Matt Applewhite
Matt is Managing Director and Commissioning Editor of Nick Hern Books, the UK’s leading independent theatre publisher and performing rights agent. www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Mimi Findlay
Mimi is the Chair of the Judges for the Alfred Fagon Award, the Producer for Clean Break, and a Trustee for Theatre Uncut. Prior to this she has worked as a Producer, Project Manager and Administrator for companies including Talawa, Fuel, the National Theatre and Paines Plough.
She provides consultancy and mentorship for artists at various stages of their careers and is an advocate for inclusive practice. She has previously participated on panels and workshops for people make it work, the National Theatre, China Plate Theatre, The Roundhouse and Creative Access.
She is committed to developing and progressing conversation and action towards a more representative and inclusive cultural landscape in the UK and beyond, championing and sustaining underrepresented artists careers from all corners of the industry and harnessing artists voices to enhance the British culture experience for everyone.
Rebecca Mairs
Rebecca Mairs has been Literary Manager of the Lyric Theatre Belfast since 2016, where she acts as company dramaturg, oversees the theatre’s commissions slate, and manages artist support schemes such as the New Playwrights Programme. Prior to this she worked at Northern Ireland Screen and Craft Northern Ireland.
Gareth Nicholls
Gareth is Artistic Director of the Traverse Theatre having previously been Main-Stage Director In Residence at the Citizens Theatre.
His recent shows include Crocodile Fever, Ulster American, Monstrous Heart, Arctic Oil, How To Disappear and A Gamblers Guide To Dying for the Traverse Theatre. The Scottish Premiere of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow and productions of Blackbird, Into That Darkness, Vanya and Trainspotting for The Citizens Theatre.
Gareth trained in Contemporary Theatre Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before working as assistant and associate director with a number of companies including National Theatre of Scotland, Quarantine (Manchester), Campo (Belgium) and Suspect Culture amongst others.
Gareth has won Four Fringe Firsts Awards, a Scottish Arts Club Award and a Carol Tambour Best of Edinburgh Award. His work has been involved in 9 CATS (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland) nominations and has toured extensively across the UK and internationally.
Jessica Stewart
Jessica Stewart is an agent at Independent Talent, representing writers, directors and producers across Theatre, Film and TV.
Jennifer Tang
Jennifer is currently the Genesis Fellow & Associate Director of the Young Vic theatre in London. She was recently listed in ELLE UK's 2020 Hotlist, a celebration of the new leaders and shakers reframing the worlds of fashion, beauty, politics and culture.
Jennifer is an award-winning UK and International director and theatremaker, specialising in new writing and fusing theatre with music. She has worked with buildings and organisations including The Royal Exchange, The Young Vic, The Gate, Hampstead Theatre, The Royal Opera House and The Royal Shakespeare Company. Her practice also spans devised work and opera, and she has extensive experience of working with communities and young people.
She trained at the University of East Anglia and on the National Theatre Studio Director’s course, and was resident assistant director at Theatre Royal Plymouth between 2013-14.
Born in Kent to Cantonese parents but raised by a white British family, she is interested in making work that helps to tell the stories of over-looked and under-represented communities, or that can give voice to those who are normally unheard. She strives to make work that is politically urgent and emotionally vital and seeks collaborations with artists from all disciplines to make work that can constantly question what theatre is - and can be - and that tells stories about who and what we are.