The Stage

Theatres Trust director Samuel will make regeneration a priority

Published Tuesday 8 November 2005 at 14:05 by Nuala Calvi

The Theatres Trust has appointed cultural regeneration expert Mhora Samuel as its new director, to succeed Peter Longman when he retires in March 2006.

Samuel, chief executive of the east London-based Cultural Industries Development Agency, is little known in theatre circles. She will join the organisation, which advises on planning decisions involving theatres, in January.

Theatres Trust chairman Rupert Rhymes said the board had admired her combined experience of capital arts projects and practical theatre, as a former director of Total Theatre, the UK body for physical and visual performance. “Her passion for theatre and her cultural planning and regeneration experience are impressive,” he said.

Samuel, 42, began her career as a dancer and choreographer in Scotland, and worked for ABL Cultural Consulting before joining CIDA. She told The Stage: “My priorities are to develop the profile of the Trust, particularly in the areas of regeneration, economic and spatial development, increasing its role in education and training, whilst maintaining the Trust’s reputation for quality in its work as a statutory consultee in the planning field.

“At CIDA I was responsible for developing fundraising bids and partnerships to lever in regeneration funds from a range of sources, and supporting others to do so. I will be bringing this experience with me to the trust and use it to enhance the work of the trust in planning policy and supporting theatres.”

Samuel is set to become the first female director of the organisation and her appointment was announced in the same week that Equity elected its first ever female general secretary.

Chairman of the Save London’s Theatres Campaign, John Levitt, said: “It’s an exciting appointment and she obviously has a very interesting background - she was a performer herself so she has a hands-on knowledge of theatre.

“I think she is taking over at a very interesting point in the trust’s history - it’s developed enormously and the whole issue of protecting buildings is very much in the minds of those of use who work in theatre at the moment.”

Rosemary Squire, executive director of the Ambassador Theatre Group and Society of London Theatre president, said Samuel would have to take on the challenge identified in the trust’s report, Act Now, of securing funding to renovate the West End’s theatres.

“A lot of our buildings, particularly in London, need a lot of money spending on them to bring them up to 21st century standards,” Squire said. “Physically, they are constrained by 19th century design and it is a huge challenge for us to try and secure some public money towards that.”