Darren Henley: Why we took these theatre funding decisions

SUBSCRIBE

Now is the time to make our case to a new government

Darren Henley: 'I will always be greedy, and make the case, for more investment in culture'

Darren Henley: Why we took these theatre funding decisions

Welsh Arts Council calls for 10% increase in funding to boost investment return

News by Matthew Hemley

What can theatre learn from the campaign for grassroots music venues?

Opinion by Alistair Smith

National Theatre cuts tours to primary schools in ‘deeply damaging’ move

News by Katie Chambers

Streetwise Opera launches 'critical' £120k fundraising appeal to stay afloat

News by Katie Chambers

'Musicals don't get written, they get rewritten' – is the old adage still true today?

What can theatre learn from the campaign for grassroots music venues?

Call me Scrooge, but this over-told tale is so rarely done well

Two stars of technical theatre have left us too soon, but they will keep on inspiring me

Patching over problems is no longer enough. Theatre needs radical change

Finding new audiences for opera? It may well require new types of opera

Everyone is welcome at the theatre, unless...

Finally – a decent theatre trailer

It is down to critics, as much as the industry, to support risk-taking theatre

Funded venues are struggling. It’s why fringe theatre is so important

Is ACE finally addressing the chronic precarity of theatre's freelancers?

Call me Scrooge, but this over-told tale is so rarely done well

Recommended for you

Welsh Arts Council calls for 10% increase in funding to boost investment return

News by Matthew Hemley

What can theatre learn from the campaign for grassroots music venues?

Opinion by Alistair Smith

National Theatre cuts tours to primary schools in ‘deeply damaging’ move

News by Katie Chambers

Streetwise Opera launches 'critical' £120k fundraising appeal to stay afloat

News by Katie Chambers

Darren Henley is chief executive of Arts Council England. Since joining the Arts Council in 2015, he has championed the positive impact of public investment in artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries on creating happier lives in villages, towns and cities across England.

His boardroom experience spans arts, media, education, charity and government. He currently chairs the UK National Lottery Forum and the National Lottery Promotions Unit management board, with previous roles including managing director of Classic FM and author of two independent government reviews into music education and cultural education. These resulted in England’s first National Plan for Music Education, new networks of Music Education Hubs and Heritage Schools, the Museums and Schools programme, the BFI Film Academy and the National Youth Dance Company.

A certified coach, Darren has a doctorate exploring the role of the outsider as an agent for change, and degrees in politics, management, applied positive psychology and history of art. He was appointed OBE in 2013 for services to music and CBE in 2022 for services to the arts, receiving the British Academy President’s Medal in 2015 for his contribution to music education, music research and the arts.