The creative team at Manchester’s award-winning Hope Mill Theatre has been named in The Stage 100, as among the most influential figures working in the UK theatre and performing arts industry.
Joseph Houston and William Whelton, co-founders of Hope Mill and producer Katy Lipson, of Aria Entertainment are placed number 99 on the list—just two years after Hope Mill opened after Houston and Whelton found the grade II listed former mill in Ancoats on Gumtree and decided to turn it into an independently-run theatre.
The trio are placed on the list for the first time following a landmark 2017 that saw excellent reviews for productions at Hope Mill of Yank!, Pippin and Little Women, as well as the transfer of Yank! (Charing Cross Theatre) and their 2016 hit Hair (The Vaults, Waterloo) to London—with Pippin to follow to the capital early this year (Southwark Playhouse).