Reece McMahon (he/him)
Executive Director
Reece is an interdisciplinary arts producer working across theatre, dance, live, and outdoor arts. For the past two years, he has been Producer at New Diorama Theatre a pioneering studio venue in London that’s dedicated to providing a home for the country’s best independent theatre companies and ensembles.
Whilst at NDT he was a key team member for the planning and delivery of NDT Broadgate, a large rehearsal and artist development complex exclusively for independent artists, based in City of London. He also oversaw a season of work and activity that contributed to NDT winning Fringe Theatre of the Year 2022 (Stage Awards), including the Royal Court transfer of ‘For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy’.
In 2020 Reece combined forces with fellow independent producer Emily Beecher to form The REcreate Agency a multidisciplinary creative agency that develops the potential in independent artists, producers & projects.
Prior to this Reece worked with organisations including Avant Garde Dance Company, Outdoor Arts UK, Museum of Homelessness, and began his career as Assistant Producer at The Place after graduating from London Contemporary Dance School.
Contact Reece here
Frances Morgan (she/her)
Producer: Membership
Frances is a producer, facilitator and artist from East Yorkshire, living in London. She has been an artist-Member of CDS since 2015, and have worked as part of the staff team since 2018. Her role has recently focussed on working with members to develop artist leadership at the organisation, experimenting with more equitable selection processes, and advocating for marginalised artists.
Collaboration is at the heart of Frances’ artistic practice, and she has co-led participatory, curatorial and discursive projects in response to diverse interests: queer and post-work futures, nightlife, magic, improvisation, and trans experience. As a self-producing artist she has performed and exhibited her work across the UK and internationally, including The Place, Wellcome Collection, The Yard Theatre (London), Yorkshire Dance (Leeds), Dance4 (Nottingham), Vivid Projects (Birmingham), and La Fete du Slip (Switzerland).
Contact Frances here.
Rachel Goodsall (she/her)
General Manager
Rachel is an experienced arts professional who has worked for a variety of charities in Event and Front of House Management. She is drawn to organisations who focus on supporting the creation of new work and artistic development.
Rachel started her career in Liverpool at Bluecoat, where she met Mary Prestidge and heard stories of Chisenhale’s creation. After relocating to London in 2020 she continued to work in the cultural sector, most recently at The Coronet Theatre in Notting Hill, before joining the team at CDS to look after the spaces where the magic happens!
Contact Rachel here.
Michael Picknett (he/him)
Lead Technician
Michael is a composer, technician and performer specialising in music for dance, stage and film. As a composer, Michael’s work explores tactility and presence in performance, and this is reflected in his sound design – often using sounds on the edge of perception, or creating moving sound through multi-speaker set-ups.
As a technician he has worked extensively in the UK and Belgium, creating and relighting works for theatre makers, as well as running shows for scratch nights. He is the lead technician for TripSpace as well as Chisenhale. He is also a specialist in audio for film. Especially cleaning audio, composition and mixing.
He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama gaining both a masters and a doctorate in music composition. More information can be found at: www.michaelpicknett.com
Noemi Gunea (she/her)
Venue Assistant
Noemi is a neurodiverse Romanian performance artist based in London. She makes up half of performance duo Cheap Thrills, with whom she has shown work at the British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, Camden People’s Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and BBC Audio Drama Awards. Her solo work has been shown at the Tate Exchange and Crypt Gallery. She has been a CDS Member since 2019, and joined the staff team as a weekend Venue Assistant in 2021.
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Image Credit: ‘Dance of the Bow Magpie’ by Quang Kien Van, Encounter Bow, June 2021. Photo by Zbigniew Kotkiewicz