TheProfessionals

Name Anna Herrmann

Organisation Clean Break

Title Head of Education

Time in post? 20 months
t: 020 7482 8600
e: [email protected]

What does your company do? We run a creative education and training programme for women with experience of the criminal justice and mental health systems. The company also produces original theatre which deals with the issues faced by these women.

What does your job involve? Leading on all the education and training work both on-site at our London centre and off-site in women?s prisons, probation and community settings nationally.
Responsibilities include developing the education work which accompanies the annual production; liaising with regional venues and prisons; managing and supervising full-time and freelance staff who deliver the programmes; and as part of the Senior Management Team, sharing responsibility for the strategic development of the company.

Who else have you worked for? For the Charlton Athletic Race Equality Partnership (CARE) as an Arts Manager, developing arts education projects with young people in schools and local communities tackling racism and promoting social inclusion; for Leap Theatre Workshop as the Project Co-ordinator, devising and running theatre touring and training programmes for unemployed young people with experience of homelessness; and as an actor-teacher touring musical plays about world development and environmental issues.

What do you enjoy most about your present post? Believing passionately in the work of the company, being in a position to influence its direction and effect change, having direct contact with the women on the programme and in prisons, and being inspired by their motivation, strength and capacity to overcome challenges.

What do you find most difficult in your present post? The sheer volume of work is a challenge, as is keeping abreast of all the different sectors the company works in – arts, criminal justice, mental health, adult education, youth justice. Also there are limited opportunities to be a practitioner.

What is your career ambition? Who knows? To keep on being inspired and believing in the work I do; to work a little less and to develop more cross cultural work in Central America.

Who has influenced your career to date the most? Aside from my family, two people ? Alec Davison (founder of Leap Theatre Workshop) and Clair Chapman (founder of Spare Tyre). Alec gave me the opportunity to develop the work I wanted to do and trusted me to do it. Clair gave me skills, and a love of theatre.

If you could have done any job, what would it be? Being an International Human Rights lawyer ? but I wouldn?t want to lose the creativity and fun of theatre.

If you had three wishes for the future of the arts, what would they be?
? To see political theatre re-emerge playing a significant role, not a marginalised one, in society?s questioning of itself
? To nurture young people as participators, leaders and creators in schools and communities
? For a dynamic theatre scene to reflect the interests of diverse cultures and ages.