The New Vic's Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins, has been recognised as one of the most talented and ambitious women in the UK cultural and creative industries, after being included on the Cultural Leadership Programme’s national list of ‘Women to Watch.’

The New Vic's high-flying production of The Wicked Lady,
directed by Theresa Heskins. Image by Andrew Billington

The inaugural list has been established to profile the incredible achievements of 50 talented women leaders, including Theresa, who will have a huge impact on the cultural life of the UK in years to come.

The women are cited as already making a significant contribution to industries including design, libraries, literature, museums, heritage, music, performing and visual arts, the historic environment and creative businesses and have the potential to become influential and established senior leaders in the sector within the next few years.

In particular, Theresa has been recognised for an outstanding contribution to regional theatre by exploiting the impact and intimacy of theatre-in-the-round. 

Judge Kwame Kwei-Armah said of Theresa: “She is seen as one of the leading lights and is of that generation of artistic directors who are just being bold and brave.”

Theresa, only the third Director of the New Vic in more than 40 years, joined from the new writing powerhouse Pentabus where her production of White Open Spaces, a collaboration with BBC Radio Drama, was nominated for a South Bank Show Award.  At the New Vic Theresa has capitalised on the immediacy of theatre in the round to provide a framework for her particular style of visual and physical theatre, as in The Wicked Lady, where horse riding scenes were brought to life through aerial dance.

Theresa is also a writer and has written radio dramas for the BBC and a number of successful adaptations for the New Vic including last year’s record-breaking and critically acclaimed production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Theresa is adapting J M Barrie’s children’s classic Peter Pan for 2010.

Heskin’s achievements will be celebrated at an evening reception, held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London. She will also be invited to become part of an ongoing ‘women to watch’ network.
  
As well as celebrating talented women within the sector, the list has also been established to address the lack of women in positions of senior leadership by inspiring and encouraging more women to aim for the top.

Said Theresa: “I’m delighted to be included in the list of Women to Watch.   There are plenty of visionary female directors in the theatre industry but only a quarter of our producing theatre buildings are led by female artistic directors.   Not good for the long-term future of the artform.  I hope initiatives like those of the Cultural Leadership Programme can change things for the next generation.”

CLP received almost 200 high-quality nominations, from across the UK. After much deliberation these were whittled down by the high-profile judging panel - made up of figures from the cultural and creative industries, the media and popular culture and chaired by Jenni Murray OBE, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour – to the final list of 50.

Jenni Murray, said: “I speak for the whole judging panel when I say that arriving at a final list from such a high quality and quantity of nominations was both a delight and a challenge. While we are obviously celebrating the achievements of outstanding individuals, it is also important to see these women as a collective force and as representative of women’s potential to reach the top of their game within this, and any other, sector. Congratulations and watch this space!”