Who we are
Founded in 1984, Arc Theatre has built a strong core Management and Associate team bringing together an exceptional range of creative skills, educational experience and business and social expertise. The Company is governed by an equally diverse and committed Board of Management.
We also benefit from a first-class pool of highly-skilled, trained actors, storytellers, facilitators, workshop leaders, production managers and designers who are individually hand-picked to suit each programme or bespoke project.
Carole Pluckrose
Chief Executive Officer/Artistic Director
Carole is a theatre director committed to creating powerful and emotionally connecting stories through theatre. Her background was initially as an actor, following the studying of drama at Exeter University. However, Carole quickly realised that she wanted to play a greater part in the overall conception of a piece of work. This led to her joining forces with Clifford Oliver to set up Arc in 1984, and to the subsequent development of the Company as a leading theatre provider with a highly successful track record.
In the past ten years, Carole has concentrated on the development of theatre and story-based work into a range of innovative partnerships with business in a variety of learning environments. Such partnerships involve developing bespoke projects for organisations as diverse as Unilever and the Metropolitan Police. Carole is a Master Practitioner of NLP.
Clifford Oliver (Olly)
Creative Director
Olly is Arc's Creative Director and Lead Facilitator. He began his career in the theatre as an actor with the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. After touring the USA in 1984, he discovered his passion for storytelling, which has been widely documented through research projects, documentary films and the Dartington Theatre Papers.
Olly's curiosity about stories led to the co-founding of Arc, a vehicle through which he could experiment with developing and creating his story-based work. Learning his craft by storytelling in schools and on radio (with a notable appearance as 'Dusty the Dog' in Radio 4's 'Listening Corner'), Olly has gone on to write over 30 original plays for Arc. These plays, including the highly successful trilogy The Football Plays (which Olly created in partnership with the visionary HSBC team) have received critical acclaim and a wide range of awards, including FT, Raspberry Ripple and Rima.
Olly's interest in storytelling in business has led to a number of innovative partnerships with companies looking to articulate and embed their brand through powerful and memorable stories.
Andy Rogers
Assistant Artistic Director
Having gained a BA (Hons) Drama degree from the University of Exeter, Andy set up Kaleidoscope Theatre - an educational theatre company touring history shows to primary schools throughout Devon and Somerset. In 2002, Andy joined Arc as a storyteller, workshop leader and programme manager. He has devised and delivered many primary school programmes including Sparks!, Solid Ground, Stepping Stones and Primary Tales and also directed three of Arc's transport safety plays commissioned by Essex County Council. Andy co-directs Barking & Dagenham Youth Theatre for Arc alongside Natalie, and has devised and written many of the group's plays including All Tuned In, In The Mind and Seven.
Nita Bocking
General Manager
Nita worked in domestic banking for a decade before joining Arc in 1991. As General Manager, Nita plays a vital role in the Company's Management Team and deals with all financial, contractual, personnel and Company business issues. Nita is responsible for the overall fine-tuning of the organisation and oversees the smooth running of Arc's administration and project co-ordination.
Theresa Snooks
Communications Manager
With a daughter attending Arc's Holiday Workshops since its launch in 1993, Theresa became a Company member in 1995, having previously worked in independent radio and international film production. Theresa has co-ordinated many of Arc's local and national tours and now manages the Company's press and publicity, design and print, maintains the databases and co-ordinates Holiday Workshops. Theresa also manages Arc's website, so if you find any problems, please contact her at theresa@arctheatre.com.
Natalie Smith
Education Director
Natalie joined Arc as an apprentice in 1992. She has performed in over 20 of the Company's productions, having played everything from a tooth fairy to a police officer! Natalie is responsible for co-ordinating and delivering Arc's secondary school programmes, and both performs in, and facilitates, Forum Theatre and training workshops, which have recently included Climate Change Forums in Norway, Denmark, Israel, Ukraine and Lithuania. Natalie also co-directs Barking & Dagenham Youth Theatre for Arc, with annual performances including The Grip, All Tuned In, In the Mind, Seven, Our Day Out, and the latest production, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Joss Bennathan
Associate Director
Joss has worked with Arc since 1995. With extensive experience and a notable reputation in Drama in Education, Joss has devised and compiled many of the learning resource materials that accompany Arc's plays and videos. An OFSTED Inspector, school advisor and former teacher, Joss delivers many of the Company's INSET courses for teachers and both leads and performs in Arc's Forums. His books, 'Developing Drama Skills 11-14' and 'Performance Power' are widely used in schools in the UK and abroad. Joss is a professional theatre director and Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Present Moment Productions. He has also directed two of Arc's Community Plays - Big Bang and Relics.
