Catherine Mallyon, RSC Executive Director said; 

“Congratulations, enormous admiration, and many thanks to the RSC colleagues receiving their Long Service Awards.  With over 200 years of experience between them, their skill and variety of expertise can be seen throughout the Company every day. The RSC takes pride in being a teaching and learning theatre, encouraging progression and training the next generation of professional theatre makers.” 

The event took place on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage with those receiving their awards showcasing the many skills and careers that exist at the RSC from ticketing and retail, to costume making, Stage and Props technician to producing. 

Those receiving the Long Service Awards included: 

For twenty years’ service: 

Steve Haworth from Stratford-upon-Avon, Head of Ticketing and Retail    

Deborah Jaunai-Recardo from Mickleton, Chipping Campden, Women’s Costumier 

Yvette Manhood from from Billericay, Essex, Assistant Men's Cutter 

Dolores Manteiga Defente from Stratford-upon-Avon, Sales & Ticketing Operator 

Zarah Meherali from Bexley, Kent, Costume Production Coordinator 

Ben Morris from Leamington Spa, Scenic Carpenter 

Tom Watts from Stratford-upon-Avon, Head of Stage and Props 

Kevin Wimperis from Stratford-upon-Avon, Specialized Senior Stage & Props Technician 

For twenty-two years’ service: 

Zoe Donegan from Aston Cantlow, Head of Producing 

ENDS 

For further information please contact: Lola Stewart, Media Relations Officer, 

Lola.stewart@rsc.org.uk, 07436613200 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England  

The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund 

The RSC is generously supported by RSC America 

Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) 

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a theatre and learning charity that creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance and our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world. 

We believe everybody’s life is enriched by culture and creativity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. Our transformative Learning programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year, and through our Creative Placemaking and Public Programme we create projects with and for communities who have not historically engaged with our work. We are a leader in creative immersive technologies and digital development. 

We have a proud record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and are determined to grasp the opportunity to become an even more inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation. 

We have one of the UK’s largest arts learning programmes, working with over 1,000 schools each year to broaden access to high quality arts learning and transform experiences of Shakespeare in schools. Through our national partnership programme with schools and regional theatres we target areas of structural disadvantage, including 26 areas of multiple deprivation across the country, from Cornwall to Middlesbrough. Research shows that our approaches to teaching Shakespeare support the development of reading and writing skills, accelerate language acquisition and development, raise aspirations and improve student attitudes to school and learning in general. They also foster well-being, self-esteem, empathy, resilience and tolerance and promote critical-thinking, creative, analytical, communication and problem-solving skills. 

We are committed to being a teaching and learning theatre and we are the only arts organisation to have been awarded Independent Research Organisation status.  We create world class theatre for, with and by audiences and theatre makers of all ages. We provide training for emerging and established theatre makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people. We share learning formally and informally. We embed training and research across our company, work and processes.  

We recognise the climate emergency and work hard to embed environmental sustainability into our operations, creative work and business practice, making a commitment to continually reduce our carbon footprint. 

Keep Your RSC supports our mission to create theatre at its best, unlocking Shakespeare and transforming lives. Thousands of generous audience members, trusts and foundations and partners supported Keep Your RSC since 2020, alongside a £19.4 million loan from the Culture Recovery Fund, we are thrilled to be welcoming audiences back. It will take time to recover, to reopen all our theatres, and many years to repay the loan and the support and generosity of our audiences is more important than ever. Please donate at rsc.org.uk/donate 

Arts Council England 

Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.www.artscouncil.org.uk