Lyric life

The London Theatre Consortium (LTC), in partnership with the MOBO organisation, have appointed a second cohort of three Executive LTC MOBO Fellowships to address the lack of diversity at executive level in UK theatre buildings. The Fellowships begin in January 2018 for a 6-9 month attachment.

The recipients are Jessica Draper, Head of Learning & Engagement, Synergy Theatre Project, Daniel Kok, Arts Producer at Cambridge Junction and Nicholai La Barrie, Director of Young People at Lyric Hammersmith. The fellows will work alongside LTC over a period of six months, getting access to and demystifying the Executive leadership of these 14 theatres.

The aim of the LTC MOBO Fellowships is to create the capacity for diversity in the leadership pool by supporting mid-career leaders and offering them mentoring, shadowing, access and skill sessions to help provide pathways to break through into Executive leadership.

Commenting on the initiative Lucy Davies, Executive Producer at the Royal Court Theatre and Chair of LTC states:

‘All of the LTC theatres are profoundly committed to using our collective power to create opportunity and make change happen. Our first cohort of Fellows in 2016 was a game-changing experiment, and we were all committed to doing it again. This Fellowship process enables us to meet some incredible talent coming through in British theatre. We want Jessica, Daniel and Nicholai to make change with us, as much as we can make change for them.’

Kanya King, MBE Founder adds:

‘As a teenager I started my career working at Tricycle Theatre but didn’t continue as I felt there were limited opportunities and roles to get ahead in theatre for someone from my background. This is why we are proud to partner with LTC to be able to support this fellowship programme to create the change we want to see in Modern Britain.’