Women with brown hair wearing a white shirt and yellow vest, standing against a light-colored wall. Credit Emilie Lashmar.

I bring over 20 years of experience in community development and theatre-making to every collaboration. As a Clore Fellow and CEO of Brighton People’s Theatre, I understand both the creative and organisational demands of co-creative work. Whether you need someone to lead a production, support your students, or support a team think more deeply about their practice, I can help.

Develop your creative team

I support creative teams to work safely, ethically and playfully with focus on the quality of the co-creative process and product.

Create confidence

I help artists feel well supported and resourced to lead a co-creative process with confidence.

Generate new knowledge

I enable artists to support each other through exploration of the complexity of our craft to generate new knowledge.

Why work with me?

A woman with long brown hair wearing a white shirt and yellow sweater vest, standing against a plain light gray background, looking up and to her right. Credit Emilie Lashmar.

I am the CEO and Artistic Director of Brighton People’s Theatre.

A theatre maker and community builder, I work to change how theatre is produced and consumed to make it more reflective of the world we live in.

All my work has co-creation at its heart.

I advise and support a wide range of clients through my freelance work, from individual artists, theatre companies, drama schools, voluntary and public sector organisations and businesses.

Recent clients include the International Community Arts Festival, Rotterdam, Leeds University, Company Three, Lighthouse, Chichester University, Portsmouth University and Guildford Conservatoire.

I also create spaces for artists to reflect on their practice and generate new knowledge about co-creation  - learn more on the Let's Create podcast.


How you can work with me

Outline of a person with long hair, sitting in front of a computer monitor.

Executive Producer

Are you leading a co-created show and need experienced support across the whole journey?

I can be part of your team. As Executive Producer I can support the development of your co-created show, from concept to last night party. I support artists and producers at every stage of the co-creative journey. I can work remotely via zoom with occasional face to face involvement. I can help the creative team to work safely, ethically and playfully with focus on the quality of both process and product.

Outline drawing of a teacher pointing to a blackboard with a stick, with a person standing nearby.

Guest Lecturer

Are you looking for someone to challenge and inspire your students’ understanding of their role as artists?

I can deliver guest lectures to your students. I regularly visit Universities and Drama Schools to give lectures and facilitate workshops. I work best face to face, enabling students to reflect critically on their leadership qualities, skills and responsibilities as artists leading co-creative practice. I can help your students grow in confidence by enabling them to recognise the depth and complexity of their craft.

Two hands holding a key.

Peer Supporter

Are you an artist feeling the weight of a co-creative process and wondering if you’re doing it right?

I can walk alongside you. As an artist who leads co-creative practice, I understand the complex challenges you are facing. I provide a safe space for you to reflect on your practice and plan next steps at any stage of a co-creative journey. I can work remotely or face to face. I can help you to feel well supported and resourced to lead your creative process with confidence.

Icon showing three stylized human figures seated at desks, representing a classroom or seminar setting.

Facilitator

Do you want your team or conference to leave with genuine new insight into co-creative practice?

I can facilitate groups of artists or producers to reflect on their practice. I can visit your team or conference to lead a workshop that enables artists to dig deep into the qualities they embody, skills they acquire and responsibilities they hold when leading a co-creative process. I can also hold this space online for groups of artists. I can help artists to support each other to generate new knowledge about co-creative practice.

  • 'Naomi Alexander delivered an outstanding workshop for our Audiences Engagement and Participation MA students at the University of Leeds as part of our Culture and Participation module. She is an exceptional facilitator: warm, clear, and highly skilled in creating space for open, reflective and energised discussion. Her session introduced students to vital questions about the ethics and practice of facilitation, rooted in deep experience and underpinned by her research. Naomi’s work is a must for anyone working in participatory practice or serious about doing co-production well. I would highly recommend her as both a practitioner and thinker in this space.’

    Alexander De Little, Lecturer in Creative Practice and Performance, University of Leeds

  • "Co-creation is fast being recognised for what it has always been - a deeply honed craft. It's not something that anyone can just pick up and do - it requires knowledge, practice, understanding and a conscious human-ness. It has its own inherent artistry. Naomi's important, pioneering work will help all of us who make collaborative work with young people and community groups to better name and understand what we do - and to help others learn how to do it too."

    Ned Glasier, Founder and Former Artistic Director, Company Three

  • “To assume collaborative practice/co-creation are things everyone can do - devalues and fails to see the incredible skill set, expertise and experience that those who do it daily, whose practice - is centred on communities, inclusion, radical non-hierarchical pedagogies and care. Thinking of the anatomy of collaborative creation - helps us see all the tools that enable brilliant facilitation to happen. Naomi has given language, and labels, to these qualities and skills - and, ‘in seeing these gifts’ - we are able to learn how to be better, to do better, to learn and dream up new ways forward.”

    Kane Husbands, Founder of The Pappy Show

  • “It was great to support Naomi on her research journey and see her pull together such insightful findings on leadership in co-created practice. Her report is already on the reading list for my students. Her website and podcasts are a welcome addition and promise to make an important contribution to professional development for those already working in the sector. I look forward to using them further in my own work.”

    Leila Jancovich, Professor in Cultural Policy and Participation at Leeds University

  • "Finally!! A piece of research that delves into the world of socially engaged performance making and the qualities and skills needed for an artist who chooses to co-create work with their community. I can't believe how long overdue this piece of work is."

    Jess Thorpe, Co-Artistic Director of Glass Performance