SPRING 2024

‘Having led an acclaimed theatre company for many years and from my own contribution as a trustee, I know how important a Board of Trustees is and how supportive a Board can be. We are a very small company and want to engage a group of talented and creative individuals who can help us on our journey as we grow’ Judith Dimant

Wayward is looking for new people to join its Board of Trustees.

We currently have three founder Trustees, who represent a wealth of knowledge across different sectors and have supported us since we became a charity in 2019. They are:
Elizabeth Loudon, Author
Keerthi Kollimada, Executive Director & Joint CEO National Student Drama Festival
Marcus du Sautoy, OBE FRS, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.

We’re interested in meeting new people who want to use their experience and skills to support the company.

About Wayward

Wayward is a theatre production company founded and led by producer Judith Dimant. It’s a venture following her career as Producer at Complicité for over 25 Years. We’re particularly interested in adapting books – both fiction and non-fiction – for the stage.

Wayward launched in 2019 with its inaugural production of GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS by Max Porter, directed by Enda Walsh, starring Cillian Murphy. It played in London and New York.

Most recently we produced PANDEMONIUM by Armando Iannucci, directed by Patrick Marber, which played a seven-week sell-out season at London’s Soho Theatre.

“Not only a pointed, playful political pantomime, but also a document of our times, it’s unimpeachable.” The Guardian ⭐⭐⭐⭐

2024 is a busy year with an adaptation of Babette Cole’s children’s book PRINCESS SMARTYPANTS co-produced with The Wardrobe Ensemble, and a revival of PANDEMONIUM.

In the past three years Wayward has produced the following:
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS read by author Max Porter at the Union Chapel, London and livestreamed worldwide
SHIFTS for BBC Radio Winner of the Life in Covid 19 award, UK Audio Production Awards 2021
THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS based on the book Christie Watson, directed by Sasha Milavic Davis & James Yeatman (London, Warwick, Tunbridge Wells) Winner of a 2022 OFFIE award

Wayward is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. We receive project funding from Arts Council England for appropriate projects, as well as support from trusts and foundations and individuals.

The Role of the Trustee

As a member of Wayward’s Board of Trustees your role is to support, advocate and listen. This can mean offering advice, helping the company make new connections, representing us externally or asking difficult questions. You don’t need direct experience of working in the theatre.

As a Board member, you are legally a Company Director of Wayward Productions Ltd. This means that, together with the other Trustees, you are responsible for ensuring that we comply with:

• company law
• employment law
• health and safety legislation
• equal opportunities It is also the Board’s collective responsibility to make sure that the company remains solvent and that we don’t do anything that might place our funds, assets or reputation at risk. Board meetings
  Trustees meet every three months. Meetings last about two hours, and usually take place in London or remotely.

Meetings are scheduled and agreed by all, so it should be possible to find dates that suit everyone. You don’t have to attend every meeting but it is strongly encouraged, and if you can’t be there in person we’ll try and make it possible for you to attend remotely.

We send out board papers before each meeting, usually including an agenda, minutes from the previous meeting and financial papers.

If you’re thinking of joining us but worry that you don’t have sufficient financial knowledge, we can offer extra support understanding the finance papers.

Away days
Once a year we also have an ‘away day’ which we spend together somewhere nice and think and discuss in more depth issues the company is facing.

Other activity
In addition to Board meetings and away days, we sometimes ask our Trustees for help in specialist areas. For example, one of our Trustees has knowledge of Commercial Producing and we might ask her for extra help with a commercial transfer of a production.

The best Board members are the ones who are well informed and have a good understanding of our work, so we also hope you’ll come to see our shows and attend other events whenever possible.

If you’re interested in joining us and if you would like further information please do contact Judith Dimant at judith@waywardproductions.co.uk https://www.waywardproductions.co.uk/ @wayward_productions X @waywardprods. Registered charity number 1186473