Meet The Board
The Directors/Trustees meet regularly throughout the year to consider, determine and review internal reports and UTEA’s strategies and policies. We are responsible for the overall control and strategic direction of Under the Edge Arts and regularly attend UTEA events to experience them first-hand. Sam and Ali are our paid employees. For the rest of us, our work for UTEA is voluntary. We thought you might like to get to know us a little better…
Louise Hale
Debs Brooks
UTEA Focus – Fundraising, Website, The Chipping Hall
Favourite food: Thai
The last play I saw at the theatre: 1984
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are... Noel Fielding, Alex Horne, Joe Lycett, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Grayson Perry, Claudia Winkleman
My favourite UTEA moment: Sarah dancing on stage in The Glass Cage. She was brilliant.
Hopes for UTEA future: To always have the doors open and something going on
Chair
Favourite food: Prawn Cocktail
The last play I saw at the Theatre: Macbeth at The Globe. Stunning.
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Oscar Wilde, Eddie Izzard, Jack Whitehall, Salvador Dalí, Nigella Lawson (to cook), Pedro Almodóvar, Caitlin Moran, Gregory Porter (to sing).
My dream UTEA event would be: Kate Bush performing Wuthering Heights.
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: “The Drowning Dog” by Goya; a beautiful painting, despite its name.
What UTEA means to me: A communal space where special experiences are shared.
A surprising fact about me: I am a synesthete. This means I see words as colours. Wotton is turquoise…
UTEA Focus - Community, Promotion of Events, Window Wanderland
Steven Cotterell
UTEA Focus: All things technical, Online promotion
Favourite food: Indian
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: Stereophonics – Maybe Tomorrow
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Sandy Toksvig, Stephen Fry, Mary Berry, Barack Obama, Bill Bailey, Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora
My favourite UTEA moment: Hattie Briggs singing "Just Breathe"
My dream UTEA event would be: A warm summer evening outdoor acoustic set from Mumford & Sons
What UTEA means to me: A 'family' of like-minded music & art-loving people
A surprising fact about me: I'm an avid 'Modded Minecraft' gamer.
Martin Clarke OBE
Favourite band: Van Morrison
Favourite food: Anything from The India Palace
The last play I saw at the Theatre: Abigail’s Party (Wotton Dramatic society)
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Leonard Cohen, Joanna Lumley, Nina Simone, Dalai Lama, Karl Marx, Grace Jones, Charles Causley, Jim Causley
My favourite UTEA moment: the end of any Spring into Summer day
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: Kurt Jackson - Frenchmans Creek
A surprising fact about me: I cannot tie my shoelaces
Sarah McCabe
UTEA Focus: Sustainability, Bar, Wotton Arts Festival.
Favourite food: Gambas pil pil
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: Eva Cassidy – Kathy’s Song
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Peter Kay, Rachel Hayes, Tilda Swinton, Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), John Williams, Maya Angelou, Hannah Glasse, Marie Colvin.
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: A Petri Dish Installation by Klari Reis
My hopes for the future of UTEA: For it to be a sustainable space.
Norman Dadd
UTEA Focus: Finances and Events.
Favourite band: Dave Brubeck
The last play I saw at the Theatre: Hamilton at Thanksgiving
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Sir Peter Parker, Sir John Drummond, Sir Ken Durham (3 chairs I worked for, polymaths all), Sir Paul McCartney, Judy Dench, Jonathan Miller, Jeanne Moreau, Nina Simone
My favourite UTEA moment: When the red-suited lead singer of The Charlton Kings climbed into the window space during the Blues Festival 2018 and I wondered if we were insured!
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: Ramsgate Sands (also known as Life at the Seaside) by William Powell Frith. It's where I came from.
A surprising fact about me: I shook hands with Franco Zeffirelli at 10 Downing Street
Sarah Watt
UTEA Focus- The Chipping Hall, Community Links
Favourite band: The Beatles
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: All early Elvis
The last play I saw at the Theatre: The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are My grandchildren
My favourite UTEA moment: Watching Miranda Sykes
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: Anything by Banksy
What UTEA means to me: Inspiration
Jacky Tolfree
UTEA Focus – Wellbeing, Events
Favourite band: The Kelly Family, a travelling family folk band going around Europe in a double-decker bus
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: Etta James – At Last
The last play I saw at the Theatre: Jane Eyre online courtesy of The National Theatre.
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… Marina Abramovic, Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens, Alan Bennett, Martin Kippenberger, Stanley Kubrick, Virginia Woolf, Earl Nightingale
My favourite UTEA moment: I enjoyed writing and producing The Glass Cage play, a play about my cancer. I am so thankful to everyone that made it happen. It was very special.
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: A painting by Frida Kahlo.
My hopes for the future of UTEA: to provide and encourage a platform for inspiring talent and all art forms.
Ali Lidbetter
Programme and Volunteer coordinator
Favourite Food: Nachos
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: Steve Winwood – Higher Love
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… David Attenborough, David Jason, Pheobe Waller-Bridge, Ryan Gosling, Meryl Streep, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Swayze, Mark Ruffalo.
My favourite UTEA moment: Celebrating my 40th birthday watching funk band The Mango Factory. From what I can remember it was an amazing night!
What UTEA means to me: I love the adaptability of the space.
A surprising fact about me: I used to be a TV producer.
Sam Carlton
UTEA Administrator
The song that has had the biggest impression on me: Black – Wonderful Life
I am having a dinner party, my 8 fantasy dinner guests are… the Dalai Lama, Kenny Dalglish, Michael Palin, Miriam Margolyes, Victoria Wood, Jurgen Klopp, Bernard Spilsbury, Terry Pratchett
My favourite UTEA moment: The Window Wanderland workshops
My dream UTEA event would be: An exhibition of paper sculpture
The piece of art I would most like on my wall: Pantone colour chart or Harry Beck’s London Underground map
What UTEA means to me: It’s pretty much embedded itself in my life over the last 15 years
A surprising fact about me: I like playing computer games