How we run the Company

These are the committees and groups involved in managing the work of the Tower Theatre Company

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The legal entity that runs the Tower Theatre is Tavistock Repertory Guarantors Ltd (TRGL).  Originally TRGL was created so that individuals could guarantee the rent payment by the Tower Theatre Company (formerly Tavistock Repertory Company) to the landlord at the Canonbury Tower.

Since 2015 the Tower Theatre Company and TRGL have been combined.  TRGL remains the formal registered company name, but the trading name continues to be the Tower Theatre. 

All members of the Tower Theatre Company are members of TRGL. They elect the Board of Trustees at the Annual General Meeting. If the company fails financially, members are committed to contribute towards any outstanding debts, but the amount of the guarantee is only £1. TRGL is a Limited Company and a Registered Charity. 
The Board is responsible for long-term strategy, legal compliance, the management of the theatre’s premises and staff, and the overall finances of the organisation.

The Company Board comprises :

Jude Chalk(Chair)
Emily Hassan
Sheila Burbidge
Sarah Ley
Matthew Ibbotson
Martin Mulgrew (Co-opted)
Ann Watchorn (Co-opted)

Jude Chalk (Chair of the Board) joined the Tower Theatre in 1996 and since then has costumed 11 productions and designed sets for 70, at various venues.  She is currently a member of the Technical Team and has previously sat on the Management Committee. In 2003, she received the Frank Smith Award and the Harold Mellor Award in 2018. Since 2018, she has also managed the Front of House team. 
Jude retired in 2013 after 35 years teaching in special education, latterly as a Headteacher. She then trained as a Yoga teacher and now teaches Community classes. Her special interest is raising awareness of disability and inclusion. She particularly enjoys meeting new people who express an interest in joining the technical side of the Tower, and helping them to become part of the wider team behind the scenes.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The Management Committee is responsible for the day to day operations of the company and contains a mixture of elected, ex-officio and co-opted members. Each member of the Committee focuses on a particular part of the Company’s operations as listed below.

Elected Members :
Bella Cavicchi (Chair) – Overall Company Operations and Policy
Flavia Di Saverio (Deputy Chair) – Production-level Concerns and Operations
Rachel Bothamley – EDI and Safeguarding
Stephen Ley – Health and Safety
Amanda Waggott – Artistic Policy and Membership
Christopher Lloyd-James – Bar
Nick Edwards – Marketing and Safeguarding
Phillip Ley – Technical
Lucy Glass – Social

The Committee meets approximately once a month.

Bella Cavicchi (Chair of the Management Committee) has been a Tower member since 2024 as a stage manager and the occasional Front of House steward. She has over eight years of stage management and producing experience; fittingly, she likes to say that her favourite artistic pursuit is helping others to make their own art. Selected recent credits as a producer include Unearthed (The Old Red Lion, 2024), Nyamakala (Theatre Peckham, 2023), and the Almeida For Free Festival, produced as a member of Almeida Theatre’s 2022 Young Producers Cohort. When she’s not in the rehearsal room or managing spreadsheets, Bella teaches drama at a secondary school just outside of London—and loves that she spends each day thinking about theatre!

ARTISTIC TEAM

Artistic Director : Amanda Waggott
Assistant Artistic Directors : Emma Cornford, Jonathan Reed

Amanda Waggott (Artistic Director) has been a member of the Tower since around 2015. She has appeared in and directed several plays here. She currently works an actor, a producer, a director and a teacher; she was last seen on stage at the Playground Theatre in September playing Cornelia Scott in Something Unspoken. She recently facilitated the Trojan Women Project – a programme which supports displaced people in the UK. She is also involved with an American theatre company Playhouse Creatures. Sports fans may have spotted her promoting LV’s Multi Cover Insurance in her native Geordie accent. She was educated in the North East, followed by a BA (hons) degree from the University of Birmingham – which she thought was in the south of England at the time of going there, the mid 80s. She studied a one-year post grad diploma in performance at Drama Studio London and has an MA in Drama (writing for performance) from Goldsmiths University. Amanda was also a member of the National Youth Theatre of GB from ages 16 through to 22, when Michael Croft the founder was at the helm. She regularly attends workshops, as well as delivering them. Currently she is a member of the Park Theatre Company, the Director’s Cut acting team and a board member at the Playground Theatre in W10. As an actor Amanda is represented by Steve Nealon Associates.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (EDI) WORKING GROUP

Rachel Bothamley
Joe Lewis
Simona Hughes
Colin Guthrie

MARKETING TEAM

Jessica Lockwood (Marketing Manager)
Roanne Insley
Laurence Tuerk (Web Site & Noises Off)
Max Batty (Graphic Design)

The Marketing and Publicity Team promotes all the Tower’s activities. It co-ordinates and manages the Tower’s presence on the web site and all the main Social Media sites (Facebook, Instagram, X, Google My Business and YouTube). It also produces and distributes the Company’s publicity material and handles its Press Relations.

BUILDING TEAM

David Taylor
Nick Insley

The Building Team meets regularly to look after the Tower’s premises in Stoke Newington and in Leytonstone. It organises cleaning, repairs and maintenance and is the point of contact for Hackney Council and other statutory bodies. It oversees any building work, drawing up specifications and managing contractors.

TECHNICAL TEAM

Jude Chalk (Design)
Phillip Ley (Sound)
Jean Carr (Props)
Nick Insley (Facilities)
Stephen Ley (Lighting)
Laurence Tuerk (Equipment)
Rob Hebblethwaite
Max Batty (Set and Workshop Management)
Sarah Ley (Stage Management)

The objective of the team is to oversee and allocate resources for all aspects of the Company’s Technical and Backstage Management. It provides technical support to the Artistic Team; co-ordinates the crewing (the recruitment of production teams) for productions; ensures that the Tower conforms to safety standards; provides additional support for technical and backstage crews; and encourages new members to become involved in backstage work, developing their skills and experience. The Team meets about once every 6 weeks to co-ordinate our plans, discuss forthcoming productions and cry on each other’s shoulders.

Other Company Officers

Membership and Auditions

Finance and Administration

Publicity and Marketing

Technical Management