Meet the Team
The Team
Esther Richardson - Artistic Director & Co Chief Executive
Amanda Smith - Producer & Co Chief Executive
Sarah Rorke - Company Administrator
Lucy Hammond - Project & Development Coordinator
Katie Posner - Associate Director
Ben Pugh - Digital Producer / Production Manager
Charles Moore - Finance Director
Jackie Raper - Accounts Assistant
Sam Johnson - Digital Officer
Suzann McLean - Associate Artist
The Board
Professor Chris Bailey - Chair - Chris lives in York, is married and has two grown up daughters. His career in higher education began in the 1970s, and he is now Professor Emeritus in cultural history at Leeds Beckett University and Visiting Professor in the Business School at York St. John University.
Christina Wright MBE - Formerly a secondary school drama teacher, Tina Wright was awarded an MBE in 2009 for services to education. Subsequently she has qualified as a professional theatre audio describer for the blind and partially sighted. She is also on the Board of Trustees of Accessible Arts and Media in York.
Stephen Mason - Steve is enraptured by theatre, its processes and potential, and directs plays himself though at a level well below Pilot Theatre. In his other life Steve is a solicitor working on behalf of the travel/holiday industries, and enjoys bringing his legal skills to the benefit of Pilot.
Tracy Cochrane - Tracy has over 25 years of experience in marketing and communications, primarily in the arts/cultural and charitable sectors. She is a versatile all-rounder with key skills in marketing, audience development, business planning, research and training. Tracy has previously worked for Audiences Yorkshire, Yorkshire Dance, and for a wide range of organisations nationally and internationally as a freelance consultant. She is currently Marketing Director for an educational charity based in Bradford.
Peter Whelan - Pete is the director of Partnerships for Education Ltd who provide educational leadership services to Schools. Pete has worked as Executive Headteacher, Interim Headteacher, Associate Headteacher and Consultant Headteacher in a number of Schools in South, West, North Yorkshire and North East Humberside. Pete began his career as an actor with a Theatre in Education Company before becoming a Drama teacher and later Director of Arts in a Performing Arts College. Pete is a founder Director of Pilot Theatre.
Kevin Meddings - Chartered Accountant SBL, Leeds
Jenny Ward - Joint Founder and Director - Mimika Theatre
Simon Newton - Simon was Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the University of York and Head of Partnerships at York St John University. Previously he has worked as Deputy Director of Communications for the Open University and Assistant Publisher of The London Review of Books.
Sophie Buckley - Sophie is an employment and discrimination law specialist. She was a principal legal officer at the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is now a fee-paid employment judge.
Juliana Mensah - Juliana Mensah is a writer and cultural facilitator with ten years experience working in the arts in the north of England. Her work currently focuses on arts and human rights and she is an associate at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York.