About Us
TheatreVoice is the leading site for audio content about British theatre, and features journalists from across the UK press and practitioners from across the theatre industry. It was set up in 2003 to see if theatre could be talked about in a new way: allowing critics to be more expansive than the usual space constraints of the print media allowed; to enable actors, writers, directors and designers to be heard talking in detail and at length about their work; and to help members of the public interact more directly with theatre-makers and commentators. The Theatre Museum, the Department of Theatre & Performance at the V&A, which provided technical assistance and a place for recording from the site’s inception, assumed management responsibilities for the site in the summer of 2005, to ensure that TheatreVoice’s growing archive of material would be preserved for posterity. In April 2008, the Department of Theatre & Performance at the V&A and Rose Bruford College agreed to support the site in partnership. TheatreVoice acknowledges with gratitude all the input that has been and still is freely given.
TheatreVoice was established by Dominic Cavendish (founding editor), with the close support of David Benedict and Rachel Halliburton, as well as Aleks Sierz and Mark Shenton. Previous editors include Matt Trueman (2016-2019). The current editor is Tim Bano.
TheatreVoice is managed by the Department of Theatre & Performance at the V&A. V&A staff working on the project are:
- Niamh Kelly, Assistant Curator
- Simon Sladen, Senior Curator
Thanks also to Sophie Reynolds; Dr. Kate Dorney, Lecturer at the University of Manchester; and Peter Huntley, Producer Digital; and Nesta Jones and Andrew Eglinton at Rose Bruford College.
Other journalists and critics who have played an invaluable part include: Kate Bassett, Michael Billington, Diana Damian, Jane Edwardes, Andrea Enisuoh, Mark Espiner, Philip Fisher, Lyn Gardner, James Inverne, Oliver Jones, Rhoda Koenig, Brian Logan, Alastair Macaulay, Sam Marlowe, Patrick Marmion, Dominic Maxwell, Fergus Morgan, John Nathan, Heather Neill, Madeleine North, Judith Palmer, Adam Scott, Ian Shuttleworth, Charles Spencer, Matthew Sweet, Robert Tanitch, Carole Woddis and Matt Wolf.
Patrons:
- Michael Billington
- Kwame Kwei-Armah
Principal contributors:
- Suman Bhuchar
- Dominic Cavendish
- Philip Fisher
- Judi Herman
- Luke Jones
- Catherine Love
- Heather Neill
- Mark Shenton
- Matt Trueman
Our visitors come mainly from the UK, USA, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France, Austria, Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Israel, Switzerland, Norway, Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Mexico, Taiwan, Finland, Ireland, Brazil, Iceland, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, Argentina, Latvia, South Africa, Romania, Croatia, Malaysia, Singapore, Bosnia and Columbia.
With thanks to Stuart Aird, Roddy Fraser, Peter King, and Sue Rolfe; to Thomas Mann and Annie Henderson-Begg at Dewynters; to Tom Atkins; to Kate Morley, Dan Pursey, the RSC and National press offices, Janine Shalom; to Stefan Haselwimmer, Bill McIntosh, Anne Mayer, Blanche Marvin and George Wardale (1939-2009); to the Daily Telegraph arts desk; to Alison Cavendish and Vera Neale for patience and understanding; to Sarah Cavendish for suggesting the name; and to everyone else who lent time, energy or support to this project during its various stages of development.
TheatreVoice is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Kane:
These fragments I have shored against my ruins.
(TS Eliot)
The views expressed by members of the TheatreVoice panel are not those of the newspapers for which they write. Links to reviews by lead critics as well as much written material about British theatre can be be found in The Links
The site was designed by Ben Neale from Weblaunch.
