The Board

AIDAN GROUNDS – CHAIR

Aidan is Producer at Rodeo Productions, which he co-founded with Rebecca Quigley.

Rodeo specialises in the development, management and producing of high-impact, large-scale theatre and live entertainment. With a strong reputation for delivering ambitious, high-quality productions, Rodeo works across a wide range of genres and international markets, with world-leading composers, creatives and writers.

Current credits include Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular (London & Australia); Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing (Broadway & West End); and general managing Sinatra The Musical (West End); the critically acclaimed Operation Mincemeat (UK Tour); and Fighting with my Family (in development). Recent productions include Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Lyric Hammersmith); Sam Holcroft’s A Mirror (West End); Indigo (Curve Leicester); and House of Life (Edinburgh Fringe, London, NYC & Oslo). The global hit musical & Juliet has played in the West End, on tour in the UK & Ireland, and Australia & Singapore; and it continues to run on Broadway, on tour in North America and opens this summer in Stuttgart and Utrecht.

Rodeo provide executive producing and consultancy services to major entertainment companies and creative institutions, including Working Title, Netflix, Maddison Wells Live and Avalon. Rodeo also provide venue management services to companies including The Seelig Group and Immersive Octopus.

Aidan is also Investment Partner at Tilted and a member of the Advisory Board for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting. He was previously a Trustee for Stage One.

Prior to Rodeo Productions, Aidan was Associate Producer and General Manager at Greene Light Stage where he general managed & Juliet in the West End and worked with Rocket Stage, a theatre production company co-founded by Elton John and David Furnish in partnership with Sally Greene. He was previously Executive Producer at Curve Leicester, and he has worked in his hometown of Southampton at both Nuffield Southampton Theatres as Director of Creative Programmes and as Creative Producer at Mayflower Studios. He has also worked in the fundraising team at the Young Vic, with music company Air-Edel, and with producer Thelma Holt CBE.

He was the inaugural Executive Director of Reading Rep which he started while studying at Oxford University. Aidan has been supported by UnLtd and EY’s Accelerate Programme for social entrepreneurs. He is proud of his Vincentian and Indian background.

ADAM BAGHDADI
Adam Baghdadi is a frequent angel investor in UK theatre, having previously run the Oxford University Dramatic Society as a student and spent time as a director, actor and producer both at Oxford and as part of the National Youth Theatre. Shows he has supported include &Juliet (UK tour), Good (Harold Pinter Theatre), Long Day’s Journey into Night (Wyndham’s Theatre), A Mirror (Trafalgar Theatre) and Every Brilliant Thing (West End- @sohoplace, Broadway- Hudson Theatre). He has also featured in publications including the Financial Times discussing the importance of evolving funding structures in UK theatre

Adam is a Managing Director in the Arrow Global central investment team and head of Lending Solutions, based in London. Arrow is a European asset manager of credit and real estate with assets under management of over €125 Bn. He has over 15 years of investment experience in credit, lending and corporate finance.

Adam holds an MA in Economics and Management (1^st class honours) from Oxford University.

JUDITH FOSS
Judith joined the Board in August 2021.  With extensive executive level experience across both the private and not-for-profit sectors, previous roles include Executive Director of HR with Guide Dogs and Executive Director of People and Culture with Catalyst Housing.  Awards include the “Brand, Purpose and Values” Business Culture Award and she is a member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Other current roles include Board Vice Chair and Chair of the People.  She has lived in the Reading area for many years and is passionate about the role that the arts and culture can play in transforming lives and local communities.

JONATHAN HOLLEY
A senior executive with experience in engaging and galvanising people around transformation and delivery of Innovation and technology. Currently Transformation Director of Breaking Barriers Innovations, and recently Interim MD of Ways into Work CIC, Jonathan’s background is in IT, Property, FM, Supported Employment for people with disabilities, Management Consultancy at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Business Leadership. Jonathan has designed and delivered innovative change and transformation programmes within the public and private sectors including FMCG, Retail, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services and Government across EMEA and Asia.

Christie OCarroll
Christie was the Associate Director of Reading Rep, from 2015 – 2023 working to build the company from its infancy, through a capital project to being Reading’s regional theatre with national recognition. This means that Christie has, in some way, worked in every capacity possible for the company, from setting up and running ENGAGE to manning the box office in the old space, from directing shows to working on get outs. She knows and cares passionately about the company.

One of her responsibilities was writing the Equality and Diversity Inclusion strategy and ensuring that it was in embedded in every aspect of the company’s work. She also oversaw the close relationship between Activate Learning and Reading Rep, creating opportunities for the two companies to partner together.

Prior to working for Reading Rep, Christie was the Drama Artist for the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, as well as a freelance director and facilitator working throughout the UK and internationally. She won the Bruce Miller Award for directing and a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship for her work in prisons. She was previously on the board for the North Edinburgh Arts Centre and the National Association of Youth Theatre and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

TARIQ RIFAAT
Tariq is Head of Technical and Production at Punchdrunk, the world-renowned immersive theatre company, where he oversees the planning, development and delivery of multiple concurrent projects worldwide.

He has worked in theatre and live events for more than 35 years, beginning his career in stage management before progressing into production management across the West End, major producing theatres and international touring. Tariq has held senior production management roles at both the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre.

Prior to Punchdrunk, Tariq was Managing Director of Steeldeck Rentals Ltd, leading the company’s strategic and operational development alongside the delivery of temporary staging and seating solutions for theatre, festivals, TV, film and live events.

Tariq also participates in mentorship programmes with several institutions, supporting students and early-career professionals in Production Management and Technical Theatre, helping to develop the next generation of theatre makers.

PREVIOUS BOARD MEMBERS

Thelma Holt CBE
Laura Gater
Alexandra Rowlands
Siobhan White
Emma Donald
Ian Germer
Natasha Ratter
Alexandra Dewis
Donna Pentelow
Nicky Jones
Piers Elliott
Suzanne Stallard
Alan Stacey