PETER WILSON (January 1951 - September 2023)

Founder & Chief Executive (November 1983 - September 2023)

Peter Wilson MBE, founder of PW Productions, passed away peacefully at home on Monday 4 September, aged 72. Peter’s professional legacy is immeasurable, and his impact on theatre across the United Kingdom will continue through the work of PWP.

Peter’s first West End production was Arnold Wesker’s Annie Wobbler in 1985, starring Nichola McAuliffe. Since then his West End, Broadway and UK and international touring productions include Jerome Kern Goes To Hollywood, Broken Glass, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, The Woman in Black and An Inspector Calls. As producer and/or director he has worked with – among others - the National Theatre, the RSC, Matthew Bourne, Ed Hall, I Fagiolini, Peter Hall, Stephen Daldry, Hampstead Theatre, the Tricycle, and he produced, managed and directed Mobil Touring Theatre, the UK’s longest-running commercial sponsorship, from 1985 to 2001.

Until December 2016 Peter combined his commercial work as a theatrical producer with responsibility for Norwich’s busy and successful 1,300-seat Theatre Royal. He was Chair of Ed Hall’s Propeller and on the board of Theatre Royal Stratford East.

IAIN GILLIE

Chief Executive

In 1985, Iain’s drama teacher told him he would probably make a good Stage Manager, taking the hint, he enrolled in the Stage Management course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He went on to work as production manager with the Royal Court and the National Theatre, then with PW Productions in 1993 with the West End transfer of An Inspector Calls, which also took him to Australia, Japan, New York and Austria, plus numerous regional theatres. As well as his extensive work with PWP, he worked with Matthew Bourne, Thelma Holt, Out of Joint, Opera North, The Ballet Boyz, TOHO and Sphere Theatre Japan, as well as Stephen Daldry, Yukio Ninagawa, Sir Peter Hall, Sam Mendes and Phyllida Lloyd. After a three year spell running the scenic contractor Victor Mara, he wanted to get back to making shows again, rather than just scenery.

He was General Manager for Jerry Springer – The Opera (Edinburgh Festival, NT and West End), Bat Boy The Musical (West End) and Round the Horne Revisited (West End and 3 UK tours) before taking up post at Leicester Curve, as Executive Producer, where between 2007 and 2013 he was responsible for producing their in house productions and programming visiting work. He has also served on the boards of the Musical Theatre Network and Out of Joint, and for three years was a member of the UK Theatre/MU negotiating committee.

When Iain became a permanent fixture at PWP in 2013, he couldn’t have predicted the support and encouragement he would get from Peter and the team to continue to build the company and expand the reach of PWP’s work, it’s been an absolute pleasure……so far……

DEE VITHLANI

Finance Director

Dee has been with PWP since 1993, over this period she has worked on over 400 West End and Touring productions. For the majority of this time the indomitable Bob Thomas was Dee's mentor, tormentor and mostly her friend until his sad passing late in 2018.

As Finance Director, she looks after every aspect of PWP’s financial health. As production accountant, alongside Rama she manages VAT, PAYE, TTR, GBOR and all the other acronyms, and as Dee she looks after everyone’s mental and nutritional health in the office.

ZOË SIMPSON

General Manager

Zoë joined PWP in September 2019, bringing her 23 years of experience as a theatre producer and general manager. Credits include: Glengarry Glen Ross (West End, 2017 – Associate Producer), Hans Teeuwen Real Rancour (UK tour and London, 2016), The Man Jesus by Matthew Hurt starring Simon Callow (UK tour, 2014), The Amazing Bubbleman (UK tour, 2016), The Dylathon (36 hour star-studded non-stop reading of Dylan Thomas to celebrate his centenary – Swansea Grand Theatre, 2014), the London premiere of Honk! by Stiles and Drewe, London premiere of the award-winning New Zealand play No.2 by Toa Fraser and the world premiere of Joe & I by Laurie Slade starring Peter Bowles.

Previously she was Associate Producer for Theatre Royal Stratford East and for David Ian Productions working on shows including The Sound of Music, Flashdance the Musical, The Producers, Cats, Chicago, La Cage aux Folles, Sweet Charity and The Shawshank Redemption. She was Production Coordinator for the UK and international productions of Grease between 2004 and 2010. Zoë was on the Board of Musical Theatre Network for 10 years and has been involved in developing countless new shows including Angry Birds by Dougal Irvine and Head of the Table by Victoria Saxton and Paul Castles. 

LUCY WOOD

Chief Operating Officer

Lucy studied Drama and Theatre Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. After completing her BA she went on to East 15 Drama School. As part of her degree, she devised a play that she co-produced and performed in at Soho Theatre.

Realising her passion was producing, she began her career in 2007 working for Kenny Wax whilst he was General Manager at the hugely successful PW Productions. Working closely with Kenny for six years gave Lucy experience in the nuts and bolts of producing and she was given the responsibility to grow the family theatre production arm of the company. This led her to move to Tall Stories, where she started as Producer and went on to become Executive Director. In both organisations Lucy has worked across a wide range of scales; including West End, regional touring and international tours. She has managed the logistics of touring in Asia, Australia, and America, taking shows to Broadway as well as Sydney Opera House. She has worked on shows in six of seven continents and is up for the challenge of Antarctica! In her final year at Tall Stories, Lucy worked on a capital project managing the renovation of an underused section of a library in Islington, into a storytelling hub for the company. Lucy moved from Tall Stories to Arcola Theatre where she enjoyed working on new writing and gained experience of running a busy venue.

