Sho Shibata
Director
Sho began working as our Director in February 2024 and was previously the Executive Producer of Stopgap Dance Company, where he worked for 16 years. Sho is also on the board of Play to The Crowd – the umbrella organisation for Winchester Hat Fair and a member of the Area Council for Arts Council England, South East.
Sho was actively involved in the performing arts in Japan as a child, performing in various children’s television and film productions as well as on stage with ‘Les Miserables’ directed by John Caird and ‘Waiting for Godot’ directed by the late Yukio Ninagawa. He moved to UK in 1995 and graduated from London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005 with a degree in Philosophy and Social Psychology. His studies gave him a theoretical understanding of how discrimination and segregation come about in social settings. After graduation, Sho worked at Arts Council England, South East and joined Stopgap Dance Company in 2008. Over the course of 16 years, Sho worked closely with his colleagues to develop Stopgap into a world-leading dance company that breaks down barriers for Deaf and Disabled dancers, audiences and producers, while seeing the annual turnover grow from £250,000 to £900,000.
Samantha Nurse
Associate Director
As a producer, Samantha has distinct experience. She has toured nationally and internationally, presenting work for leading creative organisations such as Theatre Royal Stratford East, Historic Royal Palaces, Royal Court Theatre, and Talawa Theatre Company. She has produced work across a spectrum of disciplines including theatre, music, audio-visual, dance, comedy, live events, film, and installations, working in both traditional and non-traditional venues.
Samantha is especially interested in developing new work, facilitating wider public engagement with the arts, international work, outdoor work and across art forms. With an MA in Creative Producing and Live Events, as well as a background in Technical Theatre and Stage Management, Samantha combines her creative producing skills and technical knowledge to provide a unique perspective to the projects she leads on. As an Educator, Samantha has designed and led Technical Theatre and Stage Management courses for organisations like Clean Break, Streetwise Opera, Streets Alive, Hoxton Hall Theatre and was performing arts lecturer for Brooke House Sixth Form College. Her industry experience and academic qualifications provide a holistic approach to teaching, empowering students with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge needed to succeed in the dynamic world of theatre and outdoor arts. Samantha is passionate about the backstage areas of work and takes an active role in the education, training, and lifelong learning in this area, with specific focus on the Global Majority.
David Doust
General Manager
David is OAUK’s General Manager and environmental lead. He is interim chair of Arts by the Sea Festival and has previously worked with Activate and Gobbledegook Theatre. He is a trained theatre maker and has performed outdoors with Bootworks Theatre and The Working Boys Club.
David trained as a performance maker at the University of Chichester. From there he moved back home, to Bournemouth, and co-founded Pests Production, an organisation that produces live events across genre for emerging artists to increase the independent cultural offer in the town. Whilst developing Pests, he worked in an accountancy firm and toured outdoors with Bootworks Theatre’s show The Jukeboxes. David also worked on InsideOut Dorset festival and with Gobbledegook Theatre before joining the OutdoorArtsUK Team in April 2022. He is interim chair of Arts by the Sea festival and is also associate lecturer at the University of Chichester in their theatre department. He occasionally pops up at the Serving Sounds Bar when one of the founder members of The Working Boys Club is busy.
Phoebe works part-time for OutdoorArtsUK, and spends the rest of her week doing freelance marketing – including for 101 Outdoor Arts, the national creation centre based in Newbury. Phoebe previously worked as the Marketing & Events Manager in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria and Rag Tag Arts & Community Scrapstore in Cumbria, running craft workshops at festivals and supporting the Rag & Tag Roadshow tour. Phoebe’s approach to marketing focuses on simple, clear and easy to understand communication. Her own artistic practice is visual art, installation, public art & community workshops – but she’s always up for trying something new!
