We announce today that the Chair of our Board of Trustees Caro Newling is stepping down from her role after nine years. Our Artistic Directors James and George pay tribute to a true legend of PP…
We’ve long been in thrall to Caro’s brilliance. As graduates running our fledgling company nabokov we read Matt Wolf’s book Stepping Into Freedom which captured the magic of the Mendes era Donmar at its hit factory heights. On stage, film stars fronted the hottest tickets in town while behind the scenes an extraordinary operation transformed a tiny warehouse with no funding into one of the mightiest theatres in the world. The mastermind and maestro of that operation was Caro Newling.
Years later when she agreed to become our Chair at PP we had the incredible opportunity to work alongside one of our heroes. Caro’s passion, imagination, inventiveness and drive has been the bedrock of everything we’ve done since. Galvanising, enabling, envisioning, problem-solving, mentoring, miracle-working, Caro has been our constant champion and confidante. Through strategies, business plans, rebrands, campaigns and fundraising drives her entrepreneurialism, wisdom and skill has powered Paines Plough.
Caro’s superpowers were never more evident than during the four years from conception to launch of Roundabout. Her indomitable belief in the project, acumen, advocacy, extensive contacts book and flair for corralling support and raising funds forged a dream into reality.
Our gratitude to Caro is shared by all our colleagues at PP past and present, our stakeholders and funders, our co-producers and partners and most importantly the hundreds of playwrights and artists whose work Caro has enabled, and the audiences across the world who have experienced it.
We’re thrilled that Caro will be succeeded by Kim Grant whose vision and leadership we have hugely valued as Chair of our Finance, Audit and Risk committee in recent years. Kim is the perfect person to take on Caro’s mantle and propel PP to an exciting future.
James & George
