Artistic director Sarah Punshon is leaving the Dukes in Lancaster in order to pursue other opportunities but will return in a freelance capacity later this year as director of the Christmas show Cinderella: A Fairytale.
John Chell, Chair of The Dukes board, said, “during her time with us, Sarah has overseen a 20% increase in audiences for our live programme at The Dukes, and her first park show, The Three Musketeers, was shortlisted in the UK Theatre Awards.”
Under her leadership, The Dukes has built new relationships with co-producers including the New Vic, Tobacco Factory, Red Ladder, Tamasha and One Tenth Human.
The Dukes is currently transitioning to a new business model that will enable it to survive recent reductions in funding. The roles of artistic director and chief executive will be combined into one director position which will shortly be advertised.