The Hope Theatre Board of Trustees have announced that Phil Bartlett has been appointed to the post of Artistic Director, taking over from Kennedy Bloomer who leaves at the end of August.
Phil trained as a director at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was previously the Resident Assistant Director at Theatre Royal Plymouth.
His work as director includes Marie, which won the Scottish Arts Club Bright Spark Award at the Edinburgh Fringe and then toured Scotland with Perth Theatre, and A Christmas Carol at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester.
A former finalist for the JMK Award, Phil was Resident Director on the UK and Ireland tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical.
He has delivered outreach and education courses for the Young Vic and Bigfoot Arts Education, managed ticketing for festivals including LIFT and Dance Umbrella, and is a visiting practitioner on the BA Acting programme at the University of Plymouth.
Phil Bartlett said, “I’m really delighted to have been given this rare opportunity to help shape the future of a leading London fringe venue. The Hope Theatre has repeatedly proven it is possible to produce exceptional theatre in the most intimate of spaces, and as the incoming Artistic Director I’m excited to support a diverse range of artists in telling stories that are bold, surprising, and have something vital to say about the world we are living in now.”
Jane Mayfield, Chair of the Hope Theatre Board of Trustees said, “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Phil Bartlett as the new Artistic Director of The Hope Theatre from September 2021. We look forward to working with and supporting him in the development of the theatre and are excited about its future under his passionate artistic directorship.
We thank Kennedy Bloomer for all her hard work in ensuring that The Hope Theatre continued during the last year and a half and wish her all the best in her future career.”
Hope Theatre Patron Paul Clayton said, “I’m so excited for Phil and the future of The Hope Theatre, we’ve always been the little theatre with BIG ideas and I have no doubt that this will continue under Phil’s Artistic directorship”
Closed since March 2020, this acclaimed 50 seat pub theatre in the heart of Islington reopened in June and has recently announced its autumn season.
