Staff

Jez Bond is the Founder and Artistic Director of Park Theatre. He graduated Hull University with a BA Honours in Drama and was later awarded the Channel Four Theatre Director Bursary.

Directing at Park Theatre includes; the Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] series (involving a different celebrity guest each performance inc. Gillian Anderson, Damian Lewis, David Mitchell and Emma Thompson), Shakespeare, Tolkien & You (Ian McKellen’s one man show), the first ever English language production of the play La Cage aux Folles (translated by Simon Callow), Madame Rubinstein (starring Miriam Margolyes), Winner’s Curse (starring Clive Anderson), Building The Wall, Hurling Rubble at the Sun and Adult Supervision.

Outside Park Theatre, credits include; Oliver! (starring Rowan Atkinson), I Have Been Here Before (Watford Palace Theatre), Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse), Canaries Sometimes Sing (Kings Head & France), A Season in South Africa (Old Vic) plus tours of Austria, Switzerland and Hong Hong.

Writing, and original scores, includes: the Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] series, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Jack & the Beanstalk, all co-written with Mark Cameron. He is currently developing a new comedy for the West End.

As a dramaturge he has developed a number of plays which have gone on to great success both in London and New York. In addition, having led the capital conversion of Park Theatre, Jez has been a consultant for a number of new build projects and guest speaker at various conferences around the world.

Having led the £2.6m conversion of Park Theatre, Jez has been a guest speaker at the Theatres Trust Conference: Converting Spaces, the RIBA Conference: 150 years of Engineering, Bruford on the Southbank: New Build / ReBuild and The International Theatre Conference in Colombia. He has also consulted on a number of new theatre buildings internationally.

Catherine joins Park from Soho Theatre, where she was Deputy Executive Director.

She has 15 years theatre management experience of high-profile cultural buildings and operations, including Soho Theatre and the grade II* listed Almeida Theatre. She has worked for Arts Council England, Bow Arts, National Student Drama Festival and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, as well as spending a couple of years underground managing the Shunt Lounge venue in London Bridge. Catherine is a trustee of Tangled Feet theatre company.

When not making theatre, Catherine enjoys running, cycling and gin, but not all at the same time.

Dawn studied Modern Drama at Brunel University before starting her career in arts marketing. Before joining Park Theatre in July 2016, Dawn was Marketing Manager at Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn for two and a half years and has also previously worked at Polka Theatre, Akademi South Asian Dance and Watermans Arts Centre. Dawn is a Culture Hive Digital Marketing Academy 1.0 graduate, has twice participated in the Culture 24: Let’s Get Real digital/ cultural research programme and spoken at the Culture 24/ Google Cultural Institute conference at BALTIC in Gateshead. Dawn has been an Arts Marketing Association mentor for many years and is an occasional guest lecturer at Brunel University. Dawn has a keen interest in all things vintage and loves nothing more than finding a fashion bargain at the vintage fair.

Elaine has a solid financial background in the Theatre industry for over 30 years, being the finance director for producing houses and touring companies such as the English Shakespeare Co and the Young Vic, as well as on the more commercial side of the Theatre including arts marketing servicing companies. Elaine has also worked as a freelance accountant offering finance and tax assistance to individuals and small companies predominately in theatre throughout 3 decades. Juggling her busy schedule with a growing family Elaine loves travelling and cooking and says her favourite activity will always be laughing!

Matt studied English at the University of York, then Acting at Central School of Speech and Drama, after which he spent twelve years treading the boards, working in the west end and regional theatres, as well as touring internationally with companies such as Propeller and The Reduced Shakespeare Company. Since deciding to enter the world of theatre ticketing full-time, he has worked at Hampstead Theatre, with TodayTix, and with KX Tickets, setting the box office for a brand-new venue, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. As a North London resident, he is tremendously excited to be joining Park Theatre and can’t wait to be a part of its next chapter.

Matt is unhealthily obsessed with movies and Newcastle United. He has been playing guitar for twenty years, somehow not managing to improve in the last nineteen.

Mariah has a background in classical music, from playing the piano and the violin from a young age and has danced since eight years old. After studying 3D art and design, she undertook a PGDip in Community Dance at Trinity Laban and actively engaged in schools and community projects as a Community Dance Artist. Mariah returned to Trinity Laban to complete her MA Scenography (Dance) and, subsequently, designed several installations and screens for performance events.

Mariah has twelve years of experience in the motion picture industry, within film production, sales and distribution; she assisted producers, managed international film festivals and market attendance, marketing activities and events.

Mariah enjoys living a healthy lifestyle, and her passion is a fusion of jazz music and the Argentine tango.

Ama Ofori-Darko is a British-born Ghanaian with over 7 years of experience as an arts fundraiser, having worked across various income streams. Before joining Park Theatre in March 2024, she held positions at Sadler’s Wells, the Young Vic, the Royal Opera House, Kiln Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, and Donmar Warehouse. 

