Clean Break Reveals Associate Artistic Director and Patron

Clean Break has announced two new appointments, as director and playwright Lakesha Arie-Angelo joins the company from March 2024 in the newly created role of Associate Artistic Director and award-winning actor Michelle Greenidge becomes a Patron with immediate effect.

Lakesha Arie-Angelo is a theatre director, writer, dramaturg, facilitator and, most recently, Associate Director at Soho Theatre. In her role within Soho Theatre, Lakesha co-led the Writers Lab programme and was lead programmer of theatre in the Upstairs Studio space. Her credits as a Director include The Color Purple (2022 UK tour, for Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome; Nominated for 2023 Black British Theatre Award for Best Musical Production); Sikisa-Life of the Party (Pleasance Theatre Edinburgh, Soho Theatre);  Shuck ‘n' Jive and soft animals (Soho Theatre); Summer Fest and Alive Day (The Bunker Theatre); and The Hoes (Hampstead Theatre).

As Associate Artistic Director, Lakesha will be part of Clean Break's leadership team working closely with Artistic Director Anna Herrmann to shape and achieve the organisation's artistic vision and strategy. As part of a new structure to ensure a plurality of voices at senior level, Lakesha will collaborate with colleagues, artists, Members, and partners to drive forward and enrich Clean Break's voice and influence across theatre.

Actor Michelle Greenidge performed in Clean Break's production House by Somalia Seaton (at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and The Yard Theatre, 2016) and as part of Rebel Voices On Stage (at Donmar Warehouse), a staged event launching Rebel Voices, an anthology of monologues from 40 Clean Break plays. Her stage credits also include Nine Night at The National Theatre (for which she won Best Supporting Female Actor in a Play at the inaugural Black British Theatre Awards and was nominated at The Stage Debut Awards for Best West End Debut), and Debbie Tucker Green's ear for eye at The Royal Court Theatre. Her television roles include Lola in Mandy (BBC) and Valerie in Afterlife (Netflix). This winter she joins the cast of the much-anticipated new series of Doctor Who with her first episode airing on Christmas Day.

Michelle joins Clean Break's patrons among a group of passionate advocates which includes, among others, Zawe Ashton, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, Lucy Kirkwood, and Dame Harriet Walter DBE.

Lakesha Arie-Angelo: “It fills me with great pride and excitement to be joining such a respected and beloved company as Clean Break. To work alongside the executive team as Associate Artistic Director is a great new endeavour where I hope to further the important and innovative work Clean Break does. I first came to Clean Break some years ago as a volunteer, then as a facilitator on an education programme, so, to return as a creative lead within the organisation is a wonderful full circle moment. I look forward to championing the Clean Break community and creating positively impactful work and practices. Watch this space!”

Michelle Greenidge: “Clean Break has been so important to me on so many levels that to be made a Patron is not only a great honour but also a true responsibility to respect the life changing work that this incredible charity does. Working with Clean Break, on stage and through workshops at their studios and in prisons, has been an awesome and humbling experience and truly changed the course of my career.

It is through the opportunity for so many women to tell their stories, be they redemptive, cathartic, or just a damn good tale, that Clean Break has changed so many lives and been such an incredible force for good over the last 44 years and I have no doubt, for as long as it is needed and supported it will continue to do, its most incredible work. As a Patron, it goes without saying, I hope to pass on the support Clean Break has given me, as many times over as possible and to continue to raise awareness and spread the news of the superb work Clean Break does,  as widely as possible.”

Anna Herrmann, Artistic Director/Joint CEO: “I am truly delighted to welcome both these brilliant women artists to Clean Break. Lakesha has been connected to the company over the years in various guises and being able to collaborate with her in this new leadership role is wonderful. I know she gets our focus on care and inclusion and brings a wealth of skills and experience that will support us making exciting new work in the future. Michelle has shown her unswerving support for the company since we first worked together in 2016. She brings her open heart to every interaction with us, and we are hugely grateful for her commitment to championing us as a Patron.”

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