Polka Staff

Artistic & Programming

Jonathan Lloyd - Artistic Director

My job is mainly deciding what plays Polka should do, and who should work on them. It’s thinking about who they’re for, and why anyone would want to see them in the first place. And sometimes I write scripts, and sometimes I direct productions. Polka is a fantastic place to work. It’s been part of the community and part of children’s lives for over 30 years, with a brilliant, dedicated group of staff here. I love the creative side of my job more than anything. Every week is different. I love meeting writers, directors, designers, companies with great ideas. I love following an idea through from its earliest spark to its final flourish, and working with a talented creative team who make it happen. I love seeing the impact the shows have on our audiences. If something doesn’t work, I get really annoyed or disappointed and when something hits home, or triggers a great reaction, it’s the best, most satisfying feeling in the world.

Roman Stefanski - Associate Director

Hello, my name is Roman. You may have seen me around at the theatre because I have been here for over 28 years directing and acting in various shows over the decades. I now work freelance at Polka and help the theatre as a consultant advising on all aspects of puppetry as I have learnt a lot over the years and am now able to advise on how best to present this form of theatre. I still direct and also pass my skills on to drama students at various colleges. I am technically skilled as well and still help with a little maintenance and decorating around the building – currently the 30^th anniversary exhibition in the display cases were created by me with help from my colleagues. I love talking with people that visit Polka so if you see me do stop me and have a chat some time.

Jo Belloli - Associate Producer – Early Years

I work part-time for Polka, and have for many years. I think I have a great job. I work closely with Janna, our Head of Education to try to support Jon, our Artistic Director, in planning the most appealing and engaging productions to keep audiences wanting to come to Polka. This involves seeing other theatre productions and meeting other theatre-makers, plus reading books and scripts, and lots of emailing and talking to people!  It’s all about understanding what could work well in our two theatre spaces, and how visitors can enjoy a visit to Polka, even if they are not coming to see a performance. I have a very special interest in theatre for very young children, and my favourite part of the building is the Adventure Theatre (although I love our garden, too).  I plan the programme of shows that we present in the Adventure Theatre, and I am always on the look out to find new performances to come in, especially for babies and toddlers.  I believe you are never too young to come to Polka, and that the keenness and openness of a very, very small person is so great that there is scope for all sorts of theatre experiences.  Polka is a great place to work, where we all really care about what we do. There is a team of people here, with all sorts of skills and expertise, plus other colleagues we bring in to help us with each new production. So you’re never working alone. I think I’m very lucky to be a part of it all.

Administration

Stephen Midlane - Executive Director

Hello, my name’s Stephen and I’m the Executive Director.  I’m in charge of the organisation and management of Polka.  That means that it’s my job to make sure that Polka has everything it needs to keep producing the plays, workshops and other activities which you enjoy so much:  working out how much money we need and how we’re going raise it; deciding what staff we need (each year we employ about 120 people); making sure that our building is attractive, comfortable and safe; and thinking about the future and what sort of place we want Polka to be in five, ten or twenty years time.  I’ve worked at Polka ever since it opened 30 years ago and I can’t think of a nicer place to work. 

Caroline Downing - Head of Fundraising

As Head of Fundraising I am responsible for ensuring Polka Theatre receives support from trusts and foundations, companies and individuals to ensure the theatre can deliver its artistic and education programme.  As a charity, we depend on this support – it costs more than £1.5 million each year to run Polka and even if every ticket sold we would only raise 60% of our annual budget. It’s a job with lots of variety –  I get to talk to lots of people about why Polka is such a special place; I work with other members of staff to put together exciting new projects; and I organise fun events like galas for our supporters and their families. Having a financial target to meet each year keeps me on my toes! But knowing that every penny raised is going to such a unique cause and giving so many children and families the chance to experience theatre makes it all worthwhile. 

Samantha Tai - Head of Marketing

My job involves ensuring that everyone knows about the shows and what is on at the theatre, this can be through working hard on the brochure, writing letters to people, emailing, advertising the shows and so many other ways! We work very closely with the other departments in the building especially with Box Office and the Education team.  I love seeing people coming into the theatre and enjoying Polka, as a result of our marketing efforts! I am also responsible for the website and e-bulletins and making sure that all the posters and images for the shows are created and designed.  We do a lot of writing and checking in the marketing world and every day is always different and busy.

