Date posted:
Tue 30 November 2021
Everyman Playhouse Statement:
I’m delighted to let you be amongst the first to know, that we have appointed our new Creative Director: Suba Das will join us next Spring in this new role which will help shape our artistic future and bring a fresh perspective into our two iconic venues.
Currently Suba is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of new writing company HighTide. Previously an Associate Director at Leicester Curve, he has been a Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio and for English Touring Theatre. His directing credits also include work for the Young Vic, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nottingham Playhouse, Northern Stage and The Roundhouse. Suba is also a Trustee of the North Music Trust (Sage Gateshead) and the Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival.
Photograph of Suba Das by Pamela Raith Photography
On his new appointment as Creative Director, Suba Das said:
“To be entrusted with helping lead the vision for one of the UK’s most important theatres is the most incredible honour, and it’s certainly quite the journey for a brown kid brought up on benefits.
It’s also an extraordinary responsibility as I don’t think we’ve ever experienced a more profoundly serious need for culture. As we all try to find our responses to the ever-starker truths of climate crisis, gender violence, transphobia, structural racism and so much more; we absolutely need safe, inclusive theatre spaces where people of all backgrounds really can debate, explore, and hopefully find some joy in being together as we emerge from a pandemic. I've always believed it's the artist's role in society to help us all to imagine different futures.
To do this now in Liverpool, a city which is home to the UK’s oldest Black and Chinese communities; has a larger queer population than San Francisco; and where the local authority really do see culture as fundamental to how we live our best lives: it really is the opportunity of a lifetime to use the few things I know to help create a better world.”
The role of Creative Director will lead on shaping and delivering artistic vision and programming, building on the theatres’ reputation for artistic innovation, talent development and progressive social change. A key responsibility for the Creative Director is to develop a collaborative artistic vision that puts new work and local stories, at the heart of an artistic programme representing the communities served by the two venues. The role embraces digital content and distribution as part of the artistic programme, creating strong creative partnerships across the region, bringing the best in theatre to the Liverpool City Region from across the country.
Together with the Board, our staff team and our funders (Liverpool City Council and Arts Council England) we are excited for what the next chapter holds for the theatres under Suba’s creative leadership. I know he’s eager to meet our audiences, our artists and to get to know the City region, and I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for you to meet him in the year ahead.
With all good wishes,
Mark Da Vanzo, Chief Executive