After fifteen years of dedicated service as the artistic director, David Mears resigned in November 2023 to pursue new endeavours.

Recognizing the demands of modern day life, the Bear Pit Trustees decided to create an artistic committee to harness a broad spectrum of talent within the Bear Pit Theatre while lessening the burden on individuals.

The introduction of an Artistic Committee brings its own set of challenges, and we will be experimenting with new operational methods, which may require some time to settle in. The members of the committee will work together playing to their own specific strengths.

This committee will be responsible for setting the Bear Pit show schedule, supporting directors, and managing the artistic elements of the theatre.

We are delighted to announce the members of our new Artistic Committee as follows:

Nick Le Mesurier

Nick Le Mesurier came to theatre via a literary route. He has a degree in English and a Masters Degree in Writing from Warwick University. Nick fell in love with theatre some twelve years ago when he started to review plays for the Leamington Courier, and has since reviewed over four hundred plays.

He has written for the theatre, and had a successful run at The Loft Theatre, Leamington Spa in June 2024, with his adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s political satire, The Government Inspector. He has written and directed short films for firstlight and he is Co-director of the Stratford One-Act Play Festival.

Nick is a busy, one might say prolific, volunteer front of house at the Bear Pit Theatre. He is a member of Second Thoughts Drama Group and has worked back-stage on various productions for a number of groups.

He is a writing mentor with Koestler Arts, helping people in the criminal justice system by supporting their creative writing.

Nick produced a weekly online radio show, Stratford Words, on Welcombe Radio, giving local and other writers a platform to read and talk about their work.

He is in the process of developing audio drama for the Bear Pit Theatre.

Nicky Cox

Trained at Dartington College of Arts 1991-94

Between 1996-2004 Nicky was part of Westcountry Theatre Company based in Torquay, Devon firstly as an actor, then becoming co-artistic director. The company toured schools performing 55 minute versions of Shakespeare, extending this work to 90 minute performances for open air venues across the South West, as well as running the Stage One Youth Theatre and an Apprentice Actor Scheme.

Since 2004 she has worked in many roles at the RSC – as a freelance workshop leader, chaperone, Duty Manager and Assistant Visiting Companies Co-director during The Complete Works Festival in 2006-07.

Her first connection with The Bear Pit was performing in The Vicar of Dibley and A Christmas Carol (2013) which then led to directing a number of productions since then: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Brief Encounter, Toad of Toad Hall, One Man Two Guv’nors, The 39 Steps, The Norman Conquests Trilogy.

After leading The Bear Pit company actors as part of the RSC production in 2016, Nicky picked up her freelance career again and now works as a Director, Workshop Facilitator and Events Host.

Theatre as Director: Machinal (Year Out Drama); The Bah Humbug Club (Lichfield Garrick Studio); Edifying Eddy (The Hub at St Mary’s Lichfield); Georgie the Knight (also writer, RSC); Titania’s Dream (Compton Verney); Hidden Histories of New Place (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust); Signifying Nothing (Blue Orange Theatre); Man to Man (Wooden Fish Theatre).

As Assistant/Associate/Resident Director: The Caretaker (Chichester Festival Theatre): The Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre Productions tour & West End); First Encounters: Twelfth Night (RSC Schools & regional tour); Tartuffe, Three Letters, Kingdom Come, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC);

Nicky has been Associate Learning Practitioner for the RSC since 2017, Lead Artist Practitioner for Warts and All Theatre (2020-21) and Freelance Drama Workshop Facilitator for Freshwater Theatre (2020-23).

Nicky has also set up her own production company which is performing the play Four Minutes Twelve Seconds at the Bear Pit Theatre in a couple of weeks time. Tickets are available here

Phil Beeson

Phil Beeson has been involved in amateur theatre for all of his adult life (which in his own words is a very long time!), both as performer, but more extensively as a director.

In his hometown Derby, he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, King Arthur in Camelot, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha and a number of principal roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

He directed Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice and As You like It at the Derby Playhouse, and plays for Derby Theatre-in-the-Round, before concentrating on musical theatre, directing many shows, again at the Derby Playhouse and at the Theatre Royal Nottingham (Gigi, The Sound of Music, Hello Dolly, Showboat and Hans Andersen amongst them).

After moving to Stratford, he directed extensively for Stratford Operatic Society in both the old and new Royal Shakespeare Theatres; the Swan and Courtyard Theatres, and the Stratford Playhouse (Mame, Carousel, Me and My Girl and Crazy for You were particular favourites).

He has also directed a number of shows at the Swan Theatre in Worcester and Malvern Theatre for Worcester Operatic Society, most memorably Titanic the Musical, later reprised for a week’s run to coincide precisely with the 100th anniversary of the date the ship perished. Earlier this year, Phil made his Bear Pit Theatre debut with the well received “Glorious – the True Story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world”

A self-confessed Stephen Sondheim addict, memorable productions along the way have included Company, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and West Side Story.