Associates

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

The Laughing Audience works frequently with colleagues:

STEVEN GALE is a management consultant specialising in the arts and regeneration, and repertoire selection. He was assistant artistic director at Leeds Playhouse, director of the Granary Theatre, Cork and assistant artistic director at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh. He was assistant director on the Edinburgh International Festival productions of Armstrong’s Last Goodnight, Life is a Dream and Barbaric Comedies. Steven holds a BA from the University of Exeter and an MA from the University of Leeds. He is also an interviewer at literature festivals at Bath, Brighton, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Buxton and Sydney.  In 2009, interviewees included Richard Flanagan, Graham Swift, Blake Morrison, Jonathan Bate, Owen Sheers, Peter Blake and Antonia Fraser. Telephone: 07967 652207. Email: stevengale@hotmail.com

RGA RGA is a boutique consultancy specialising in hospitality, leisure, tourism and the arts; we collaborate frequently on a variety of projects led by Max Gaunt (Chief Executive), Helen Duncan (Director), Andrew Ormston (Cultural Industries) and Jane Hogg (Associate). Telephone: 0131 343 1115. Email: rga@rgaconsulting.co.uk

PETER TOD is a freelance production adviser, working with leading producers such as David Pugh Limited (Equus, 2007) and ballet promoter Patricia Murray Bett. He was director of many great theatres, including Darlington Civic, Bristol Hippodrome and Bradford Alhambra. Whilst theatre director at the 1,847-seat Birmingham Hippodrome, he championed the move of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet from London to be Birmingham Royal Ballet, presented the best and biggest pantomimes in Britain, set up resident dance agency Dance Xchange and led a £35 million refurbishment, including a new studio theatre, thus enabling this theatre to continue to be the most popular theatre in the UK., selling over 500,000 seats per annum.  Telephone:  0207 483 1889 . Email: PTIHQ@aol.com

DAVID WILMORE (Theatresearch Limited) specialises in theatre conservation and restoration. We have worked with him on projects for Halifax Thespians (Halifax Playhouse), Burnley Borough Council (The Empire Theatre), Middlesbrough Council (The Empire Theatre and Town Hall), the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond. David holds a BSc from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, a PhD from Hull University and is a Research Fellow at Manchester University. He has published extensively on the history of theatre technology. Telephone: 01423 780 497. Email: office@theatresearch.co.uk

We have also worked with theatre architects and designers including LDN Architects (Edinburgh), Ian Darby Architectural Partnerships (Newcastle upon Tyne) and Theatre Projects Consultants (London).

I am grateful for inspiration to theatre consultant CRISPIN RAYMOND, former Theatre Director of the Theatre Royal, Bath, and author of Essential Theatre: the successful management of theatres and venues which present the performing arts, Arts Council, London, 2000. For practical discussion of this subject see an interactive version of the book at this link.  

I am sad to record the death of a much-loved colleague - the theatre historian DAVID F CHESHIRE (27 July 1935-18 March 2010). See his obituary here.