I wanted to run the Gate Theatre because I fell in love with the space, its international outlook, and its history of producing trailblazing, radical theatre. I'd never been an Artistic Director before, so there were also loads I didn't know about what it might entail.
Since I started, I've begun to understand more about the amazing community we are part of – both on our doorstep, and just up the road in North Kensington. It's one of the most diverse areas of London. Finding ways to engage with our locals, getting out of our building and working with our community partners, as well as making our work as accessible as possible, is a really important part of what we do. It forms part of how we think about who we are – we make innovative international theatre, and we want that to be in conversation with our audience and our local community.
The Gate is a really unique company because of how small we are, how limited our resources are – and how far we make them stretch! Nearly all of us in the team – including me – are doing the jobs they have here for the first time. We are a young, diverse, dynamic team, and we enjoy the challenge of working out how to do things for the first time, with the amazing support of our Board, and opportunities to learn and develop as we go. We produce work we are proud of and enjoy the challenge of taking on increasingly ambitious projects.
The Gate welcomes, and indeed thrives on, passion and love as much as it does a lengthy CV or amazing qualifications. So if you are thinking it might be your dream job but you wish you had a few more years of experience, or more qualifications, please don't let that be the reason you don't apply. The Gate is a place to learn, take on new challenges and do things for the first time.
Ellen McDougall
Artistic Director
