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‘My first year with Red Ladder has been uplifting and inspiring – and this is just the beginning’ – Cheryl Martin
When I took over from Rod Dixon as Red Ladder’s artistic director at the start of the year I knew it was going to be exhilarating, exciting and challenging, and boy was I right – it’s been a hell of a year… and I’ve loved it.
Moving to a new city, as anyone who’s done it will tell you, can be tough so I made sure I found time in between my busy schedules to get to know Leeds a bit and meet some of the people from other arts and culture organisations based here, which was hugely beneficial.
One of the best things I did was run a series of workshops for writers and directors during the summer. I always start with writers because they are the backbone of any production, whether it’s a musical, comedy or drama. You need good pieces and being new to the area I wanted to see what kind of writers were out there, and those I met were really good. I actually picked one of them to co-work on Red Ladder’s Christmas production for 2025 (more on this in the coming months!) because she was so good.
The workshops were full within 24 hours of being advertised which just shows that demand for this kind of thing really is there. Seeing the writers and directors working together and bouncing ideas off one another was inspiring and has fuelled my desire to do more of this kind of thing because there are so many talented people out there, they just need a platform. For me, the next step is to be able to find a way to hire some of these creatives and showcase their work because it’s important to show that you can make a sustainable living as an artist in Leeds.

Cheryl with workshop attendees.
It would be great, too, if Red Ladder could set up a partnership with a local drama school and I would love to help set up a new writing festival in the city – that would be my absolute dream.
A lot of my work this year has been looking at how we do these things with a limited budget. I think collaborations are increasingly important in the creative arts and it’s something I’m keen to embrace and looking to develop next year and beyond.
One of the benefits of having a show like Sanctuary to get stuck into was it meant I got to see and meet a lot of our audiences. This gave me a better understanding of the connection between Red Ladder and its audiences which, as I found out, is a very emotional one. I had people coming up to me saying, ‘I saw my first Red Ladder show when I was 14’ and now they’re in their 40s.
We are very good at bringing theatre to different communities and in non-traditional venues and it’s something I want to do more of, because there are some working-class groups that we perhaps haven’t been able to reach. If you want people to come and see your show then you have to show a real interest in their community.
If the workshops were a personal highlight, then so, too, was seeing Sanctuary really resonate with audiences as we took it on tour to community centres, churches and theatres. The reaction from people was incredible and seeing the standing ovations we got from the beginning of the run right to the end really made all the hard work worthwhile.
People trust us to bring them something that others don’t, so telling a story about a failed Iranian asylum seeker might seem a strange choice for a musical but everywhere we went audience members were really moved by it.

Sanctuary: L-R Emily Chattle (Fiona), CAPA College Chorus (Vox) & Aein Nasseri (Alland) credit Robling Photography
So how do I look back on my first year? Pride and joy are two words that spring to mind. Having two national touring shows – We’re Not Going Back and Sanctuary, not to mention our brilliant Red Ladder Local programme – certainly stretched our resources. But life would be boring without challenges, and being able to produce all this to such a high standard really shows what a close-knit and talented team we are.
Some people probably think that being an artistic director is glamorous and yes, it does have its moments, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it too. When I joined Red Ladder, my hope was to find new voices to complement the many wonderful artists we already work with. I like to think I’ve made a start there and the challenge now is to continue building on these foundations.
Main image L-R: Jennifer Pugh on guitar with Cheryl in Sanctuary rehearsals credit Robling Photography