About Talking Birds

Since 1992 Talking Birds has been producing thoughtful, playful, resonant, mischievous and transformative meditations on people and place. Our work, which we call Theatre of Place, is characterised by a distinctive blend of humour, music and visual flair in venues both conventional and unconventional across the UK and internationally – from the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, to Kilkenny Livestock Mart; from a cavernous underground car park in Scarborough, to a decommissioned hospital in Coventry, to a giant aluminium whale which swallows up audiences one at a time.

We have created The Nest as a shared hub for Regenerative Creative Practice at heart of a green producing ecology. Within this open and caring environment, we aspire to make Art for Good, which we define as work that responds to the times in which we live and which aims to provide opportunities for dialogue and fresh perspectives; helps develop and promote empathy, human connection, social and ecological responsibility, and international understanding; and nurtures, supports and helps develop the next generation of artists and theatre makers (particularly via the Nest Residencies and F13 network in Coventry).

Talking Birds’ work champions the quirky, small, overlooked or unexpected, and chooses to sit just outside the mainstream. Our projects are built on: collaboration, conversation, participation, trust, warmth, generosity and sharing – and will be: fun(ny), accessible, gently provocative, ethical, relational and thoughtful.

Our values (Kindness, Brilliance, Transformation, Curiosity, Wellbeing, Collaboration) combined with our ‘six big ideas’ (about artist process & support; access & participation; climate conscience; agency, equity & diversity; nurture & resilience) – weave through our work and guide our choices and interactions.

We put accessibility at the heart of our work and are pioneering affordable captioning/audio description with The Difference Engine. We call ourselves ‘green theatre-makers’ and strive to make responsible choices when making work, conscious of our shared responsibility to fight climate change in order to help ensure a sustainable future for our planet.

Janet Vaughan

Co-Artistic Director

Janet has designed site specific and touring performances for unusual spaces, devised theatre and new writing, and started her career in Theatre in Education. As a freelance designer she has worked with Theatre Absolute, the Belgrade Theatre, and created a pop-up shop kit for the ground-breaking Retail Ready People in 2013. Janet’s designs were chosen to represent UK scenography at the Prague Quadrennial World Scenography Exhibitions in 1999 and 2015, and she was part of Julie’s Bicycle‘s first cohort of Creative Climate Leaders. She is a keen allotmenteer and wildlife gardener, and Advisory Board Member for the WMCA Community Environment Network. Janet was a primary school governor for 11 years and is/has been a board member at Ludic Rooms, Open Theatre & Gloucester Guildhall.

Derek Nisbet

Co-Artistic Director & Board Member

Derek is a composer for theatre and has created scores for most of Talking Birds’ productions over 30+ years. He oversees the company’s Outdoor Arts portfolio and is concerned with accessibility in its widest forms. Derek’s music has been performed in venues and unusual spaces around the world – from Coventry’s iconic Cathedral to a Livestock Mart in Kilkenny to a harbourside in Angra – and he has undertaken projects with leading artists/companies including Claire Cunningham, Cães do Mar, Black Country Touring, Orchestra of the Swan (including operas with young people Troy Story and Ant & Cleo – The Musical!), London Sinfonietta, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 & 4 including performing live with his ensemble The Sonoplasts on R3’s Words & Music. The Sonoplasts’ album Song Cycle was commissioned for Talking Birds’ 30th Anniversary.

Melissa Jordan

General Manager

Melissa has worked in arts administration in the Midlands for over a decade. She was previously General Manager at Ascension Dance and, prior to that, Assistant Sales and Box Office Manager at Warwick Arts Centre and has worked as a producer with Maokwo. Melissa began her career in retail, progressing to management before completing an apprenticeship in Cultural and Heritage Venue Operations at Belgrade Theatre. In 2019 she produced Holding the Centre, a hard hitting play staged in the Belgrade’s studio.

Philippa Cross

Executive Associate

Philippa has worked in arts policy and management for nearly 30 years. She has worked for the Tate Gallery, West Midlands Arts, Arts Council England WM and Creative Partnerships Coventry, as well as with a wide range of freelance clients. Her expertise lies particularly in strategic planning, organisational development, financial and project management, evaluation and supporting reflection. She has a particular interest in access and artist support, and has been a board member of the ITC. She holds an MA in European Cultural Policy and a Diploma in Coaching from the University of Warwick. Philippa supports small arts companies, and coaches individuals and teams on a freelance basis. She also makes quilts.

Lou Lomas

Outdoor Arts Producer

Lou has been working as a Freelance Producer and Project Manager for the past 12 years working regionally and nationally with Talking Birds Theatre Company, Appetite Stoke (The Kitchen Programme), Making More Outdoor Arts Council research, Imagineer Productions, Pif-Paf, The Bone Ensemble, Everybody Dance, Theatre Absolute , The Fabularium,  Black Country Touring, Frolicked, Stephanie Ridings/Tappin’ In, and many more. 

She was the Associate programmer for the Festival of Imagineers, and former Senior Producer (Advanced programme) for Coventry City of Culture Trust 2021, Producer for Shop Front Festival and was the Associate Producer for Bridge (Ambition for Excellence) with Imagineer.

She is passionate about the development of Outdoor work in the region and supporting companies working in Street Arts and Outdoor Sector and is currently a board Member for Outdoor Arts UK.

Andrea Mbarushimana is a writer, artist and community worker based in Coventry. Her collection, ‘The Africa in My House’ is available from Silhouette press. Andrea has been published in various lit mags and in the Diversifly anthology by Fairacre Press and has headlined in Coventry, London, Derby and Cork. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries and on various brick walls. Andrea’s been described as ‘a real searcher’ which feels about right.

Sujana Crawford is a poet, researcher and theatre-maker from Nepal, currently based in Yorkshire. She is interested in people, places and folklore.

Mahendra Patel is a Willenhall based drummer/percussionist and singer with a wealth of experience in leading community music workshops.

Jack Shuttleworth has been involved in Theatre in Education and community arts since 1985. His special interest has been the developing use of new technologies in performance and their impact on the interaction between audience and performers. Between 1996 and 2001 he was Company Development Manager for C&T, developing models of funding from unconventional sources. He has since worked as a Chiropractor and Health Promotion Specialist, and as part of the Social Inclusion and Diversity team at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry. He then worked with Bilston Craft Gallery as CraftPlay Coordinator before moving to work at FabLab in Coventry – a community space offering access to state-of-the-art computer-controlled tools like 3D printers and laser cutters as well as more traditional metal and wood working tools. Jack is also a pretty nifty folk musician.

Jess Pinson [vice-chair] works as a Programme Manager for Live and Local, enhancing community creativity in five market towns across the East and West Midlands. 

She previously worked for Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire, an organisation which helps all kinds of people experiencing isolation, poverty and disadvantage, and at Culture Coventry Trust programming creative events across their sites, predominantly at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.

Jess also works as a freelance producer, including on the Bridge project with Imagineer Productions, and for the Allesley Silas, a major community performance piece in Coventry in 2021. She sits on the steering group for Hillz FM, and volunteers with the Media Mania youth music organisation. Her background is in community, participatory and outdoor arts. 

Dan Thompson [chair] is an award-winning social artist, writer, and speaker living in Margate. His work is about people and places, and the stories that connect them.

Dan is also interested in the creation of social capital, in activating abandoned or underused spaces, and in DIY approaches to art, culture and social action. He produced Coventry City Council’s Void Space Strategy in 2009.

Dan has written a number of books on the activation of empty shops, including Pop Up Business For Dummies. He has also written for the Guardian and the Independent.

Dan is an experienced board member, having served with a-n for five years, representing 24,000 member artists.