Kully Thiarai

Kully Thiarai FRSA is an artistic and creative director, whose career began in theatre. With her appointment at National Theatre Wales in 2016, she became the first Asian person, and only second woman, to lead a national theatre company in Britain. She has held multiple artistic directorships, including, from 2020 to 2024, the role of creative director for LEEDS 2023 - the city's independent year of culture.
==Early life==
Born in Smethwick in the West Midlands, where her father was employed as a steel worker. Thiarai's Indian heritage meant that she was racially abused as a child. She initially studied social work at Bradford University, but was inspired by performances by Gay Sweatshop and Phoenix Dance at Theatre in the Mill to build a career in theatre.
==Career==
In 1994 Thiarai was appointed artistic director of Red Ladder Theatre Company, a role she held until 1998. She moved work as artistic director of Contact Theatre in Manchester, creating a youth-focussed "artistic vision and operational model" for the organisation.
At Leicester Haymarket Theatre Thiarai was s co-artistic director with Paul Kerryson. She continued the work of Vayu Naidu in building programmming that engaged with the city's south Asian audiences. She has used the term 'porous' to describe how to integrate communities practices with more traditional forms of theatre. Productions during her tenure included Bones by Kay Adshead.
In 2013 she was the founding director of Cast in Doncaster, where she worked to place the theatre as a "living room" for the town. One of her most noted productions was an adaptation of Kes by Philip Osment; another was the opening show The Glee Club by Richard Cameron, a playwright from Doncaster. Thiarai left Cast in May 2016 to join National Theatre Wales (NTW) as artistic director and CEO.
At National Theatre Wales she was the first Asian person, and only second woman, to lead one of the national theatre companies in the United Kingdom. Notable productions included: We’re Still Here, about the Tata Steelworks; The Soul Exchange, about Teddy Boys in Butetown, where audiences travelled in taxis as part of the performance; During her tenure, NTW was criticised for not doing enough to support Welsh artists, claims Thiarai rebuffed stating during the "history of the company is that almost 80% of all of its work has been led by Welsh artists". Thiarai moved to work as Creative Director of LEEDS 2023 in 2020. On her departure, critic Gary Raymond wrote:
From January 2020 Thiarai was the Creative Director and CEO of LEEDS 2023. Initially proposed as a bid to the host city for European Capital of Culture, post-Brexit exclusion from European Union initiatives meant that Leeds could no longer bid. This resulted in Leeds City Council and partners deciding to run an independent year of culture in 2023. Thiarai stated in December 2023 that, through complex programming and community-engaged practice, the year had "put Leeds on the cultural map, nationally and internationally – and I think we can certainly say that that's happened in the way people talk about the city".
In March 2023 she was appointed as the next chair of Paines Plough. In November 2023 she joined the Board of National Theatre of Scotland.
==Awards and recognition==
* Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
* Honorary Fellow of the Royal Central School of Speeach and Drama
* Judge for the BBC World Service's International Radio Play Writing Competition
* The Stage 100 List (2024)
* Cultural Icon - Northern Power List (2020)
* Tonic Award (2018)
Category:Artists
Category:Creative directors
Category:People from Smethwick
Category:English people