Elise Neve - Press and Marketing Officer

As Press and Marketing Officer, I am required to work alongside the Head of Marketing to publicise and develop the Polka brand. In order to achieve this, we create a variety of print including leaflets and brochures for shows, workshops and other events happening at Polka. We also work to maintain a relationship with schools and the public through mailings, e-bulletins, our website and social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. I am also responsible for the press coverage that Polka receives and send out press releases for shows and events regularly to local and national press. Each day is varied at Polka; it’s a busy, challenging but fun environment to work in!

Janna Feldman - Head of Education

My name is Janna and I’m the Head of Education at Polka. I plan participatory and learning activities for everyone who visits Polka including schools, families and young people.  It is my job to ensure that there are fun, creative events in the building that everyone can take part in, like free storytelling sessions on a Saturday or holiday workshops and youth theatre sessions. Not only do we have participatory events taking place at Polka for families but we work very closely with schools and teachers to create workshops and large projects that take place at schools. It usually ends up with the schools performing on our stage or creating exhibitions for our building and I manage these. Education is also responsible for supporting teachers on their visits to Polka so I make sure that we create education packs with relevant curriculum links for shows, facilitate after show talks and organise work experience week. I am also responsible for ensuring that children are safe when they take part in our activities. Another important part of my job is about making sure that the projects and performances at Polka are inclusive and accessible to all groups of young people. I work very closely with the Artistic Director and the Associate Producer of Early Years when planning these projects as well as other theatre companies, writers, organisations and with all the other Heads of Department. I also manage our team of freelance workshop leaders and assistants who facilitate these workshops and projects. The best part of my job is when I see children and families having lots of fun in our workshop sessions. 

Sheetal Pattni - Education Assistant

My role is to administer various projects and schemes that enable children and young people, across London, to have access to the arts. This often involves dividing my time daily, and a lot of multi-tasking, in order to complete tasks. I also oversee all the drama clubs and workshops that run at Polka, this gives me a wonderful opportunity to be involved with the fun activities that go on, and all the children who enjoy taking part. As part of my role, I create resource packs; to give school teachers practical drama games and exercises to use in the classroom. This means I have to read Polka’s play scripts for upcoming shows and watch them in rehearsal, in order for me to brainstorm ideas for a pack and so that it relates closely to the resources. I am fortunate to work in an office, and still be able to watch children create fantastic work in their workshops. Seeing lots of smiling faces makes all the hard work worth it! 

Lucia Simmons - Education Projects Assistant

One of my main roles is to book our workshops that go out to schools. We try to customise these workshops so that we can give the schools exactly what they want. We also run three tours that go out to schools in Merton, I make sure our actors are available and know where they are going. We have special signed performances at Polka; I book a signer and organise all they will need to prepare for the performance. I also assist our after school clubs for ages 3-13, which is loads of fun! Education is a busy department and there is always lots happening. 

Production

Dan Rainsford - Head of Production

As Head of Production I am responsible for the smooth running of our shows. This is a great job, which gives me the chance to work with everyone from directors and designers to suppliers, builders, painters and technicians. It’s an exciting task, helping to take something from a page of script to a full blown production (without spending too much money!), making sure that we have all the costumes, set, props, lights, sound and projections in the right places at the right time, but it’s worth it when just one minute of our work might have an effect on our audience that could last for a lifetime!

As well as working on our shows I help with visiting companies and co-productions both here at Polka and on tour. I also help the team with the smooth running of the building and the company, as well as managing our workshops, where we build the sets for all sorts of shows, both by us and all sorts of other people!

Chris Randall - Technical Manager

My name is Chris and I work in the production department of Polka Theatre as the Chief Electrician. This means I have overall responsibility for all the lighting, sound and special effects that you would see in Polka’s productions.  I look after all of our equipment and always look out for new and exciting kit that can make our productions even more magical. I work with lighting designers rigging the lights they want to use on a Polka show, and have a lighting team that I lead and give lots of different tasks to. The job can be very challenging but also great fun, especially when you get to make lighting props like jars that glow in pretty colours to look like the jars of ‘dreams’ in the production of the BFG!

Front of House

Kim Kish - Head of Operations

As the Head of Operations I manage all the front of house staff that you encounter on your visit to Polka.  I enjoy the daily contact with our customers and the best part of my job is when they tell me how much they enjoyed the show or their visit to Polka.  My job is also to provide a safe and enjoyable space for all of our customers which means managing all of the health and safety, fire safety, first aid and building contracts. I look after the building including our outdoor playground and garden so I also spend a lot of time using my hands fixing things and getting my hands dirty in the garden.   The Polka Main Theatre and other spaces are available to hire so I meet with people interested in hiring our spaces which can be used for a small production, meeting, film showing, daily classes and birthday parties and receptions.