Jesse Jones on Leading Royal & Derngate

Jesse Jones on Leading Royal & Derngate

From Theatre Audience Podcast by Natalie Maher & Darren Murphy

March 12, 2026 · 26 min · Season 6 · Episode 13

About this episode

Jesse Jones discusses bold programming and new writing in theatre, emphasizing the importance of dividing opinion.

Our guest this week is director and theatre-maker  Jesse Jones , Artistic Director of  Royal & Derngate , who joins Darren to talk about bold programming, new writing, and why theatre should never be afraid of dividing opinion. Jesse’s career spans devised theatre, new writing, large-scale adaptations and West End hits. He co-founded the award-winning The Wardrobe Ensemble and previously served as Associate Artistic Director at Paines Plough. In this episode we discuss leading a regional producing theatre, protecting risk in new writing, and his latest production Top Gs Like Me by Samson Hawkins, a provocative new play exploring masculinity, identity and online culture. A thoughtful conversation about bold programming, new voices, and why theatre that divides opinion can sometimes be the most exciting kind. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Darren

Guest: Jesse Jones

Topics covered

  • theatre
  • programming
  • new writing
  • masculinity
  • identity
  • online culture

Keywords

  • Royal & Derngate
  • Top Gs Like Me
  • Samson Hawkins
  • devised theatre
  • Paines Plough

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Top Gs Like Me

Books & works: Top Gs Like Me

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