Jude Kelly

Who is Jude Kelly?

Judith Pamela Kelly OBE is a theatre director and producer from Liverpool, England.

Kelly founded Solent People's Theatre, a touring company in 1976, and was artistic director of the Battersea Arts Centre from 1980 to 1985. In 1986, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. She later became the founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse from 1990–2002, where as Artistic Director and then CEO she established it as an acknowledged centre for excellence. As the Artistic Director, she sat on the National Advisory Committee for Culture, Creativity and Education, led by Ken Robinson that wrote the influential All Our Futures report which led to significant investment in young people's creative and cultural education.

She has directed over 100 productions including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, the English National Opera, the Châtelet in Paris and in the West End.

Jude left the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2002 to found Metal, artistic laboratory spaces in Liverpool and Southend. Metal provides a platform where creative hunches and ideas can be pursued. It also involves cross-art collaborations and developing strategic projects to affect the built environment, people, communities and philosophies.