Kerry was appointed the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Theatre Royal Stratford East in September 2004, having been the Associate Director of the Theatre for the previous six years. In his first year as Artistic Director, Theatre Royal enjoyed 73% capacity for its new-writing led policy and in 2007 won an Olivier Award for Pied Piper as well as a further nomination for ‘presenting a powerful season of provocative work, reaching new audiences’. Kerry has vowed to uphold the Theatre’s commitment to developing new work and to providing a platform for new voices representing the ever-changing communities of the East End of London. His debut play as Artistic Director was The Battle of Green Lanes written by Cosh Omar - set amongst London’s Cypriot community. Other Stratford East credits include five of the last six Christmas shows, various new plays including Jamaica House by Paul Sirett (a site specific performance on the top floor of a tower block in Stepney), new musicals Make Some Noise and One Dance Will Do, co-directing the Jonzi D hip hop show Aeroplane Man, an adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and the musical Sammy. His latest directing credit, The Harder They Come has obtained wide critical acclaim and popular success, with productions planned for South Africa and for the West End in 2008. Kerry’s other directing credits include work on the London Fringe, Edinburgh Festival, the King’s Head, the Gate Theatre, a season of new work at Theatro Technis and a residency at the Contact Theatre in Manchester where he worked on a number of projects including producing the British premiere of the late Ken Saro Wiwa’s final testimony: On The Death of Ken Saro Wiwa By Ken Saro Wiwa. In 1999 Kerry lead the team to re-open Greenwich Theatre with a programme of culturally diverse work and obtained 70% capacity for the venue from a standing start. He is a Board member of Stratford Renaissance Partnership; a Trustee of Discover (which provides creative, play and learning opportunities for children and their carers in Stratford); and a member of Equity’s International Committee for Artists Freedom.

Vanessa joined Theatre Royal in September 2006, having spent the previous five years working as a freelancer in production and business development roles with theatre, television and film companies. Prior to this she was Business Affairs and General Manager for Pola Jones Associates; a commercial theatre, comedy and television production company, and General Manager for Oxford Stage Company. Vanessa is also a Trustee of Create (a charity that aims to use the creative arts to help transform lives).

Dawn's association with Theatre Royal Stratford East has included assisting and casting on such shows as One Dance Will Do, Aeroplane Man and two twenty-minute musicals: Windrush and Things Change. Dawn has produced festivals at the theatre; including Gateway to the Arts, a festival of shows for - and by - young people and also produced Spoke-Fest, a festival of two-weeks of spoken word, performances, workshops and a Spoken Word UK Slam Championship. Dawn has also produced Boy Blue's sold-out show The Book of Koraka; and produced and directed Club V. She has directed for Theatre Royal Stratford East, Funny Black Women on the Edge, Ade Ikoli's Diary of a Single Man, DRD's Dis is How We Do It, Speechify: Four Men on Family, Kat Francois one woman show Me, Myself and 7, Da Mic Sounds Nice, Summit and co-directed The Harder They Come. Dawn was the Assistant Director on Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Red Riding Hood, and directed Sleeping Beauty and The Snow Queen. She has also directed rehearsed readings for Brit Asia and New Voices part of the Theatre Royal's work with new writers, and rehearsed readings for Hear My Voice. She also directed Theatre Royal's Youth Theatre in 2002 and 2004 as part of Contacting the World Youth Festival organized by Contact Theatre in Manchester. Dawn also directed Llewella Gideon's premiere of Fruit Salad at the Greenwich Theatre, and was the Associate Director for Avenue Q in the West End. Dawn won the Carlton Multicultural Achievement Award for Direction.

Elizabeth joined University College London in 1989 as Deputy Director of Continuing Education, following a 15 year career in industry. Appointed Director of Special Projects by the Provost of UCL in 1993, she set up the Special Projects Unit, fundraising to make it entirely self-funded in less than two years. Elizabeth left UCL in 2002 with an Honorary Fellowship, moving for two years into the voluntary sector. She has extensive experience of successful development in the private sector, in regeneration programmes and in European Commission funding regimes.

Barry joined Theatre Royal in October 2002. He previously worked for Bates UK Advertising Ltd as an Account Director, handling relationships with existing clients and leading on pitches for new business. His accounts included DFS, Woolworths, Roche Pharmaceuticals, and Energise Batteries. Prior to that, he had a long career working in the marketing department of the Royal Mail, working his way up to UK Marketing Manager, where he led on the well- known campaign “I saw this and thought of you.”, and the Christmas Card to the Nation campaign, reminding people of last posting dates for Christmas.

Jan started her professional life as a youth worker in 1984 with responsibility for developing drama work. She specialises in participatory theatre structures for learning and understanding. Jan worked freelance until landing a fulltime job with Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre, where she worked as an actor/teacher, TIE Director, Trainer, Youth Arts Worker and Education Officer over 14 years. She then moved to Oval House as Head of Arts in Education until taking up her post at Theatre Royal Stratford East in August 2004. She has worked extensively as a trainer providing Continued Professional Development in the arts, community and education sector. Her training work has taken her to the Czech Republic, Taiwan, India and Lewisham.

Paul joined Theatre Royal in October 2003 from VPL, a licence fee collecting society set up by the record industry, where he was employed as Financial Accountant. Previously he had spent 17 years with the UK subsidiary of the Japanese electronics company Casio, where he started as Management Accountant and was responsible for the installation of the company’s first computerised system. As the company expanded he managed the regular hardware and software upgrades and was appointed Casio UK’s first IT Manager. Paul was raised and educated in Hackney and is a graduate of The Open University. He is a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians.