Tom Littler to lead Arts Theatre Cambridge from June 2027

Tom Littler has been appointed chief executive and artistic director of Arts Theatre Cambridge. He will take up the post in June 2027, leaving the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, where he has worked since 2022.

The role combines two jobs. The chief executive runs the business side of the theatre, including its money and staff. The artistic director, the person who shapes the programme, decides what goes on stage. WhatsOnStage reported the appointment on 5 November 2026.

Littler has been artistic director and joint chief executive of the Orange Tree since 2022. Before that, he ran Jermyn Street Theatre in London as artistic director from 2017 to 2022. The Orange Tree Theatre has announced his work there, including its productions.

Arts Theatre Cambridge was founded in 1936 by the economist John Maynard Keynes. The building has been run on a temporary footing while the search for a permanent leader took place. Rachel Tackley has been in interim leadership, meaning she has held the top job on a temporary basis. She will step down when Littler arrives.

Victoria Beechey remains executive director after he takes over. The executive director handles day-to-day operations, so the theatre keeps that senior manager in place through the handover.

The theatre is also moving ahead with plans for a new 200-seat Studio Theatre on its roof. A studio theatre is a smaller space for more experimental or intimate work, usually seating a few hundred people rather than the main house's full audience.

At the Orange Tree, Julie Weston will stay on as executive director while the theatre recruits a successor to Littler. That search is now the Richmond theatre's next task.