Company Three founder to step down

Fifteen years after founding Company Three, Artistic Director and joint-CEO NED GLASIER has announced his departure in early 2024. 

Since 2008 Glasier has led the Islington-based theatre company, working with young people and supporting teenagers to develop their skills.

Throughout his leadership, he has devised and directed more than 40 plays, and supported more than a thousand youth theatre companies through training, devising guides and mentoring. 

He wrote and co-directed Brainstorm at the National Theatre and for BBC iPlayer, which has seen over 300 adaptations internationally. 

“After fifteen years, it feels right for me to step down and make space for a new generation of leaders to run Company Three,” Glasier said. 

“I cannot begin to articulate how important Company Three – and particularly the young people in it – have been to me.

“We have recently become an NPO, have a brilliant staff and trustee team and the most inspiring and committed group of young people you’ll ever meet. 

“I’m both excited and daunted to try some new ways of working – both inside and outside of theatre.”

Former Company Three member SEGEN YOSEF said: “Ned to me isn’t just the Artistic Director, but is a listener, advocate and a fighter for young people's voices to be heard.

"He not only created a safe haven for me, but a space to practise my craft."

Long-term collaborator EMILY LIM added: “Ned's work should be the blueprint for youth theatres, and theatres everywhere. 

“He is the true embodiment of the company's beautiful, iconic values – to be brave, be kind, and be yourself – and learning from his peerless practice, his enormous heart and formidable spirit has been an extraordinarily special and formative experience.”

The search for Glasier’s successor will begin in early autumn.