The Stage 100 2020: 91-100

The Stage 100 is intended to reflect who are the 100 most influential people working in the theatre and performing arts industry. It is considered from the point of view of The Stage, as a trade publication, and so focuses both on theatre as a business and an art form. Inclusion within the list and ranking is weighted towards achievements in the past 12 months, but also takes into account continuous achievement. We also aim to have a list that – as much as is possible and plausible – reflects the astonishing breadth of the theatre industry. However, we do not weight the list to attempt to make it gender-balanced or ethnically diverse: we believe the list should aim to reflect how the theatre and performing arts industry is, not what it aims to be, or we would like it to be.

Top 5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 Analysis

91. Douglas Rintoul and Mathew Russell

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Nominated for The Stage Awards’ London theatre of the year prize in 2020, the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch had a transformational 2019. As well as completing a £1 million renovation, it produced 14 shows, with an estimated 37% of its audience first-time visitors. Highlights included the Essex on Stage project, in which Rintoul directed a revival of David Eldridge’s In Basildon. The venue also partnered with the National Theatre for its Public Acts programme with a participatory production of As You Like It. New entry

92. Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood

Underbelly

The Underbelly Southbank Festival 2019 had its biggest programme yet, with more than 170 shows including A Simple Space from Gravity and Other Myths, Bernie Dieter’s Little Death Club and Flip Fabrique’s Transit. In its 20th Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, Underbelly provided its largest investment to date – more than £500,000 of financial assistance, supporting 26 productions. Underbelly presented more than 200 shows across its 23 venues at the fringe, employing 547 staff – 80% of them from Scotland – to deliver its programme. Last year: 64

93. David Mumeni

Open Door

Mumeni is the founder of Open Door, a scheme that helps young people from low-income households access drama school by providing financial support and a year-long training and mentoring programme. In early 2019, Open Door won The Stage Award for school of the year. The organisation then continued its work in London and the East Midlands, announcing that it was expanding to cover three new locations: Essex, Sheffield and Rotherham. It also launched Open Door Ignite, a Q&A platform for people to learn more about careers in theatre. Last year: 98

Open Door – the free audition scheme opening doors to top drama schools

94. Steven Kavuma

Campaigner and director

Since setting up, in 2017, the Diversity School Initiative, which strives to improve representation in drama schools, Kavuma has been a powerful force for change within the industry. Alongside the Diversity School Initiative, Kavuma has continued to run the Black Theatre Club, which he launched in August 2018 to increase access to theatre and expand discussion among black people. In 2019, he curated This Is Black, a new festival for black artists at the Bunker Theatre in London. New entry

95. Justin Audibert and Anneliese Davidsen

Unicorn Theatre

Audibert had a strong year both as director and artistic director of London’s Unicorn, which he has led since 2018. His early shows have proved fresh, inventive and challenging – he directed bold productions of Anansi the Spider and The Canterville Ghost, and programmed a brilliantly realised adaptation of dystopian novel Maggot Moon. Audibert is also a passionate advocate for protecting arts in schools. Davidsen will leave in March after eight years, and will be replaced by Bailey Lock. New entry

96. Elizabeth Newman and Kris Bryce

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Newman left her role at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre to lead Pitlochry Festival Theatre, beginning in July. She told The Stage she was committed to making it “sustainable and resilient, while opening every window and every door and filling it with humans”. Her tenure got off to a positive start, with Newman directing a string of four and five-star shows, including The Crucible, Brian Friel’s Faith Healer and Summer Holiday, described as a “vibrant crowd-pleaser”. She has put Pitlochry back on the map. New entry

Pitlochry artistic director Elizabeth Newman: ‘Open every window and door – let everyone in’

97. Chris Sonnex

Bunker Theatre

Sonnex has made an impressive impact during his short tenure at the Bunker, set to close permanently early this year. The former London’s Royal Court artistic associate only joined the Bunker in September 2018, but has since championed a truly diverse programme. Highlights in 2019 included refugee-led company Borderline’s show Welcome to the UK and Matilda Ibini’s debut Little Miss Burden, about growing up with a disability as a black woman. The Bunker has also set up a free-to-use writers’ room within the venue. New entry

98. Cassie Raine and Anna Ehnold-Danailov

Parents and Carers in Performing Arts

Raine and Ehnold-Danailov are co-founders of PIPA, dedicated to improving working conditions for parents and carers in the sector. In 2019, the organisation signalled ambitions to expand into opera, music and dance. In October, it was given funding from the Scottish government’s Workplace Equality Fund to develop a scheme to help “performing arts businesses attract, support and retain a more diverse workforce”. Last year: 52

99. Chris Symons

BH Live

Symons is chief executive of event venue and leisure centre operator BH Live, which recently added Croydon arts complex Fairfield Halls to its portfolio. While the £42 million redevelopment had its fair share of controversy, BH Live has outlined some admirable ambitions. These include making it Croydon’s answer to the Southbank Centre, ensuring half of the venue’s 800 annual events are community based, and extensive outreach work in schools. Fairfield Halls reopened in September 2019 with Angela’s Ashes – The Musical. New entry

Pop stars, Sooty and a £42m revamp – Croydon’s Fairfield Halls is back for the future

100. Jasmine Lee-Jones

Playwright

Writer and performer Lee-Jones received widespread acclaim following a run of her debut play – Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner at London’s Royal Court in July 2019. She won a string of awards for it, including The Stage Debut Award for best writer, the Alfred Fagon Award, and the Evening Standard award for most promising playwright. Lee-Jones has said: “I wanted to write something that would hold a mirror up to the young Black-British womxn I know now, because it’s something I rarely ever see, especially in theatre.” New entry