate and express emotions, music, characters.  Most recently she has worked with ASLI (Association of Sign Language Interpreters) There is a course online at Storyversity website on physical expression Caroline constructed and lead. 

David Belwood head and shoulders pic. David is looking into the lens of the camera, he has a half smile and half serious expression on his face. He has a beard and is wearing a green leaf pattern shirtDavid Bellwood – (Chair) Head of Access at the national theatre

David is responsible for physical and cognitive access to theatre productions and educational work for patrons, visitors and staff. Before this, he was Access Manager at Shakespeare’s Globe. On behalf of the Globe, David accepted the Leonard Cheshire award for Most Inclusive Employer. He has worked in-house and as a consultant in numerous theatres such as the Donmar, Old Vic and the National Youth Theatre.  

He was chairperson at Deafinitely Theatre, a Deaf-led ACE NPO, and is currently a trustee of ZooCo and a member of the Touretteshero Advisory Group. 

Esther Fox is sitting in her chair, smiling at the camera - she has long blonde hair and is waring red and orange dressEsther Fox – Head of the Accentuate Programme

Esther Fox is the Head of the Accentuate Programme, one of Screen South’s portfolio of projects. She has been leading initiatives for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people to drive change in the cultural sector for over 15 years. Most recently devising and delivering the landmark projects Curating for Change and Curating Visibility, working with over 30 museums across England. She is a disabled person and was a community Co-I on a large AHRC project, D4D Disability and Community: Dis/engagement, Dis/enfranchisement, Dis/parity and Dissent, where she followed an arts-based research approach.  She is currently the sector lead on another AHRC project, The Sensational Museum.  She also has an interest in how creative digital technologies can enable more accessible and meaningful experiences for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent visitors to engage with museums, heritage sites and collections.

A photo of Stuart Rogers. A head and shoulders shot - Stuart has short white/grey hair, he is wearing thin rimmed spectacles. He is wearing a black polo tshirt Stuart Rogers – Theatre Manager/Producer

Stuart has worked in theatre management and producing since 1973 when he became Theatre Programmer for the Birmingham Arts Lab. He then moved on to manage the Gulbenkian Studio Theatre and Newcastle Playhouse in Newcastle upon Tyne, followed by periods as Administrative Director for Chester Gateway Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse. Following a couple of years in the southern Italian city of Bari working with the international touring theatre company Teatro Kismet, Stuart returned to Birmingham in 2002 to take up the post of Executive Director at Birmingham Repertory Theatre where he contributed to the founding of Ramps On The Moon. He left that position in 2019 to concentrate on freelance producing and general management, mainly in the commercial theatre sector.

A head and shoulders photo of Tom Bird, He is smiing at the camera. He has short light brown hair and a short beard. He is wearing a white shirtTom Bird – CEo Sheffield Theatres

Tom Bird is CEO at Sheffield Theatres, a complex comprising four theatres which is the north of England’s largest producing theatre organisation.  Prior to that he was CEO at York Theatre Royal and Executive Producer at Shakespeare’s Globe, where he produced Globe to Globe Hamlet, which The Economistcalled ‘the greatest tour in the history of theatre’. He was also Director of the Globe to Globe Festival for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. At Sheffield, Tom has just overseen the acquisition of The Montgomery, a children’s theatre and arts centre which is the newest member of the Sheffield Theatres family.