Lucy was on the Board of Trustees for the Independent Theatre Council for seven years and was Co-Vice Chair. She is currently a Trustee of the Boiler House Spaces and also enjoys mentoring two emerging family theatre producers. She is absolutely thrilled that her career has come full circle and that she has returned to be part of the brilliant PW Productions team.

BRAD FITT

Associate Producer & Tour Booking

Brad was selling programmes as an usher when he first met Peter Wilson at the Theatre Royal Norwich (when PW was at the helm) and went on to train as a Stage Manager at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has at various times over his career been a Stage Manager, Producer, Director, Writer and Actor.

Brad has written and directed innumerable pantomimes, many of which he has also starred in as Dame. He enjoyed a ten year association with Cambridge Arts Theatre as writer, director and Dame of their critically acclaimed pantomimes. He has been listed as best ‘Ugly Sister’ in the Sunday Telegraph and was voted top UK Dame on London’s LBC radio. For the past ten years Brad has been Director and Dame at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn for Evolution Pantomimes.

In 2018 Brad started as an Associate Producer and Tour Booker for PW Productions. More info can be found at bradfitt.com

JANICE TAYLOR

Production Co-ordinator

Janice joined the PWP team in January 2019 and has worked on all West End, UK and International touring productions of The Woman in Black and An Inspector Calls.

Other credits for PW Productions include: The Last Ship (USA Tour 2020); The Jungle (USA 2020); Dirty Dancing (Germany 2020, UK and Ireland Tour and West End 2022 and 2023) and Nigel Slater’s Toast (UK Tour and West End 2019).

Production credits for the Touring Consortium Theatre Company are: A View From The Bridge (UK Tour Spring 2015); Brave New World (UK Tour Autumn 2015); Of Mice and Men (UK Tour Spring 2016); A Tale of Two Cities (UK Tour Autumn 2016); Anita and Me (UK Tour Spring 2017); Pressure (UK Tour Spring 2018); Jekyll & Hyde (UK Tour Spring 2018) and Dracula (UK Tour Autumn 2018).

Production credits for The Booking Office are: April In Paris (UK Tour 2014); The Mummy (UK Tour 2014); The A-Z of Mrs P (Southwark Playhouse, Feb 2014); Fings Aint Wot They Used T’Be (Theatre Royal Stratford East, Spring 2014); September In The Rain (UK Tour 2013); and Sherlock Holmes The Best Kept Secret (Spring 2013).

RAMA UMANEE

Production Co-ordinator (Accounts)

Rama joined the PWP team in 2017 after leaving ATG, bringing his own twenty-five years of theatrical accounts experience into the company.

He works alongside Dee managing PWP and other external producers accounts.

AMY TRIBE

Production Co-ordinator

Amy joined PW Productions in 2022, first as an intern, then as a Production Assistant and now Production Co-ordinator. Prior to this she graduated from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with an MA in Creative Producing and previously worked as a freelance producer for a number of small-scale productions.

At PW Productions she has worked on the UK tours of Spike (2022); An Inspector Calls (2022/23); and the West End and touring productions of The Woman in Black and Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage (2023).

Outside of PW Productions Amy acts as Executive Director for Buried Thunder, a physical theatre company formed in 2017, and is currently developing her own work as a playwright.

SIMON REYNOLDS

Production Manager

Simon trained as a Stage Manager at the Central School of Speech and Drama graduating in 1991.  After a few seasons at Shakespeare's Globe he became a Company Manager for various West End shows including A Postman Always Rings Twice with Val Kilmer and Round the Horne. 

He has been associated with An Inspector Calls since 1996 and is PW Productions' Production Manager for this show and The Woman in Black.

He divides his time between theatre and running his family farm in the shadow of the Black Mountains in Herefordshire.

CHARLOTTE PETERS

Associate Director

Director, with PWP work including Associate Director on the international and national tours of An Inspector Calls as well as its West End run at the Playhouse, and director of upcoming comedy Another Mother at the Park Theatre.

Outside of PW, Charlotte recently co-directed the online films Birdsong and Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon, is Associate Director on War Horse and last Christmas directed Cinderella - the world's first online live virtual interactive panto!

RUSS SPENCER

Associate Director & Company Manager (Dirty Dancing, The Last Ship)

As company manager credits include The Last Ship (UK, Canadian & US Tours), Girl From The North Country (Toronto), Annie (New Zealand Tour), Santa Claus The Musical (Singapore), Lazy Town Live! (UK & Middle East Tours), Bananas in Pyjamas (Cairo).

Since 2016 Russ has been associate director of Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage (West End/UK and European Tours).

Also, Russ is part of the legendary Eurovision pop group Scooch! (Warner Bros/EMI) who represented the UK in 2007 – the group achieved four Top 20 UK hits including their No.5 single ‘Flying The Flag (For You).

Working with PWP and Karl Sydow on The Last Ship since Oct 2017 and thrilled to be on the new production of Dirty Dancing from 2021.

TIM SMITH

General Management & Tour Booking USA

Tim runs Pemberley Productions, a New York based company that brings work from Europe to tour in the USA and work from the USA to Europe. Previous Pemberley tours include a European tour of The Public Theater’s Apple Family Plays by Richard Nelson, national US tours of Filter Theatre’s Twelfth Night, PW Productions The Woman in Black and An Inspector Calls, Karl Sydow’s The Last Ship, Paterson Joseph’s one man show Sancho, Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful and Ensemble Basiani. Tim has also general managed tours in the USA for Druid Theatre Company, Theatre de la Ville and Bouffes du Nord.

Prior to founding Pemberley, Tim worked as General Manager & Producer for Druid Theatre Company based in Galway, Ireland from 2007 to 2012. Prior to this he was a freelance Stage Manager and a Tour Manager for the Royal Shakespeare Company.