Management of the Company


 

COMPANY CHAIRMAN : KAREN WALKER

Karen has been a member of the Tower since 1985 and in that time has appeared in dozens of productions in London, Edinburgh, the Minack, Paris, America, Gibraltar and the Netherlands. Roles have ranged from Cleopatra and Gertrude to a fox and a rabbit in The Wind in the Willows, with pretty well everything covered in between. She has also worked backstage on many shows, particularly in the area of wardrobe. During that time she has also been a member of the Company Committee on two occasions, the Wine Committee, when such a thing existed, and various social and events committees. Most recently seen as Florence in The Vortex and on costumes for Jake's Women, Karen is as active as ever. With 27+ years in the company she believes that the breadth of her relationships with members right across the age and experience spectra will be a cohesive force within the Company. The Chinese curse wishes that one should live in interesting times. Karen believes that these are very interesting times, but that by working with each other at every level, the Company will emerge stronger ~ she sees this as her prime objective.




ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : MARTIN SOUTH

Martin South has been a member of the company for 25 years, in which time he has acted (including the title roles in Hamlet, Nicholas Nickleby and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), directed, designed sets and pretty well everything else besides. He believes that he still holds the record as the Tower’s youngest ever director for his 1986 production of Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance, although he looks forward to disputing this with other contenders.
Martin has been a member of the Friends Committee, and has chaired the Company Committee and the Relocation and Guarantors Boards with significant achievements in all three roles. He plans to build on the solid foundations we have achieved to lead the shaping and implementation of an artistic policy that is fit-for-purpose now, and a new business model for the future.




ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : RUTH SULLIVAN

 




ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : MARTIN BUTTERY

Martin has been a member of the company since 1999 and has acted in many productions including Mack & Mabel, As You Like It, Strangers on A Train and most recently Sordid Lives as a Tammy Wynette obsessed, high-heeled, wig-wielding transvestite (not much of a stretch some might say). As a director his productions have included Biloxi Blues, Popcorn and The Glass Menagerie. He has also served on both Company Committee and the Publicity Team.

Martin is looking forward to embracing the company's artistic challenges as it strives to maintain its hard-earned reputation for excellence, earned over 80 years, while continuing to develop as a vibrant hub for amateur theatre in London.

Martin is currently studying for an MA in Theatre Directing


ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : COLETTE DOCKERY



FINANCE DIRECTOR : NICK INSLEY

Nick has been a member of the Tower Theatre for 20 years. He generally works back stage, particularly designing the lighting for many shows, although he was once known to utter a few lines on tour at the Minack Theatre.
Outside the Tower he has lit many shows over the years including productions directed by Kenneth Branagh and Katie Mitchell and featuring Pete Postlethwaite. He has lit venues including the Almeida Theatre, Oxford Playhouse and the Minack Theatre.
He has been Company Manager of the Oxford Theatre Group, Technical Director of the OUDS and was a member of the National Youth Theatre.
During the daytime he is a management consultant and has an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.


COMPANY COMMITTEE

Elected until 2014 : Karen Walker (Chairman), Robert Irvine, Dom Ward
Elected until 2013 : Sarah Ambrose Ley, Simona Hughes, Ann Watchorn, Jonathan Wober
Elected until 2012 : Sue Brodie, Anna Fiorentini, Ruth Sullivan
Ex Officio : Martin South (Artistic Director), Nick Insley (Financial Director)

The role of the elected members of the Company Committee is to represent the membership. The only Company officers who are entitled to sit on the Committee are the Artistic Director and the Financial Director. The Committee meets once a month and it can discuss anything from artistic policy to the state of the loos! Anyone is free to put an item on the agenda, but the "bread and butter" of its business is maintaining an overview of all the various aspects of the Company's activities.


FRIENDS COMMITTEE

Sara Randall (Chair)
Maureen Ross (Secretary)
Chris Holmes
Denyse Macpherson
Nigel Martin
Bernice Molloy
Eileen Marner
Colin Smith
Jim Spall
Tom Tillery

Friends of the Tower  :   This essential organisation is for anyone with an interest in vibrant amateur theatre at its best in Central London. For a £15 subscription, members receive :

  • our bi-monthly magazine, Noises Off, full of news, reviews, pictures and interesting articles
  • £2 off the ticket price for most performances
  • occasional Members' evenings, not always on a theatrical theme
  • invitations to special events and parties

Application to join the Tower Theatre Company as an actor is subject to membership of the Friends and to passing a Company audition. For further details ring the Tower Theatre Office on 020 7353 5700.


GUARANTORS BOARD

Tavistock Repertory Guarantors Limited is a Limited Company and a Registered Charity.  Its aim is to support of the work of the Tower Theatre Company by managing the theatre's premises, staff and overall finances of the organisation.

There are at present about 50 Guarantors - mostly also long established members of the Repertory Company.  A Board of Directors (all unpaid), elected at the Annual General Meeting, manages the company.

The Board comprises :

Penny Tuerk (Chairman)
Martin South
Sheila Burbidge
David Holyoake
Jeff Kelly
Stephen Ley
Jim Spall
Laurence Tuerk
Dinah Irvine

The main business of the Board is to be responsible for negotiating leases and managing premises and staff.  It currently rents storage, office and rehearsal space at the St. Bride Institute, and scenery workshop/storage space in Leytonstone.


PUBLICITY GROUP

Sue Brodie (Chairman)
Roanne Insley
John Morton
Laurence Ward
Jonathan Wober
Alice Blogg
Joyce Terry
Ahmmad Makadder

Jean Carr
Jean Collins
Caroline Kelly
Laurence Tuerk
Guinevere Tufnell
Linda Stewart-Birch
Lisa Miguez
Louisa Shindle

The Publicity team promotes and markets the Tower's activities. It produces and distributes the Company's publicity material and handles its Press Relations.

Joyce Terry is the Tower Press Officer. She handles Press Releases and requests for information for each show.


TECHNICAL GROUP

Meryl Griffiths (Chairman)
Stephen Ley (Lighting)
Phillip Ley (Sound)
Alison Liney
Richard Pedersen

Laurence Tuerk (Technical Equipment Manager)
Julia Collier
Michael Bettell
Ann Watchorn (Properties)

The objective of the Group is to oversee and allocate resources for all aspects of the Company’s Technical and Backstage Management. In order to do this the Group will :

  • provide technical support and co-ordination for the running of seasons;
  • co-ordinate the crewing (the recruitment of production teams) for productions;
  • ensure that we conform to safety standards;
  • provide additional support for technical and backstage crews;
  • encourage new members to become involved in backstage work, developing their skills and experience.

The Group meets about once every 6 weeks to co-ordinate our plans, discuss forthcoming productions and cry on each other's shoulders.