We work together to strengthen the voices of parents & carers. We encourage a new mindset, that parents and carers enrich the performing arts. We show what’s possible by amplifying the successes of our partner organisations. We respect and value what everyone brings to PiPA.
We respect and value what everyone brings to PiPA.
We work together to strengthen the voices of carers and parents.
We encourage a new mindset – that parents and carers enrich the performing arts.
We show what’s possible by amplifying the successes of our partner organisations.
With an anti-racist approach, we seek to address the intersections of race, gender, class, disability, and sexuality with caregiving responsibilities.
This is an ongoing journey, and we are dedicated to continuous listening, learning, reflection, and action.
We may not always get it right but we are open to feedback and ready to listen.
As a team, we will approach this work with humility and determination to create lasting change.
They were there to confront the career-stalling impact of caring responsibilities on working in the performing arts. They heard from actors suddenly unable to work because they’d had a baby and dads missing the birth of their child because ‘the show must go on.’
Three months later, PiPA was born. Actor and director turned changemakers, they set about building a force for equity in the arts. (Photo 1 & 2 by Abby Warren)
Bringing together a consortium of organisations including The Old Vic, Equity and UK Theatre, they started to reshape policy and practice.
Their work sparked sector-wide transformation, with organisations urgently embracing the need to support this struggle and under-represented community of parents and carers.
This fuding allowed PiPA to become a small but mighty sector support organisation, and play a part in the agenda for change and inclusivity in the performing arts.
In 2021, PiPA officially become an Investment Principles Support Organisation as part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
The future for PiPA and the performing arts is bold, inclusive, and flexible. Workplaces are evolving and offering support, adaptability, and equity.
But we have to keep up the work and continue to support and educate the sector – so that a new generation of creatives can thrive without compromising care, creativity, or ambition.
Emma Armitage is a producer and access consultant based in Dorset. Emma works across finance, operations and development for Disability Arts Online, a disabled-led National Portfolio Organisation. She has a background in theatre as both a theatre-maker and researcher, developing devised, interdisciplinary and socially engaged projects. Her practice is shaped by her experience as a disabled woman with caring responsibilities, and is rooted in alternative models of working centred on care and flexibility. She holds an MA in Arts Management and Cultural Policy.
Thomas is Head of Programmes at Generator, the North’s leading music development agency, and has worked in the north east creative sector for over two decades. His previous roles include Contemporary Programme Manager at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, and as General Manager for PiPA partner organisation balletLORENT.
He has two young children and is a passionate advocate for expanding parental leave so that all new parents have fair and equitable access, regardless of gender, employment status, or length of service.
Laura is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has over 25 years’ experience in Human Resources. She spent 14 years at the BBC. After taking a career break to have her 4th child Laura went on to spend 5 years at University of the Arts , London as Associate Director of HR. In 2022 she joined the National Theatre as Director of People. Along with her work on the PiPA board she is Chair of Trustees at The Theatre Shed, an inclusive theatre company based in Buckinghamshire where she lives with her husband, 4 children and dog.
Gemma is Head of Finance at the Wales Millennium Centre and is a member of the Senior Management Team. The Centre is a Charity working closely with communities and young people, bringing the arts to a wider audience as well as being a presenting house for large-scale productions. She worked at the Young Vic and Lyric Hammersmith before moving into the commercial theatre sector, working on a number of commercial productions including Dirty Dancing, Mathew Bourne’s Swan Lake and The Bodyguard.
Rebekah is Executive Director and Co-CEO of the Unicorn Theatre, the UK’s leading producing theatre for children and young people. With more than 20 years’ experience across the subsidised and commercial theatre sectors, she has held senior leadership roles at the Royal Court Theatre, The Old Vic, Curve Leicester and the Marlowe Theatre.
Taio is the Genesis Fellow/Associate Director of the Young Vic. He has also been Associate Director of Kiln Theatre. He is RTYDS Resident Director at Sheffield Theatres. As a director he works across theatre and installations. Director credits include: Hamilton (Resident Director). An Unfinished Man (The Yard
Theatre), NW Trilogy (Kiln Theatre), HOME Digital (Young Vic Theatre), Macbeth (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Hang (The Crucible, Sheffield), White Devil (East 15 Acting School), Home – Installation (Young Vic Theatre).
Constance Oak is a Freelance Stage Manager and Facilitator and has worked for a number of major venues including The Royal Court, National Theatre, Young Vic, and West End.
Julia leads nine of the company’s regional theatres – Edinburgh Playhouse, Glasgow King’s, Theatre Royal Glasgow, Sunderland Empire, Manchester Palace and Opera House, Liverpool Empire, Bristol Hippodrome and Milton Keynes Theatre. She has previously held the role of Executive Director at the Almeida Theatre, as well as Group Head of Creative Learning for ATG, having started her career as an Education Officer working in regional theatre. Julia was a Clore Fellow in 2007/08.
Noriko works as a busy freelance musician performing with various orchestras in the country and is also passionate about teaching. She has a strong interest in giving opportunities to access and learn music to all, especially to those with additional needs (her brother has Down’s Syndrome and plays organ and french horn!). She is also the Education Officer for English Symphony Orchestra organising their outreach and education projects.
Working at PiPA is all about flexibility and autonomy.
We’re a remote organisation, who meet up every now and then.
We’re proud of the way we work and what it offers our people.
