Mark Dobson has been announced as the new executive director of Manchester’s iconic Royal Exchange Theatre. Dobson was former chief executive Tyneside Cinema, a unique and highly innovative organisation which, under Dobson’s inspiring and creative leadership, was been reinvented as a community hub in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne.
He joins the theatre at a time of creative evolution for both the organisation and the city, and working alongside artistic director Sarah Frankcom he will help develop and shape an ambitious future for the Exchange.
Said Dobson: ‘The Royal Exchange is 40 years old this year and has just been awarded Regional Theatre of the Year. The quality and energy of the work it is making on stage and off stage, with diverse communities right across Greater Manchester is on a high and there is clearly much more to come. I am hugely excited by the bold ambitions that Sarah Frankcom and her team, Ben Caldwell and the board, have for the future of the Royal Exchange. I cannot wait to join them and play my part in their realisation.’
Dobson, who takes over from Fiona Gasper, will commence his role at the beginning of July.