Trustees

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CHARITY STATUS

Beckenham Theatre Centre Ltd is a registered charity, staffed entirely by volunteers, which has been committed to serving, involving and delighting the local community for almost 70 years. Registered number 236434 (England & Wales). We have a board of up to 16 Trustees, elected by a quorum of members at an annual general meeting.

THE TRUSTEES

The current board of Trustees is as follows:

Malcolm Jones

Chair – Malcolm Jones

Malcolm has been a member of BTC since 1990 and was previously a Trustee and Chair of Trustees for nearly 10 years. He has acted and directed in many BTC productions over the years, including both adult and children’s theatre. Away from BTC, he lectures on theatre for the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Arts Society. He also works on reminiscence theatre and film projects for Age Exchange Arts Charity in Blackheath and lectures on Theatre for Road Scholar USA.

Mike Darbon

Secretary – Mike Darbon

Mike joined BTC 11 years ago after a 30-year career at the BBC. Previously he worked in the professional theatre in Coventry, Bromley and Leatherhead. He spends a lot of his time directing plays at both Beckenham Theatre and the Bromley Little Theatre and, by accident rather than design, has become something of a pantomime specialist.  Last year he directed Aladdin at Christmas and was previously responsible for Red Riding Hood (2012), Puss in Boots (2013) and Babes in the Wood (2016). A trustee since 2013, he also looks after the theatre’s publicity and runs the website with Steve White as well as taking in the role of secretary this year.

Treasurer

Karen Peters-Parker

Membership Secretary – Karen Peters-Parker

Karen has been a member of BTC since 2011 and has enjoyed performing in a variety of different plays over the past 7 years. She loves Beckenham Theatre centre both for its homely quirkiness and for the fabulous people she got to know through becoming a member. She now hopes to be an effective member of the Trustees and an efficient Membership Secretary. Away from the theatre, Karen is a teacher at an SEN school in West Wickham and her interests include theatre trips, reading, cooking and walking her dog.

Lorna Thomas

Box Office – Lorna Thomas

Lorna has been a member of Beckenham Theatre for about 40 years! And a trustee for more years than she can remember. There was a time when she prompted on most productions but she does far fewer these days. However, she still runs the theatre box office and hopes that her friendly demeanour makes everyone feel welcome at Beckenham Theatre!

Other Trustees

Emma Berryman

Emma Berryman – Emma joined BTC’s children’s theatre in 1984 as a mere child and has been in more plays than she can remember, treading the boards in pantos, musicals, dramas and her favourite genre, comedy.  She throws herself full-on, even performing as a mummy duck whilst 6 months pregnant.

Dedicated to the Children’s and Youth group, having been the director back in the early ’90s,  Emma has now been in this role for the last 9 years and has been a driving force behind the implementation of the second Saturday session and the growth within the groups. Together with Louise Garraway and Fiona Vail, she hopes to continue this success for years to come.

Emma has been a Trustee and Chair of the theatre previously and looks forward to this second stint!

Outside of the theatre, Emma runs a Rainbow unit, works for a very successful voiceover agency, promotes body confidence and inclusivity for all and is the proud mum to 3 boys, 2 of which are following in her footsteps and becoming the new family dynasty at BTC. She is also a granny and has a 105-year-old tortoise called Tina.

Fleur Buckley

Fleur Buckley – Fleur Buckley first performed at BTC in 1977 and has thoroughly enjoyed, over the years, acting and directing in the unique space that is Beckenham Theatre. She has also been a Trustee for many years and will continue to face the challenge of helping take care of this wonderful old building.

Louise Garraway

Louise Garraway – Louise joined Beckenham Theatre when she moved to South London as a newly qualified teacher in 2002 and it quickly became a second home. She ran the children’s theatre for 9 years, as well as performing in and directing numerous plays. She volunteered as a member of the production panel and served as a trustee for 8 years.

Returning to the children’s theatre 2 years ago – with Emma, Fiona and a wonderful group of talented, funny and thoughtful young people – reignited her passion for the place. She became a trustee again in 2020 to safeguard the children’s theatre so that it can continue to provide arts education, stagecraft and a second home to local young people for years to come.

Away from the theatre, Louise works for Teach First, a charity committed to ending educational inequality in the UK. She is also a busy mum to a star-struck son, who cannot wait until he’s old enough to join Saturday workshops!

Chris Raven

Chris Raven – Chris has been a member of the Beckenham Theatre Centre since 2018 when he joined the cast of that year’s production of Tribes. Since then he has been involved in various other productions, including the last 2 pantomimes, Mother Goose and Aladdin. He loves the strong sense of history and community the theatre has gathered around itself.

 

Theatre Roles

Children’s & Youth Theatre

  • Emma Berryman
  • Louise Garraway

Properties & Wardrobe Coordinator

  • Clare Spenser

Bromley Theatre Guild Representative

  • Karen Peters-Parker

Publicity & Website

  • Mike Darbon
  • Steve White (Webdezined)

Health & Safety

  • Emma Berryman
  • Louise Garraway

Safeguarding

  • Emma Berryman
  • Louise Garraway

Backstage & Technical

  • Phil Shackleton (Lighting)
  • Michael Spencer (Sound)

Theatre Calendar

  • Mike Darbon

You?

We have space for up to sixteen Trustees, elected by the members at the AGM.

If you think you can help to run a really exciting theatrical charity, please apply before October.

There’s plenty to get involved with.