Belgrade Coventry announces new leadership and restructure

Laura Elliot and Corey Campbell have been appointed to run the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, as part of a new leadership structure at the venue.

As previously announced by The Stage, the current heads of the Coventry theatre – artistic director and chief executive Hamish Glen and executive director Joanna Reid – will both step down next year.

Two new leadership posts will now be created – with Elliot appointed chief executive, responsible for the venue’s overall strategy, and Campbell as creative director, who will report to Elliot and will focus on its artistic output.

The CEO and creative director will lead a restructured senior team of six. This team will lead on producing and programming, technical production, marketing, general management, financial management and commercial income and operations.

Elliot joins from the Oxford Playhouse, where she is programme director, while Campbell is artistic director of Strictly Arts Theatre Company. He is currently one of the three co-artistic directors at the Belgrade for Coventry’s year as City of Culture 2021.

Next year, as his final project for Coventry City of Culture and his tenure as co-artistic director come to an end, Corey will be co-directing Fighting Irish with Glen, due to play at the Belgrade in March.

Elliot said: “I’m delighted to be taking up the role of CEO, alongside Corey Campbell as creative director. The Belgrade Theatre has been my local producing theatre for nearly a decade. I’m inspired by its deep-rooted, nationally renowned commitment to community engagement, diversity, learning, talent development and high-quality entertainment. I look forward to collaborating with the team to build on the theatre’s plentiful past achievements and propel it into an exciting, ambitious future.”

Board chair David Hanson described the new post of creative director as one that “draws together our theatre programme, the creation of new productions and our community and education work so that we can better achieve our ambition to improve life for the people of Coventry and beyond”.

Reid and Glen announced their departure from the venue and the senior leadership team restructure in July this year.

The theatre said the new leadership structure was driven by two issues – the “need to address the financial challenges of the pandemic and its aftermath, and the desire to develop a new vision and way of working for a 21st-century theatre”.