The Dukes in Lancaster has appointed Sarah Punshon as its new artistic director.
She will join in late spring 2017 and take charge of its artistic programme from 2018.
Sarah trained as a director at the RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), and on the Channel 4 Theatre Directors Scheme at West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Extensive freelance theatre directing includes new writing and contemporary classics for the Watermill Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse, Theatre by the Lake and the New Vic Theatre, amongst others.
Sarah was a 2010/11 Clore Leadership Fellow, which led to her curating a programme of arts-science events at the Natural History Museum, London.
She is an active member of The Fence, an international network of playwrights and those who make playwriting happen; a Trustee of New Writing North; and a selector for the National Student Drama Festival.