Meet our excellent and enthusiastic team at Theatr Gwaun

I grew up in Leicestershire and lived for many years in Oxford before moving to Fishguard in 1994 with my partner and our two sons. I worked as a social worker and then as an academic, retiring in 2017 after ten years as Professor of Childhood and Youth Research at the University of Central Lancashire. I have always been passionate about theatre, as a frequent audience member and occasional performer (you may have seen me in Brassed Off, or maybe in Land of Our Fathers). I was very happy to join the Board of Theatr Gwaun when invited in 2018, although somewhat surprised just a short time later to become the Chair. I am very happy to be approached by anyone who is interested in joining the Trustee Board or otherwise contributing to the governance of Theatr Gwaun (email patrick@theatrgwaun.com). Dw i’n siarad Cymraeg, tipyn bach o leiaf.

As a relatively infrequent visitor to Theatr Gwaun for many years, it was a ‘late 40s’ dalliance with amateur dramatics that drew me ever closer to the theatre. In early 2018 I joined the Board of Trustees with a remit to help to improve organisational processes, with a particular focus on finance, IT and marketing. I stepped down from this role in January 2022 to take up the post of Theatre Manager and then Chief Executive and Theatre Manager. I am a passionate guardian of the independent, community focussed asset that is Theatr Gwaun and my continuing, extended involvement as Chief Executive and Theatre Manager reflects my desire to play a more proactive part in sustaining and developing this fantastic community asset. Should you need to, the best way to contact me is via email on phowe@theatrgwaun.com.

I spent my childhood in the wilds of Southern Africa and my family moved back to London in 1970. I completed my education in London then we moved to Pembrokeshire, 35 years ago. I have now retired from over 20 years working in the National Probation Services of Wales, supporting men and women with complex needs. I have also spent time living and working in Italy and speak Italian. I have been a volunteer at Theatr Gwaun for about 10 years and now that I have retired I have more time to be involved.  I produce the annual International Women’s Day Variety Show , as a fundraiser for the theatre and women’s refuge. I have developed a passion for the vibrant environment of the theatre and I hope that I will contribute to the success of live events in my Trustee role as Events Manager and overall customer experience. I hope to help promote the theatre as a social centre for entertainment and culture, accessible to the whole community. 

I’ve lived and worked in Wales for 25 years and moved to Dinas in 2018 after many happy years in the Brecon Beacons. Always a keen visitor to the theatre, I’ve been a fan of the shows since seeing Paddington Bear: The Musical, aged 8. I’m a big cinema buff and have a wide range of interests from blockbusters to independents. I work in Information Technology, mostly in the Utilities sector, and have been responsible for several transformation projects over the years. I have a wide range of interests, from gardening to international development. I’m looking forward to helping keep Theatr Gwaun the fantastic community asset that it is.

Growing up in 1980s Pembrokeshire, my hobbies included watching movies at The Palace, skating at the Masonic’s roller disco and performing live on stage at the Torch. After graduating from Cardiff, my career took me to London and later New York where I spent over 20 years supporting CEOs and leading creative projects in television, fashion and retail. A long-time lover of film, I was thrilled to join the TG film panel when I moved to Fishguard in 2024. I’m now truly honoured to support the theatre and community as a trustee in the areas of sponsorship, policy making and programming.

I am a Cardiffian by birth and upbringing, though for much of my career I lived away from Wales: in the Midlands, in the USA (as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence), and for over thirty years teaching English – a job that I absolutely loved – at a school in Wiltshire where I also ran a teenagers’ boarding house. At the same time, I was writing: for academic journals, and creatively, with short stories and poems published in small magazines, and a couple of children’s books. I led the school’s Creative Writing programme and the Poetry Society, directed junior plays and drama projects for older students, organised theatre trips, coached rugby teams, and played guitar very badly in an ad-hoc teachers’ rock band. On retiring to Goodwick in 2021, I joined the committee of Fishguard Film Society, and TG’s Friday morning writing group. It was an honour to join the Board of Trustees in 2024.