Beth Bowden

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Almeida Theatre

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

I am an arts leader working to champion research-based, responsive work, with equity and access at its heart in London & the South West.

I am the Participation Producer at the Almeida Theatre, designing/facilitating free, high-quality, accessible and participant-led work, in collaboration with local partners and communities. I am incredibly proud of our work, which is centred around listening to what a community needs – often it is laughter, play or a space to feel connected. I believe our work is industry-leading, offering local communities work that is bespoke, responsive to creativity and culture, and holding accessible space with open invitation, warmth, and support. I started as a participant on an Almeida project and would not be here without their support – and now I get the JOY of supporting our communities.

I’m also a freelance theatre-maker, and Director of SALTHOUSE, a South-West arts company. We are access led & aim to dismantle barriers to accessing the arts – aiming to reach and engage historically underserved SW communities and cultural cold spots, through multi-year interdisciplinary long projects with embedded participatory programmes. We completed our last project, RIGHT OF WAY in 2024, which was hugely significant for us. ROW performed at VAULT Festival to 5 star reviews and offered the Festival’s only masked performance. We then went on a sold out, ACE funded 5 venue SW tour with integrated creative captioning and creative workshops for young carers.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

I am fueled by a huge drive and ambition for my career as a Producer and Theatre Maker- both within an organisation in London, and as a freelance artist in the South West.

Everyday, I evaluate and deliver projects that are focused on meeting the needs of local people in Islington, and across London/the UK. I get the privilege to work in partnership with and learn from expert, thoughtful community partners, to champion insightful youth voice, and to share in the joyful creativity of the participants that we work with. They – in their warmth, intelligence and aspiration – challenge & inspire me every day to keep pushing for change in our industry, and to become the best leader I can be.

I chose to work in Participation because I wanted to support people with openness, creativity, and kindness. I will bring this same spirit to this cohort. I know that leadership is difficult and requires courage – and I hope to support the cohort, through sharing, learning, compassion and passion.

I feel really passionately about this work – opening up access to arts – and I think that a desire to advocate for this is embedded deeply in my work, and my reasons for choosing this career.

The things I enjoy most about my work, and that I look for in all of my freelance projects/job roles include:

– Root in communities to promote wellbeing/creativity – especially engaging those who might not already access cultural activities.
– Create research based, responsive theatre that centres social justice issues
– Collaborate with local partners to deliver embedded participation programmes, particularly in cultural cold spots
– Produce accessibility/disabled-led work, and models for inclusive leadership
– Create opportunities for sustainable artistic development and cross sector collaborations (sustainable pathways into the arts for supporting emerging artists)

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was a part of many drama societies as a performer, director, producer and stage manager, including Theatre with Teeth, Exeter University Theatre Company and Shake-Co.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

How passionate and creative the teaching staff were – and how their research interests formed the structure and modules of the course. It meant we were constantly inspired by professional industry staff working in the field, and helped shape their research as well! The department have continued to support our work since leaving the University – helping guide us in our careers, which has been invaluable. They are ace!

We were also encouraged to make our own work. From very early on, we were given the creative toolkit and confidence – and the resources (space, props, money, technical) – to devise, direct and create new theatre, perform it and share it with our peers/teachers. We were encouraged to see ourselves as makers, as artists and to make work about the climate, about space, about social justice, explore movement, be inspired by nature – you name it. It meant that we honed our taste, but also we left University having made so much incredible, experimental new work already.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

The friends I made along the way, many of who I still create work with in the theatre industry, or are just my lifelong friends.

I feel very lucky to have formed such a strong professional and personal network at Exeter – all of them have gone on to do such interesting and creative things. We were encouraged to learn how to collaborate with one another from the very first day of the course – and it worked.

I wouldn’t be where I am in my career without the support of the Exeter Drama Department staff team, or the connections I made on my course.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

I chose BA Drama at Exeter because of the balance in the course between the research and practical modules – research in praxis, devising, and theatre-making now form the core of my practice.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

I feel really blessed that the Exeter Drama course offered me a diversity of pathways – and that I found such strong interests, rooted in creativity and research, that I have been able to build on in my career.

One pathway is Access, Participation and Education. I’m the current Participation Producer at the Almeida Theatre, which is a varied role working across the design and delivery of Community, Young Artist, and Schools programmes.

The desire for this career pathway – carving out space for creative communities – came from an Applied Module and Production Assistant Internship I did at Exeter with Erin Walcon, the Co-Artistic Director of Doorstep Arts.

Here, working across creative provision in Torbay, my love for participation and education in the arts was born.

Fast-forward, I now work day-in-day-out to open up access to the arts – to deepen and grow our diverse connection to our local areas, to better serve audiences, communities and young people by creating new models and ways of delivering participatory work, and working to amplify youth and community voice.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

Invest in your networks, collaboration and nurturing strong creative partnerships.

I’m still making work with people I met on my first day at Exeter! They have become some of my most trusted creative collaborators (and are all making such rich, exciting work of their own).

I started at Exeter with no creative network – nobody in my family works in the arts. For me, there were a lot of unknowns in the theatre industry. Through the Drama course, societies and applying for Internships and opportunities, I was able to slowly plant seeds. I learnt how to design and facilitate a workshop. I learnt how to write and talk about my work. I learnt how to translate my creative ideas into process and output (sometimes failing, but accepting this). I learnt how to conduct research, and integrate this into my creative practice. I learnt how to play games, how to play with ideas, and how to listen openly to others’ ideas. I hoped (and hope) to take every opportunity to learn about my creative interests, taste and passions – whether that be from lecturers, friends or just watching new work created by a Company I admired.

So, trust in what you know, and have learnt along the way. Apply for that paid internship. Make your own work! If there’s something you care about, rage about, love about, make theatre around it. Test it at scratch nights & test it in rooms with friends, families and new connections. Ask that director, producer or technician that you admire to go for a coffee, to talk about their practice! Why not try out marketing, social media, fundraising, producing, stage management, or facilitating? Plant those seeds.

I met Susannah my Creative Partner on our first day at Exeter University. This creative relationship has solidified my practice, and my artistic identity (both as an individual, but in partnership with her). She is the first person I go to when I have a new idea, and she offers balance, a new perspective, and an injection of creativity to all of our projects. Together, we always aim to test, devise and develop our work in playful, collaborative rooms – where any thoughts, ideas and pathways are welcomed. This – we find – makes the best work.

What are your plans for the future?

As an industry, I recognise that (now more than ever) we need reflexive, kind, and generous leaders, who are prepared to collaborate & respond to increasing crises. In my career, I am determined to continue to work as a reflective civic changemaker within cultural organisations, and in my freelance work, both locally and nationally.

In the immediate, I hope to embed resilient, inclusive traits and structures into my leadership style, invest in strategy for Almeida Participation and make specific and lasting difference to my local community: upscaling & producing bespoke wellbeing/creativity projects, and securing sustainable skill-development pathways for emerging artists.

I also would like to build a strong sector/leadership toolkit to take back to the South West. In the next stage of my career, I am committed to working in rural areas as an AD/ED, reinvesting back into local communities to support creative development and wellbeing for young artists, families and communities living in cultural coldspots.