Sherman Theatre names next artistic director

FRANCESCA GOODRIDGE has been appointed artistic director of Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. She will take up the post in January 2026, succeeding JOE MURPHY.

A theatre director from Swansea, Goodridge was associate artistic director of Theatr Clwyd and the first recipient of the Carne Traineeship for directors in Wales.

Previously, she served as the trainee director at The Other Room and a development artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

During lockdown, she co-founded the online play-reading company The Far Away Plays, championing Welsh and Wales-based artists.

Goodridge is also a guest director and visiting lecturer at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and Leeds Conservatoire.

Chief executive of the Sherman, JULIA BARRY said: “Francesca comes to us armed with a breadth of imaginative ideas, and the prospect of working alongside her to bring those ideas to life and to share them with our audiences is incredibly exciting.

Goodridge added: “Growing up in south Wales has shaped not only the work I make, but also how I want to make it. Our culture is intrinsically collaborative and creative, and that’s how I want to lead the Sherman.

“My ambition is to build on Sherman Theatre’s position as the vital, trailblazing force it is, not only in Wales but across the UK and globally, creating exceptional theatre in both English and Welsh by professionals and with the community.”