Artistic Director/Chief Executive
New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
Portsmouth
£60,000 - £80,000 per annum
The New Theatre Royal is a beautiful theatre in the heart of Portsmouth. We want to appoint a visionary, creative, determined and talented Artistic Director/Chief Executive who shares our ambition and can realise our artistic and strategic vision, whilst building a sustainable financial base from which we can build our future success. We have been on our current site since 1856, occupying a 700-seater venue designed by Victorian Theatre architects Charles Phipps and Frank Matcham. Alongside the Main Hall is a modern Studio Space named in honour of the director, producer and actor Anthony Minghella.
The Role
We’ve faced a challenging time in recent years, and not just because of Covid. But we’ve dealt with some of our historic financial problems and weathered the national challenge of the pandemic. We are now seeking to re-build a sustainable theatre which adds to the city’s rich creative and cultural offer: a theatre which builds a national reputation by producing its own work, but also one which is close to the local community, and which reflects Portsmouth’s unique character.
We believe this is a real opportunity for the right candidate who can create a high-quality attention seizing programme of theatre, embrace new digital opportunities, build new audiences, and engage local people in the performing arts. There’s no single model for our future Artistic Director. We’re open to ideas: you may be a new director or producer, a creative social entrepreneur or be leading an established company which might work out of our theatre. We actively encourage people from a variety backgrounds to join us.
We know this is a tough job, but for the right person it’s a rewarding one. It will evolve over the next few years as the successful candidate shapes the theatre and our offer to the city, region and country.
