Abbie Willcox appointed as new Executive Director and CEO of Theatre Témoin
Monday 15th January, 2024
Theatre Témoin announces today the appointment of Abbie Willcox (pictured top left) as the next Executive Director and CEO who will take up the post officially next week. Theatre Témoin have carved out a dynamic position within the UK theatre landscape, touring critically acclaimed, socially urgent, and visually compelling theatre since 2007. Abbie will succeed founding Artistic Director, Ailin Conant (pictured below right), after 16 years at the helm.
Abbie joined Témoin in 2019 following more than a decade of experience at leading venues, cocreating award-winning work with young people and communities. Abbie has worked extensively across the UK to provide marginalised voices with access to creative opportunities and has demonstrable experience devising new work through socially engaged practice. Abbie has co-led Theatre Témoin with Ailin for the past 18 months.
Speaking about her appointment Abbie Willcox said, “It is an honour to be appointed Executive Director of Theatre Témoin and to lead the company into its next phase. Working closely with Ailin over the last 5 years has been a joy and I deeply admire all of the incredible work she has achieved with, and for, Témoin since founding the company. Under her leadership, Témoin have brokered authentic cross-sector partnerships to create critically acclaimed shows that have toured to both national venues and under-engaged audiences in non-traditional spaces. We have employed over 250 professional artists and play an important role in artist development in the south east. 50% of our workforce and wider freelance teams are global majority and/or migrants and 90% of our shows are GM-directed. Témoin has meaningfully engaged over 25,000 UK audiences, 13,000 international audiences and more than 3,000 people nationwide have taken part in our education, participation and co-creation programmes.
I feel energised to work alongside our dedicated charitable Board and core team. More than ever we have to fight for our right to hold space within an ecology under threat. Cuts to curriculum learning, funding and resources are jeopardising not just short-term survival but the sector’s diversity and creative risk-takers of the future.”
Ailin Conant is leaving Theatre Témoin to join New Earth Theatre as the company’s new Artistic Director. Ailin said, “I am thrilled that Abbie will be Theatre Témoin’s next Director, I deeply value her strength of leadership and clarity of vision. When I reflect on my journey with Theatre Témoin, I think of all of the incredible collaborators with whom I've had the honour to create theatre. Artists who poured their hearts into debating each image and line, who toured with their children and became family. Community collaborators who watched sharings and reworked scenes with us – in hospitals, military bases, community hubs, and homeless shelters – to better reflect their lived experience. Playwrights working at odd hours to collaborate across time zones. Stage managers who took on everything from prop-making to babysitting. And audiences who came to hear our stories: on sidewalks, in hostels, in churches, in studios, and on mainstages.
At its heart, Témoin is about people, and I'm humbled and inspired by the people who have helped me build this company into what it is today. As difficult as it is to step away, the people at the heart of Témoin have made that decision much easier for me, by holding the company and its mission so gracefully. Abbie Willcox, who steps into the role of Executive Director and CEO, has been instrumental in leading Témoin’s strategic development since joining us in 2019. She brings over 10 years’ management experience at leading venues including The Lowry and Contact, producing exceptional work with communities, and managing flagship partnerships with National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and Royal Shakespeare Company. Jasmine Cullingford, our Board Chair, has mentored the company since its inception, and was the first building-based Artistic Director to platform our work when she programmed Jukai, The Fantasist, and Nobody's Home between 2010 and 2012. While I am of course sad to be stepping down after so many incredible years, I couldn't be happier about who I am leaving it with. I am so excited to see how Témoin develops in this new chapter.”
Jasmine Cullingford, Chair of Theatre Témoin’s Board, added, “We are delighted Abbie Willcox will be bringing her extensive experience of NPOs, and collaborating with cutting-edge contemporary artists, to the role of Executive Director and CEO. Abbie has co-led the organisation with Ailin for the last 18 months and she has a proven record of robust leadership and creative engagement of under-served communities. We are very excited to be working with her on the next chapter in Témoin’s history. This is obviously a bitter-sweet moment for the company as we say a fond farewell to founder Ailin Conant who leaves to join New Earth Theatre. We wish Ailin all the best in advancing her passion of creating compelling theatre to amplify marginalised voices – crafted and honed during her 16 years at Theatre Témoin – as she now focuses on supporting and championing BESEA artists.”
Theatre Témoin will next be touring FLOOD, an interactive outdoor spectacle highlighting the health of our ocean through the eyes of coastal communities, this summer. FLOOD is a fully integrated BSL performance supported by Without Walls.
Notes to Editors
Abbie Willcox is a Creative Producer and self-producing Artist now based in London. Born in Bristol, she graduated from the University of Manchester with a first class BA Joint Honours in Music and Drama and lived and worked in the North West for 14 years. During her 6 year tenure at The Lowry, Abbie was responsible for Talent Development and drove the realisation of an innovative Theatre Makers programme. This resulted in over ten studio shows, four Quays Theatre productions and several building-wide festivals. Abbie previously worked extensively at Contact and led their award-winning Young Company, achieving three professional productions a year. She secured and produced national partnerships for the North West, including Open Stages (2011-14), part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012, London 2012 Festival, and the World Shakespeare Festival 2012 with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Contact; That Night Follows Day (2013) with Forced Entertainment and Contact; Puffball (2014), a multi-venue LGBT+ circus project with Contact, the Roundhouse, and The Royal Exchange; National Theatre Connections (2015-2018) with The Lowry and National Theatre; and Breakin’ Convention (2017) hip-hop theatre festival with The Lowry and Sadler’s Wells. As a neurodiverse artist, Abbie is passionate about nurturing creative talent and overcoming barriers to bring daring works of theatre to new audiences.
Theatre Témoin are a professional arts charity with a unique aesthetic and a global focus, touring critically acclaimed national and international work. Témoin tells hidden and under-told stories in direct collaboration with communities, embedding the voices of people with wide-ranging lived experiences into excellent professional productions and engagement projects. Our process is governed by transformation: transforming ourselves, the communities we engage, our audiences, our industry and sector-level decision makers. We delight in shared spectacle, seeking to stir audiences into action.
For more information, please visit theatretemoin.com or contact info@theatretemoin.com
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