STAGETEXT staff

STAGETEXT staff

STAGETEXT employs two full-time and five part-time staff, two of whom are deaf.
 

Tabitha Allum, Chief Executive
Tabitha achieved her M.Phil. degree in Theatre Studies from Lancaster University. She has particular expertise in audience development, disability arts and access. Tabitha holds a Level 2 certificate in British Sign Language and is a volunteer communicator for the National Deaf Children's Society. She has been Chief Executive since January 2005.


Lissy Lovett, Programme Manager
Before joining STAGETEXT, Lissy worked as an actor for 10 years.  She was the co-founder of the Pirate Fairies Theatre Company and is also a partner in Pandora’s Box Theatre Company.  She holds an MA in Mathematics from Merton College, Oxford University.  Lissy loves the theatre and is passionate about opening up the experience of watching live performance to as wide an audience as possible.
 

David Luff, Programme Officer

David is part-time Programme Officer for STAGETEXT and, alongside this, works as a freelance theatre producer with past productions at Soho Theatre, Young Vic, Hampstead, Traverse, Trafalgar Studios, Royal Exchange, Plymouth Drum, Unity Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Arcola Theatre. He has undertaken three UK tours and taken productions overseas to New York, Berlin, Damascus and Cairo. He recently produced his first short film which premiered at the London Film Festival in 2012.

Lynn Jackson, Communications Officer
Lynn is part-time Communications Officer for STAGETEXT and has been involved with the charity since it began in 2000.  She also works on our Social Groups project. Lynn is a Level 3 Lipspeaker and has a Level 3 Certificate in British Sign Language. She has worked with deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people in an editorial and production capacity for 23 years.
 

Deepa Shastri, Live Events Programme Officer
Deepa was educated at Mary Hare Grammar School and later graduated from Coventry University with a BA with Honours in Business Studies. Her background includes working as Contact and Information/Advocacy Officer at DeafPLUS, Project Officer for WISDOM (Wireless Information Services for Deaf People On the Move) and Liaison/ Helpline Officer at British Deaf Association. Deepa was formerly involved with STAGETEXT and the See a Voice project as Audience Development Liaison Officer for Captioning. She is now working as our Live Events Programme Officer on a part-time basis, developing access in museums and galleries. In her spare time she is an actress and a presenter. Deepa is profoundly deaf and uses British Sign Language.

Rosie Holmes, Programme Assistant
Rosie graduated from Glamorgan University with a Theatre and Media Drama Degree and trained as an Actor at the Desmond Jones School of Mime and Physical Theatre and with The Bridge Theatre Training Company. She worked as an actor and the children’s entertainer Rosie Apples for several years before moving into Arts Education. Before joining STAGETEXT, she worked for Trinity College London as their Dance and Drama Administrator and as a freelance Drama facilitator. She completed her Cert Ed – Inclusivity in the Performing Arts at Middlesex University in conjunction with Chickenshed theatre company. She has a passion for making the arts accessible to all and ran the inclusive theatre company East End Shed for over two years.

Roger Graham, Technical Advisor
Before joining STAGETEXT, Roger worked in the Digital Display Industry for over 20 years and worked with STAGETEXT to develop bespoke software and LED signs for captioning. He has worked as our Technical Advisor since 2010 and is responsible for the development of captioning and speech-to-text technology for theatres and other arts venues. He has a keen personal interest in theatre and the arts having worked as a professional actor and director and he still acts and directs for a number of amateur theatre companies in and around London.

Christine Hathway, Volunteers' Manager
Christine is part-time Volunteers' Manager.  She trained in Stage Management and Technical Theatre at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has worked for numerous theatre companies in the UK on international tours. She first came across STAGETEXT when she was working at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002. She has a hearing loss and now works in project and production management rather than backstage, but still enjoys theatre by attending captioned performances. She was Volunteer Co-ordinator for East London’s Paradise Gardens Festival 2008-2010, where the volunteer team provided information and access for festival-goers; and has been a volunteer herself in London for the Arcola Theatre, and in Tanzania for Sunseed Tanzania Trust. She has a Level 2 Certificate in British Sign Language.

 

Marcel Jenkins, Bookkeeper
After graduating from Dartington College of Arts, the first half of Marcel’s career was working in public funding roles with Arts Council England (ACE), both regionally and in London, including administering Contemporary Music Network, ACE’s contemporary music touring programme and chairing the trade union.  He left ACE to spend time travelling across Canada and the US. For the next 8 years Marcel produced and managed musicians, independent choreographers and a range of small dance companies including Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Badejo Arts  and Jonzi D Productions.  He is now a professional bookkeeper working with a number of arts organisations including VocalEyes. Outside work he is actively involved with the Friends of Blythe Hill Fields, a local community group working to improve and advocate for a special local park.