Jim Dunk
Associate Director
In the '70s Jim worked as a teacher in the East End of London. He was Head of Drama at a Newham comprehensive and a Drama Advisory Teacher for Barking & Dagenham. He then spent 24 years as a professional actor, theatre director and more latterly a writer, working in theatre, television, film and radio. In 2005, Jim decided to give up his commercial acting career to concentrate on writing, theatre directing and his work with Arc.
As a director, Jim has four productions on tour in the UK and Eire and is planning a new piece with Isosceles Theatre, for whom he is Director of Projects. As Artistic Director of the London Theatre Laboratory and the Lansdowne Theatre Research Project, his plays were well reviewed in the National Press. Jim is currently
co-writing a television drama, writing poetry and short stories, and is also Project Co-ordinator for the TEXT Professional Writers in Schools Project in Islington.
As well as performing with Arc, Jim writes scripts and educational resources, develops new projects and directs Forum Theatre for the Company. He is a passionate believer in the Company's work and has known Clifford Oliver and Carole Pluckrose for over 20 years.
Ria Knowles
Associate Director
Ria graduated from Dartington College of Arts with a BA (Hons) in Theatre and trained at the Mime School, Amsterdam. She is a freelance actor who has worked in television and theatre in Britain and internationally, with companies including The American Drama Group, The Young Vic, The Dukes, The Octagon, Dormu Dance, Derevo and Ken Campbell's The Warp.
Ria has worked with Arc for over 10 years, first performing in Soft Times and Lost for Words touring productions. She has since worked as a Forum Theatre actor and facilitator, workshop leader, and company manager, most recently leading Arc's latest seven-week tour of Stereo Interactive to schools and venues across London.
Thierry Lawson
Associate Director
Thierry joined Arc in 2002 for the French translation of Kicking Out, which toured Marseilles and Paris alongside the World Cup. Since then he has toured with Ooh Ah Showab Khan and directed many Arc projects, including the tenth anniversary production of Kicking Out commissioned by Charlton Athletic Race Equality Partnership (CARE) - performed by young people from Greenwich at Charlton Athletic FC and at secondary schools around the borough. Thierry has also directed two of Arc's film resources - 'No Witness, No Justice' for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary and the new Avon & Somerset CJB film A Question of Difference.
Neville Lawrence OBE
Associate Director
Graham Simmons - Director, MGBS Associates Ltd
Chair of Arc's Board, Graham is Director of a business management consultancy working with both the public and private sectors. This follows a successful career in Local Government at senior level, initially in the technical and surveying field before moving into social housing. Graham then set up and developed an 'Arms Length Housing Management Company' in the capacity of Interim Chief Executive.
Graham brings to the Board considerable experience in governance, committee arrangements, partnerships, project management, and offers a pragmatic approach to strategic planning and financial management.
Bill Lovelock - Senior Project Manager, HSBC Bank plc
Bill is a Six Sigma Black Belt Project Manager, presently working in HSBC's Institutional Financial Services business area. Bill has over 32 years' experience with the Bank and has held senior management positions in Branch, Regional Operations and Corporate Banking. Bill is currently Vice Chairman of Arc's Board and brings with him a vast amount of experience of general business and project management.
Yvette Williams - Equality and Diversity Manger, CPS London
Yvette was appointed Equality and Diversity Manger in 2002 and currently represents CPS London on a number of boards and committees including the London-wide Race Hate Crime Forum and the NACRO Race Issues Advisory Group. Yvette also acts as independent facilitator to Alif-Aleph UK - a forum committed to developing positive contact and dialogue between Britain's Muslim and Jewish communities.
Prior to joining the CPS, Yvette was active in community and policy work on issues affecting Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, working with the Mangrove Trust and the 1990 Trust. Between '94 and '97 Yvette sat on a number of committees including the National Assembly Against Racism, National Black Alliance, Operation Black Vote and The Tabernacle Trust. She served tenure as the Chairperson for Mangrove First Base - a hostel developed for black female ex-offenders in Notting Hill.
A former primary school teacher, Yvette is a BA (Hons) Post-Graduate and MSc Graduate and was educated at University of London (Goldsmiths and Birkbeck Colleges).
