The Theatre Royal Stratford East is to get a new executive director when Deborah Sawyerr takes over the role from Mary Caws.
Sawyerr is currently The Bush Theatre's general manager, a post she has also held at the Broadway, Barking.
Her other posts include executive director at Talawa Theatre Company and production manager at Nottingham Playhouse and Palace Theatre Watford. Sawyerr has also worked as a stage manager and deputy stage manager and taught on the stage management and technical theatre diploma course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Deborah Sawyerr said of her appointment, “I am delighted to be joining Kerry and the team at Theatre Royal Stratford East, one of the most diverse and inclusive theatres in London. The staff at Theatre Royal Stratford East are absolutely world class and include the best of new and established talent. It is such an honour to be chosen to continue the great work of Mary Caws and help build the theatre’s future.”
She joins Theatre Royal Stratford East during its autumn season which opens next month with Counting Stars by award-winning playwright Atiha Sen Gupta, directed by the venue's associate director, Pooja Ghai.
Other highlights of the season include the visit of Glasgow Girls (conceived and directed by Cora Bisset, book by David Greig), a triple bill from Ballet Black, the world première of Bonnie Greer’s new play The Hotel Cerise and the UK première of The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin.
The season ends with the panto—Sinbad the Sailor—to be directed by artistic director, Kerry Michael.