Sheffield Theatres Launches Packed New Season As Staff Raise Concerns Over Hires
Sheffield Theatres has announced a broad new programme and the launch of a two-week festival while internal unease over recent senior appointments has surfaced, with some staff questioning the influence of senior leaders. The organisation’s new season promises major plays, family shows and a world premiere alongside a new Open Works festival.
Sheffield Theatres’ New Season and Open Works Festival
The announced programme opens with two Shakespeare productions from a single acting company: King Lear and Twelfth Night on the Crucible stage. King Lear is billed as a production in partnership with Michael Grandage and will feature Ian McDiarmid in the title role. The company will remain the same for Twelfth Night, which will include Matthew Horne as Malvolio.
The season also lists Dirty Dancing at the Lyceum, Stick Man at the Montgomery, and the world premiere of 12 Letters To My Name by Lettie Precious at the Playhouse. A later season entry names Jonathan Butterell as director of Anna Hope’s The Ballroom in Autumn 2027.
For the autumn, Sheffield Theatres plans its first-ever two-week event called Open Works, described as an annual festival that will include masterclasses, scratch nights, industry panels and world premieres aimed at encouraging collaboration across the theatre community. Artists hoping to present work are invited to apply through the organisation’s website. Elizabeth Newman, the artistic director, said she felt audiences “deserve the best plays ever written” and described the upcoming development as “just magic. ” She has been in the artistic director role for just over a year and said she feels a responsibility to reach as many people as possible.
Controversial Senior Hires and Staff Concerns
Alongside the season announcement, recent senior appointments have prompted concern among some employees. At a meeting last spring, the chief executive introduced three incoming members of the senior leadership team; an employee who was present recalled that the introductions did not mention the hires’ previous roles at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. All three new arrivals had been senior members of Elizabeth Newman’s team at Pitlochry, and two had worked with her at the Octagon in Bolton.
Some staff feel that local candidates were overlooked in favour of hires with prior working relationships to the artistic director. Specifications sent to one unsuccessful candidate set the annual salary at £40, 000 for 32 hours a week, which some employees described as high for the theatre sector. One staff member described the organisation as holding a “cultural monopoly, ” a situation that, they say, has grown since the body absorbed the Montgomery Theatre at the start of last year. The controversy has left parts of the city’s theatre community reticent to speak openly.
What Comes Next
The new season and the Open Works festival are scheduled to bring multiple productions and new work to the city, including a world premiere and large-scale Shakespeare productions featuring high-profile performers. Meanwhile, concerns about appointment processes and the organisation’s expanding role in the local scene remain unresolved. The theatre has indicated plans for an active season and a festival in the autumn; staff unease and questions about hiring practice are likely to continue as those programmes roll out.
