Eleanor Manners appointed artistic director of Theatre Centre
Eleanor Manners has been named the new artistic director of Theatre Centre, as the company announces a new touring play by Debris Stevenson.
The former youth theatre director at Leeds Playhouse will helm the organisation alongside chief executive and executive director Emma Rees from April 2025.
As well as associate directing large productions such as Leeds Playhouse’s Oliver!, Manners’ CV as a voice coach spans venues including the Donmar Warehouse, the Bridge Theatre, the Young Vic and Talawa Theatre Company.
She succeeds Rob Watt, who leaves the Crawley-based company after five years this March.
Manners called her appointment "an incredible honour", adding: "Under Rob Watt, Theatre Centre has championed young people’s voices, creating work with and for them through Future Makers, which puts their experiences at the heart of the writing process.
"I’m excited to build on that foundation, continuing to empower young audiences and artists alike," she continued.
"With an all-female leadership team and a new home in Crawley, Theatre Centre is positioned to become a vibrant hub of creativity for the community, while continuing its national reach with touring shows to schools and venues."
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The new-writing company moved out of London to Crawley last year under Arts Council England’s Transfer Programme.
Rees added: "We’re thrilled to be welcoming Eleanor to Theatre Centre. The energy, warmth and wealth of experience working with young people that she brings will make sure we continue to build on Rob’s amazing work and on our decades of groundbreaking practice."
As Watt passes the baton to Manners, Theatre Centre has also revealed that playwright and grime poet Stevenson will pen its next touring production, following in the footsteps of recently commissioned writers Charlie Josephine and Ryan Calais Cameron.
Stevenson, who wrote Poet in da Corner for London’s Royal Court in 2018, is to produce a play developed through conversations with young people in schools and community groups, which will tour to secondary schools and venues across the UK in spring 2026.
Meanwhile Theatre Centre has also announced it is launching a artist development platform, the Brian Way Writers’ Room.
Named after Theatre Centre’s co-founder, the platform will convene all the strands of Theatre Centre’s writer development work.
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