Manchester Royal Exchange has appointed Mark Dobson as its new executive director.
He joins from his role as chief executive of the Tyneside Cinema, which under his leadership has been reinvented as a community hub in the heart of Newcastle.
He joins the theatre at a time of creative evolution for both the organisation and the city and, working alongside artistic director Sarah Frankcom, he will help develop and shape an ambitious future for the Exchange.
Mark, who takes over from Fiona Gasper, will join the Exchange at the beginning of July.
He said of joining the Exchange, “my first ever visit to the Royal Exchange, more than 25 years ago, was to see Rod Wooden’s Your Home In The West and that remains one of the most powerful and abiding theatrical experiences of my life. So I am thrilled and honoured to return to working in the performing arts at this extraordinary theatre, in its famous building in the very heart of Manchester and at such a significant moment in its history.
"The Royal Exchange is 40 years old this year and has just been awarded Regional Theatre of the Year. The quality and energy of the work it is making on stage and off stage, with diverse communities right across Greater Manchester, is on a high and there is clearly much more to come.”