Unfolding Theatre announces its new Chair of the Board of Trustees

Photo credit: Erika Tanith

Unfolding Theatre is delighted to announce the appointment of Rebekah “Bex” Bowsher as its new chair of the Board of Trustees, bidding farewell to its previous Chair of five years, Anna Disley.

Based in the North East, Rebekah is a playwright, dramaturg, director, screenwriter, disability consultant and actor. She trained at the University of Leeds attaining a BA in Theatre and Performance, and has recently finished an MA Creative Writing through the Open University. 

Rebekah has been participated in a number of high-profile schemes, including BBC’s Writers Access Group (2018/2019), Graeae Theatre Company’s Write To Play, Alphabetti Theatre’s Writer To Play and a 3 month attachment to the Greyscale Theatre Company as part of the Regional Young Theatre Directors Scheme. She was Writer in Residence at the Leeds Playhouse in 2016. In 2018 Rebekah received the Live Lab Bursary to develop her raw and incredibly emotive play, Spoon Theory, about a woman coming to terms with her new life, following an amputation, which was selected for performance at the Elevator Festival. She was also a recipient of the North East Artist Development Network Bursary in 2018/19 to develop her newest work Running Through Wheatfields, an imagined look at Theresa May’s life, which speculates on the issues surrounding being a high profile woman in politics. Since January 2021, Rebekah has been a recipient of the Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice grant, which she has used to hone her directing skills and begin developing a community informed devised show - The Cornershop Show.

Unfolding Theatre’s previous Chair, Anna Disley, stood down in Autumn 2021 after five years in the role. During her time as Chair, Anna led Unfolding Theatre through a successful bidding process to become an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Anna’s support and insight has been invaluable to Unfolding Theatre and has helped build a strong foundation for the company’s future.

Rebekah Bowsher, Chair of Trustees said:

“My experience with Unfolding Theatre reminds me how important it is for everyone to have access to high quality storytelling, and the difference it makes to communities to be valued in that way.”

“I have been with Unfolding Theatre as a Trustee since 2018, something I would have never considered had their then Producer, Morag Iles, not encouraged me to apply. The thing I fell in love with at Unfolding Theatre was the generosity of spirit that lives within the company. My thoughts were valued despite the fact that I had little business and absolutely no board experience.”

“My career has been about trying to be that person for the disabled young people who come after me and also leave the industry in a better state for future disabled artists to access. When our former chair, Anna Disley, stepped down I saw an opportunity to continue to push for justice and equality in our sector and support Unfolding Theatre in being an industry leader in that regard.”

“Tackling the lack of diversity and representation in the arts sits at the heart of everything Unfolding Theatre does. My priority is to continue to support that work by expanding the board to represent the diversity of the region and begin an initiative to encourage, train and support other ‘atypical’ board members to both join and be empowered to make changes on boards around the region. I think encouraging people who wouldn’t normally engage with the arts to be involved in the decision-making processes is an important step the region needs to take so that the arts are something that empowers people.”  

Annie Rigby, Artistic Director said:

“I am delighted with Bex’s appointment as Chair. Ever since she joined Unfolding Theatre’s board in 2018, she has helped us think better as an organisation. Her encouragement, healthy challenge and wisdom continues to help us develop our practice. I am excited to see what she brings as Chair, both to Unfolding Theatre’s next adventures and to the wider ecology of arts organisations in the North East.” 

"I would also like to say an enormous thank you to our outgoing Chair, Anna Disley. Anna's leadership, insight and enthusiasm enabled key moments in Unfolding Theatre's growth: becoming a charity, achieving Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation funding, navigating the first year of the pandemic and growing our audiences to reach more people with our big-hearted theatre."