Oily Cart Announces Ellie Griffiths As New Artistic Director

Oily Cart is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Artistic Director, Ellie Griffiths and its first ever Executive Director, Zoë Lally. They will both join the organisation in 2019, succeeding co-founders Tim Webb MBE, Max Reinhardt and Claire De Loon who have stood down after 37 hugely successful years. These appointments are joint Chief Executive roles and together they will share the joys and responsibilities of artistic and strategic leadership.

Ellie Griffiths is already familiar to Oily Cart audiences as a performer in Gorgeous, Something in the Air, There was an Old Woman, The Bounce and Tube and in 2016 she directed Mirror Mirror. Since then she has created the Upfront Performance Network and has made multi-sensory immersive performance for and by children and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD) the centre of her artistic life.

Ellie comes with a national and growing international reputation as one of the most exciting makers of performance for children and young people with PMLD and for those on the Autism Spectrum. She will bring her creative talents to the fore to build on the company's internationally renowned reputation as a trailblazer in the world of young people's theatre.

As the organisation's first ever Executive Director, Zoë Lally will work alongside Ellie on building the company's national and international profile, highlighting the growing need for genuinely inclusive theatre performances in public venues, special schools and health settings.

Zoë joins the company as an experienced Executive Director, currently with Boundless Theatre making work for young people in the UK and internationally. Before Boundless she worked with one of London's best known, diverse and life-changing youth theatres, Greenwich and Lewisham Young People's Theatre. Zoë is a trustee of the Independent Theatre Council. Advocating for disadvantaged young people is essential to her working practice.

Lisa Mead, Chair of the Oily Cart Board comments: "From the outset, we knew that Tim, Max and Claire were an inimitable team, so we set ourselves the challenge not to replace them, instead to find a team with the essential "Oily Cart" values, coupled with a distinct vision for the company's future. We are thrilled with their joint appointment. Together they bring the experience, vision and the perfect amount of determination to build on the great foundations established by Tim, Max and Claire. We cannot wait to welcome them through our doors in early 2019 and to see what exciting adventures they will take us on next."

Ellie and Zoë will officially join Oily Cart in early 2019 and build on the legacy and ambitions of the company's founders and their unrivalled commitment to research, exploration and aspirations for theatre for young people.

For full information about Oily Cart and all their productions past and present, please visit www.oilycart.org.uk.

Credit: Helen Murray

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