Jake Smith Appointed as New Artistic Director & CEO of Eastern Angles

Eastern Angles has announced the appointment of Jake Smith as their new artistic director and CEO. He succeeds Ivan Cutting who has been at the helm of the company for 40 years. In a unique first for an arts institution, both will work together until the end of the year as part of a handover to ensure the philosophy is carried forward into the next era of work.  

Jake Smith comments, I am delighted to become Artistic Director & CEO of Eastern Angles and join the thriving arts ecology of East Anglia. Eastern Angles is an organisation that creates brilliant, innovative productions, with inspirational artists that delight audiences in East Anglia and across the UK. In addition to the magic that is created with its productions, it does an incredible amount of work with communities through its Learning, Education and Participation department in Ipswich, Peterborough and on tour. Being able to combine these huge passions of mine and lead such a dynamic team makes this my dream job.

Generosity and hospitality are at the core of Eastern Angles, and I am fortunate to have time working with Ivan Cutting who founded the company 40 years ago to ensure our shared kindred spirit for the work of Eastern Angles continues. I am dedicated to continuing a tradition of presenting the “extraordinary narratives we live through” from the past, present and future. I will act as an advocate for the cultural communities we are one with, whether that be in a rural or urban setting, exemplifying how we can be responsive, radical and a resource in the way we work with and support communities, artists and other organisations.

Eastern Angles Theatre Company combines heritage with theatre to make regional stories and hidden histories come to life on stage. The rural touring and site-specific theatre with a focus on new writing, new audiences and the development of new talent. The stories and themes are derived from our sense of place, specifically East Anglia and the East of England. Since forming in 1982, Eastern Angles have blazed a trail across East Anglia for 40 years and expanded to national tours and Edinburgh Festival residencies.

Jake Smith began his career at the Hull Truck Theatre ahead of becoming Trainee Director at Chichester Festival Theatre under the tutelage of Jonathan Church, where he assisted directors such as Jonathan Kent, Howard Davies, Nadia Fall, Max Stafford Clark, Jonathan Church and Co-Directed A Christmas Carol in the Festival Theatre with Dale Rooks.

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He has held positions as Resident Director at the Almeida Theatre, developing new work for the venue and was invited to The National Theatre Directors Programme in 2017. He has credits from Aspects of Love which recently ran on the West End to his work on Cinderella at the Northern Stage.