Hackney Empire appoints CEO with no immediate plans to recruit creative director

CHRIS SUDWORTH is to join Hackney Empire this coming January as chief executive.

It comes after KEITH KHAN exited as creative director at the London-based venue, little more than a year after joining the team, due to a change in personal circumstances.

Arts Professional understands there are no immediate plans to replace Khan in the creative director role, and that Hackney Empire will instead take time to reflect on what is most needed in “key operational areas” going forward.

Sudworth is to join the venue in 2026, leaving his role as creative director at Birmingham Hippodrome, where he has worked since 2017.

He replaces JO HEMMANT, who has led Hackney Empire as CEO for 12 years.

Sudworth, who in 2010 became the first director of the Core at Corby Cube, said: “I’m delighted to be joining Hackney Empire after 10 wonderful years in Birmingham. It’s a truly iconic theatre, with huge impact locally, deep commitment to increasing access and opportunity, and supporting a new generation of creatives.

“I look forward to building on Jo’s work, collaborating with the board, the team, communities and partners – locally, nationally and internationally – to make Hackney ever more central to the UK theatre ecology.”

Sir WILLIAM ATKINSON, who chairs Hackney Empire’s board of trustees, added: “Chris’s impressive track record and clear ideas for the future marked him out as an outstanding candidate from the very outset.

“We are all very excited at the prospect of working alongside Chris to ensure that Hackney Empire continues to deliver outstanding theatre to its enthusiastic and diverse audiences.”