Ama initially studied classical singing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama but later transitioned into fundraising. She began her fundraising career as the first Williams Fundraising Fellow at Tate Gallery, a position created in memory of Becky Williams, the former Head of Development at Tate until 2016. This fellowship provided structured, work-based learning opportunities to support career development and open up opportunities in the fundraising sector. 

Ama also serves on the board of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company, the Advisory Board for Le Gateau Chocolat, and is a Young Trustee for the Contemporary Art Society. Previously, she was a Trainee Trustee for Spitalfields Music and a London Theatre Consortium MOBO Executive Fellow in 2023. 

Outside of work, Ama is passionate about theatre and attends performances at least twice a week. She still loves to sing and hopes to participate in amateur musical productions. 

Tom’s career journey before Park Theatre included highlights at iconic venues including Sadler’s Wells and the Barbican. Even a stint at the science museum (don’t mention October half term – it still makes him twitch!)

Upon first joining the Park Theatre in 2015, Tom undertook bringing the catering operation in-house after nearly two years of being externally managed. Countless bottles of wine and plates of pizza later (many of which he served himself!), Tom embarked on a new adventure, shifting his focus to General Management for the theatre. At the English National Ballet School, he played a pivotal role in reopening the building after the challenges posed by the pandemic. He also joined the Tower Theatre as their General Manager, adding another chapter to his journey.

Tom is very excited to have rejoined Park Theatre. Beyond the job, and his love of wine and pizza, Tom even tried his hand at a short stand up gig – an experience he humorously describes as the worst two and half minutes of his life!

Michael Bird | Venue Technician

Mark began his career as an astonishingly average stand-up comedian before winning a scholarship to drama school; a huge relief for him but more so for comedy club audiences throughout the UK.  

Since then, he has appeared regularly on stage and screen and works extensively as a voice-over artist for both radio and television. He has written four plays, all with the Artistic Director of Park Theatre Jez Bond and all produced at Park Theatre. Whodunnit Unrehearsed 2 marks their fifth collaboration.  

For Park Theatre: La Cage aux Folles [The Play]; Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] 1&2 (co-writer and co-director, actor Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] 2); Hurling Rubble at the Moon; Rapunzel; Sleeping Beauty and The Daftas Ceremony Host in Park Theatre Review. 

Television includes: regular characters in Tina and Bobby, Coronation Street, Steel River Blues, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Doctors and guest roles include: Good Omens, Brief Encounters, The Royals, Law and Order, Casualty, Holby City, Waterloo Road, The Roman Mysteries, Vincent, The Royal, Fifty-Five Degrees North.  

Other credits include: Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse); Mathematics of the Heart (Theatre 503 and winner of Brighton Fringe Festival Best Play); The Game of Love and Chance (National Tour); The Breakfast Soldiers (Contact Theatre, Manchester); Life Imitates Art (Camden Peoples’ Theatre); The Bergman Project (Tristan Bates Theatre); The Country Wife (The Gatehouse); Blue Funk (Old Red Lion) and The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Park).  

Film includes: The Damned United (as Norman Hunter), Tomo (Sundance Film Festival Winner), Scar Tissue, The Boss (Reed Festival short film winner).  

Writing: Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk (both published by Methuen), Rapunzel (published by PlaydeadPress) and Whodunnit Unrehearsed and Whodunnit Unrehearsed 2 all written with Jez Bond. 

Melli is an actress, theatre practitioner and choreographer. Melli is the Co-founder and Creative Director Emeritus of Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, which opened in May 2013.

Melli fell in love with the stage at age four learning ballet, tap and jazz. She joined youth theatre companies, performing at outdoor and indoor theatres. She went to The University of South Carolina where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and English and as a postgraduate student she went to the University of Hull for a Master of Arts in Theatre Production. During and post university Melli lead drama workshops for young people in Los Angeles, Delaware, Hong Kong and London. Between 2005 and 2011 Melli co-lead the New End Theatre Academy in Hampstead.

In 2001 Melli hit London’s fringe theatre scene. Simultaneously, she started a voice career playing roles in radio plays for BBC. She progressed into television and film work and has worked non-stop in the gaming industry, voicing hundreds of characters, as well as performing in motion capture. As a commercial artist Melli can be seen in adverts around the globe. Melli has choreographed for musical theatre and pantomimes, such as Oliver! at Summer Fields School in Oxford – where actor Rowan Atkinson played ‘Fagin’, prior to his West End run.

For Park Theatre, as Creative Director and Associate Artistic Director, Melli was responsible for many aspects of the company. Melli curated the Park 90 seasons, co-curated the Park 200 seasons, designed, launched and ran the Creative Learning Programme and curated art exhibitions for the gallery space featuring work of both local and foreign artists -often as a parallel to the work onstage. Melli created and lead Script Accelerator, a new writing programme at Park Theatre with the aim to support emerging practitioners and novice theatre makers. Several Script Accelerator’s plays would go on to have full productions in Park 90.