Leeds Heritage Theatres Welcomes Sophie-Jade Howell As New Youth Theatre Programme Director

A passionate youth theatre director and facilitator from Leeds, Sophie-Jade Howell (SJ) joins us from York Theatre Royal, bringing extensive experience working with young people across youth theatres, schools, community projects and professional theatre settings. Her career has included roles at Leeds Playhouse, the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, Bradford Literature Festival, alongside a wide range of directing credits spanning Shakespeare, new writing, devised theatre and musicals. She also worked with Interplay Theatre supporting a sensory youth theatre programme for young people with SEND and profound and multiple learning disabilities.

In her new role, SJ will lead and champion our established youth theatre programmes, including Leeds Grand Youth Theatre and Leeds Actors in Training, while helping to expand outreach activity and create more year-round opportunities for young people to train, perform and develop creatively. She will work closely with the Learning & Engagement team and colleagues across Leeds Heritage Theatres to ensure young people's voices and creativity are increasingly visible across our venues, festivals and wider programme.

SJ said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining Leeds Heritage Theatres. As someone who grew up in Leeds, this role feels particularly special. There is already such a brilliant youth theatre programme to build on, and I'm excited to work with young people, artists and colleagues to create ambitious, joyful theatre together. Most importantly, I want our Youth Theatre to be a place where young people can be themselves, take creative risks, make new friends and feel that these theatres belong to them too."

Rachel Lythe, Head of Learning & Engagement, said: "SJ's passion for creative learning, young people and high-quality theatre makes them a fantastic addition to the team. As we continue to grow our creative training, outreach and performance opportunities, we're excited to see how SJ builds on the success of our existing programmes and helps even more young people thrive through theatre."