Name: Sam Parker
Job Title: Artist Development Producer
Pathways Programme: Pathways to Arts, Culture & Heritage 2025
Organisation Summary: We believe everyone in the South West should be able to live a full creative life. We’re here to bring people together for brilliant creative experiences; to tell extraordinary stories, and to understand each other better.
Each year more than 100,000 people see events at the Northcott Theatre and at the Barnfield Theatre in the city centre. Thousands more participate in our creative activities: we offer vital support for South West theatre makers though our artist development programme; we offer life-long creative opportunities to children as young as five all the way through to adulthood; and we work closely with communities, schools and other charities across the South West to give opportunities to people who need them most.
We are a registered charity, bringing joy and changing lives through theatre.
How did hosting an intern via the Professional Pathways programme benefit you and your organisation/department?
Charlotte, our intern, was interested in literary work, and her internship aligned perfectly with the peak of our writer support programme. This means her insightful feedback has been directly worked in to ongoing conversations with writers, helping them improve their work and clarify their intentions in the coming weeks and months.
How was your experience of hosting a Pathways intern?
The experience was completely positive. Charlotte was a valuable addition to the team. The majority of our time together was in-person, owing to the huge amount of delivery taking place across our artist development strand. Part of the job is also representing the theatre at shows and events, and so there were a couple of trips to the theatre too. I drew Charlotte a schedule up ahead of time which detailed what she was doing day to day and where, with agreed tasks across the period of the internship also decided at the beginning of the programme.