Sofia Stephanou will move into the position of Executive Director at Arch 468 taking on more of the overall responsibility for producing and organisational strategy as Rebecca Atkinson-Lord takes up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Executive at An Tobar & Mull Theatre on the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Atkinson-Lord will continue as Artistic Director, curating the artistic programme at Arch 468, the company that have recently launched the exciting Hope Prize.
Up until spring 2020, Stephanou was the Producer at Paines Plough where she was responsible for the organisation’s festivals and touring work. Rebecca Atkinson-Lord founded Arch 468 in 2007 as an arts production and development hub that exists to shape the cultural ecology of the future. The Arch 468 Hope Prize launched earlier this year offered a £10,000 commission for a new play that offers a vision of hope. Submissions have now closed and the winner will be announced in due course.
Atkinson-Lord comments, Sofia has worked with Arch 468 since the very start of her career and has become an invaluable part of the fabric of the company. Her time as Executive Producer has been a remarkable period of growth and ambition, so stepping up to become Executive Director to allow me to focus on curating the Artistic Programme at Arch 468 alongside my work on Mull is a natural next step. She’s a phenomenal producer and cultural leader and I can’t wait to work alongside her in her new role.
She goes on to say, I’m incredibly excited to be leading An Tobar & Mull Theatre in the next stage of its evolution. Mull has a long history of inspiring world class art and is home to a remarkable community of artists. As the key repository for the island’s cultural identity, An Tobar & Mull Theatre holds a unique place in our national discourse. It’s a small organisation with a big heart that punches well above its weight and I’m thrilled and inspired by its potential to become a cultural beacon for the whole of Scotland, the UK and wider world.
Stephanou comments, I am delighted to be stepping into the role of Executive Director. Arch 468 is where it all started for me and has been an important part of my life and career, from touring my first production and learning the ropes of being a producer to touring world class new writing both nationally and internationally. I am incredibly grateful to have had a creative home with the company for so long. I look forward to working alongside Rebecca in this new role and period of growth for the organisation, whilst blazing new trails for the future.
An Tobar & Mull Theatre is a cross art form theatre and arts centre developing and producing theatre, music, dance, film, literature and visual arts. A Regularly Funded Organisation in the Creative Scotland portfolio, they tour nationally and internationally and work with artists of all kinds to commission and develop new and exciting work.