Michael Ainsworth - Home Office Stop and Search Team, CJS Race Unit
Mike joined the Prison Service as a Prison Officer at HMP Lincoln in 1980. During the next 18 years he had a variety of roles including running the Lifer Unit in HMP Wormwood Scrubs, Head of Staff Discipline and Deputy Governor at HMP Holloway.
Mike left Holloway to head up a team organising the evacuation of refugees from Macedonia. On returning to the UK, Mike worked for the Home Office in the Police Personnel Unit with responsibility for police pay and setting targets for the recruitment, retention and progression of Black and Asian Police Officers. From 2000, Mike spent three years with The Prince's Trust heading a programme to assist young offenders on release from custody.
Mike has worked in the CJS Race Unit since 2003, with responsibility for developing policy to decrease the disproportionate use of Stop and Search and to increase minority communities' confidence in the Police and Prison Services.
Tony Breslin - Chief Executive, Citizenship Foundation
As Chief Executive, Tony sits on a range of national policy bodies, forums and advisory groups with themes as diverse as crime prevention, educational provision for newcomers to Britain and adult literacy. Until 2001, Tony was General Adviser (14-19 Education) for the London Borough of Enfield. Prior to this he taught and held management positions at comprehensive schools in Haringey and Hertfordshire. He is a former Chair of the Association for the Teaching of the Social Sciences (ATSS), a Council Member of the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) and was a member of the DfES's Advisory Committee on Citizenship in Post Compulsory Education.
Tony is a qualified OFSTED inspector, Chief Examiner at GCSE, Principal Examiner at A' level and an experienced teacher-trainer both in the UK and abroad. In '97 he was awarded the Parry Rogers Teachers' Research Scholarship - a one-year funded sabbatical which enabled him to research school and curriculum change.
Tony has published papers and chapters on citizenship, social science education, the future of the teaching profession, curriculum innovation and lifelong learning in a range of journals, and is a contributor to the educational press and to television and radio broadcasts. In 2004, he was granted the Freedom of the City of London. Although committed to an intolerance of underachievement, Tony remains a season ticket holder at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
Sarah Willis - Director, circleindigo
Sarah is a senior consultant and Director of circleindigo; an organisation that designs and facilitates programmes covering a broad range of issues and change initiatives for clients cross-sector and cross-industry. She has extensive experience of facilitation, learning and development, design and project management, leading programmes at all levels including managing transition, unlocking potential, social inclusion, conflict resolution, team development, mentoring and leadership. She has recently taken a lead role in the National Remodelling Team for education, developing extended services within and around schools.
Working with The Talent Foundation - a not-for-profit research organisation, Sarah was Project Director of TalentKey - an experience designed to unlock the potential of individuals. As Director of Learning for the charity Training For Life, Sarah was responsible for the implementation of experiential learning programmes and the development of an extensive team of facilitators for several years.
Sarah also spent 15 years as a Design Colour and Style Consultant after graduating from St Martin's School of Art.
Colleen Amos - Head of Marketing and Communications, The Learning Trust
Colleen is Head of Marketing and Communications at The Learning Trust in Hackney and a trustee of the Teaching Awards. Full biog to follow, but you can read more about Colleen in this recent Times Online article.
Julia Houghton - People and Organisational Development Consultant
Julia began her employment in the secondary school sector as an English and Drama teacher. For two years she trained as a psychodynamic, humanistic therapist, but eventually chose to stay in education. Thereafter, she lectured in FE in Communications, and in HE in Teacher Training. After several years as a staff and organisational development manager in FE, she taught on a Sheffield Hallam leadership programme for FE leaders.
In 1997 she chose the life of a freelancer specialising in Investors in People as both an Assessor and Adviser. Additionally, she is MD of Leading Coaches for which she both delivers executive coaching, and trains others in coaching skills.
She has worked extensively in the NHS, local government (including the City of London), all sectors of education, the care sector, LSCs and numerous private sector organisations. As a staff and organisational development professional, she delivers workshops on a range of topics from strategic visioning and planning, leadership and interpersonal skills. She is a NLP Business Practitioner and employs NLP awareness in all aspects of her business life. Her mission is to support people and organisations to become ‘world class'.
Shamus Kenny - Board Secretary, Office of Rail Regulation
Shamus is the Board Secretary of the Office of Rail Regulation and was previously Senior Secretariat Office for the Disability Rights Commission. He has also worked for the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Islington and the London North East Community Foundation in a committee secretary role. Shamus has serviced Arc Board meetings as Minutes Secretary since 1989. He provides advice and supports the effective operation of the Board.
