• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Ed Fringe

Natasha Bucknor, Karena Johnson and Sam Jones join sixth Tonic Celebrates panel

January 23, 2018 by Tom Bailey Leave a Comment

Tonic Theatre is delighted to announce that Natasha Bucknor, executive director of Talawa Theatre Company, Karena Johnson, artistic director of Hoxton Hall, and casting director Sam Jones will make up the panel for the sixth Tonic Celebrates event, which will take place at Hoxton Hall on Wednesday 21 February, as part of Hoxton Hall’s all-female season.

Tonic Celebrates is a series of events foregrounding the achievements of inspirational women in theatre. Each event brings together a group of remarkable women, all of whom are leaders in their field, to discuss their careers, work, and successes. The first half of the evening is chaired by Tonic Theatre’s Director Lucy Kerbel, before the floor is opened to the audience for questions.

Natasha Bucknor is executive director of Talawa Theatre Company, whose recent credits include Guys and Dolls, a co-production with the Royal Exchange Theatre which saw the hit musical relocated to Harlem in the UK’s first all-Black cast production, and tours of Half Breed by Natasha Marshall, a co-production with Soho Theatre, and Girls by Theresa Ikoko, a co-production with HighTide and Soho Theatre. Natasha has an MA in Cultural Leadership from City University, and has a particular interest in developing and mentoring emerging administrators and general managers.

Karena Johnson is Artistic Director and CEO of Hoxton Hall. She has worked for twenty years as a theatre director, producer and facilitator of emerging artists. Previous roles include Artistic Director of The Broadway in Barking, Director of Loud Talkin’, Acting Artistic Director of Contact Theatre in Manchester, Artistic Director of touring theatre company Kushite and five years as Head of Theatre Programming for Oval House theatre. She has also been an Associate at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nottingham Playhouse and NOW festival, and she was a recipient of a Jerwood Young Directors Award.

Sam’s first job in casting was as an Assistant at the RSC. Having assisted various prestigious Casting Directors in a freelance capacity, she then became Casting Director at the Almeida Theatre. She subsequently cast Terry Hands’ first two seasons at Theatre Clwyd for which they won a TMA Best Theatre Award. She expanded her freelance career casting plays for, among others, ETT, Bristol Old Vic, Bath Theatre Royal, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Contact Theatre, Sheffield Crucible as well as for companies such as Kneehigh, Told by an Idiot and Shared Experience. Her London work included work for the Royal Court, Gate Theatre, Young Vic, Old Vic, Hampstead, Lyric Hammersmith and numerous West End productions. On leaving, she became first Casting Director of the newly formed National Theatre Wales, going on to cast many award-winning productions in its first six years.

The sixth Tonic Celebrates follow previous successful events at The Other Palace, Soho Theatre, National Theatre, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Ambassador’s Theatre. Previous panellists have included directors Phyllida Lloyd and Marianne Elliott, actresses Dame Harriet Walter and Rosalie Craig, Globe Artistic Director Emma Rice, Tricycle Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham, writers Moira Buffini, Tanika Gupta and Jessica Swale, producer Danielle Tarento, dramaturg Nina Steiger, lighting designer Paule Constable, designer Vicki Mortimer, NT’s Director of Producing and Planning Sacha Milroy, and leading fight directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown.

Tickets are available through Hoxton Hall box office.

Tom Bailey

Author: Tom Bailey

Tom is a theatre maker and writer based in London, England. He covers news and interviews for Theatre Bubble.
T: Twitter F: Facebook

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Hoxton Hall, Karena Johnson, Natasha Bucknor, Sam Jones, Tonic Celebrates

Join the discussion Cancel reply

NEWS / Living Record Festival of digital arts announces programme

Living Record Festival is a month-long Digital Arts Festival curating and presenting over 40 original pieces from a range of [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Open Bar on A ChristMESS CAROL

Tell us about Open Bar Theatre and also how you came about and how the name came about. OBT: Open Bar [Read More]

NEWS / Ayomide Adegun awarded The Luke Westlake Scholarship 2020

22 year old South Londoner Ayomide Adegun is currently in his 2nd year of the BA Acting course at Royal [Read More]

NEWS / Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels announced

A new play repurposed for online viewing from the creative team behind Scrounger, and the first of the Finborough Theatre’s [Read More]

NEWS / Crimes Against Christmas becomes an audio advent calendar

Typically at this time of year theatre company New Old Friends would have just finished an Autumn tour and be [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • My Children! My Africa! Tristan Bates Theatre
  • Interview with John Ward, director of Electra at the Bunker Theatre
  • Actor's Corner: May
  • The Way Back Home- Young Vic
  • Katy Owen: How to Apply to Drama Schools*
  • Kneehigh's Ubu
  • Yasmin Paige on Actually
  • Writing the Perfect Press Release
  • Tom Bailey

    Tom Bailey
    Editor

  • January 23rd, 2018
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • Facebook1TweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2021 · Blue Pie Media

    Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

    Email sent!