Improbable has today announced several new appointments to their board. Erica Whyman will replace the outgoing Natasha Freedman as Chair of the Board of Trustees, and new Trustees Helen Anglim, Heather Davenport, Neha Idnani and Yusuf Subzposh will join the Board of Trustees.
Erica Whyman joins as Chair of the Board, replacing the outgoing Natasha Freedman after four years as Chair. Erica Whyman is is a theatre maker and artistic leader. Most recently she directed Ben and Imo by Mark Ravenhill and Hamnet by Lolita Chakrabarti from the novel by Maggie O’Farrell. She had a long career leading theatres first as Artistic Director of Southwark Playhouse 1998-2000, Artistic Director of The Gate Theatre Notting Hill 2000-2004 and Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Northern Stage 2005-2013. At Northern Stage she led a major capital development programme and transformed the culture and fortunes of the company. In 2013 she was awarded the OBE for services to theatre and she joined the RSC as Deputy Artistic Director.
At the RSC she was responsible for bringing a diverse, contemporary lens to the programme and for re-opening the experimental performance and rehearsal complex, The Other Place. Her work on stage has included collaborations with writers such as Alice Birch, Tom Morton-Smith and Hannah Khalil, a musical biopic of Joan Littlewood and groundbreaking Shakespeare productions including Romeo and Juliet (2018) and Midsummer Night’s Dream; A Play For The Nation created with 14 amateur companies and a professional cast (2016). In 2021 she stepped up into the role of Acting Artistic Director and led the Company out of the pandemic into artistic and financial recovery, including working closely with Phelim McDermott on My Neighbour Totoro and her last season included Omar Elerian’s As You Like It and Cowbois by Charlie Josephine. She has been the proud Chair of Theatre 503 for a decade and steps down later this year.
Erica is now freelance, working as a consultant, a coach and a theatre maker. She is fiercely committed to creating equitable and meaningful opportunities to participate in the arts, is an experienced change leader and an advocate of accountable, collaborative, compassionate leadership.
Erica Whyman says “ As a very young director I was inspired by the imaginative artistry of 70 Hill Lane, and promptly wrote to Phelim to ask if I could be his assistant, and I did just that on the ‘sellotape Dream’ he made with Julian Crouch in 1996. So for almost 30 years Improbable’s practice has inspired and nourished me, shaping how I approach a rehearsal room, and grounding me in the fundamental humanity of theatre-making. I believe improvisation is a powerful and underestimated tool for creating meaningful dialogue in a fractious world, and for encouraging us all to find our voice and our capacity to deeply listen. This next chapter for the company is very exciting as we explore a new home at Bore Place in Kent and new opportunities to share what Improbable know about holding space for regeneration and creativity. I am honoured to be appointed Chair of a company I love so much, and whose impact across our sector has already been so great. In Open Space we say ‘Be prepared to be surprised’; I am looking forward very much to working with Phelim, Lee, the brilliant Improbable team and the Board, and I am prepared, and fully expect, to be surprised!’’
Joining Erica Whyman will be Helen Anglim, Heather Davenport, Neha Idnani and Yusef Subzposh as new Trustees of the Board. Helen Anglim is the Director of Conde Nast Commercial Creative and is a creative strategy lead with vast experience working across leading media brands and tech companies. Heather Davenport’s relationship with Improbable began 6 years ago with a six month secondment. Heather now forms part of the senior team in the Prime Minister’s Office for Investment (OfI) which works across the UK government to support significant strategic capital aligned to the Government’s priorities. Neha Idnani is an accomplished Technology, Media, Telecoms leader, with a passion for tech for the future. She is Regional Vice President for Asia Eutelsat OneWeb specialising in business development and strategy. Finally, Yusuf Subzposh is a seasoned finance professional, with experience across investment banking and mergers & acquisitions as well as private equity and venture capital investing. Yusuf Subzposh is currently as Vice President of Strategy at Arcesium, an industry-leading FinTech.
Ellie Claughton, Executive Director of Improbable says: “After four incredible but challenging years, we want to celebrate our Outgoing Chair Natasha Freedman. Not only has she steered us through the pandemic but has led us as we built back our organisation after COVID-19 and through the ongoing challenges we face in our sector today. Her support and guidance has been invaluable to the Improbable team, we have learnt so much from her and look forward to retaining her as a member of the Improbable community for years to come.
We are delighted to announce that we are welcoming Erica Whyman into the role as Chair from June 2024. Erica has been a long time friend and collaborator to Improbable from being Phelim’s Assistant Director in the 1990s to co-producing partner at the RSC for My Neighbour Totoro. We are hugely excited to bring Erica in at this crucial turning point of the organisation, at the start of a unique journey where we develop a home for Improbable. Erica’s tenacity, spirit and artistic leadership is exactly what is needed as we undertake this adventure. We are also thrilled to welcome four additional trustees to the board, all of whom have blown us away with their unique skills and their curiosity for Improbable and our journey moving forward. “
Improbable is currently presenting Perfect Show For Rachel with Zoo Co Theatre at the Barbican Centre until 7th June 2024. My Neighbour Totoro (RSC and Joe Hisaishi with Nippon TV) will begin it’s West End run at the Gillian Lynne in March 2025. Improbable’s next adventure is The Gathering. The Gathering is a journey towards a new home for Improbable and Bore Place in Kent is where we hope to put down our roots. Our goal is to build a creation centre on site in the coming years, a space to house our Improbable practise and an ark for the arts.
