Grahamstown's National Arts Festival has brought on board two dynamic women to head up the technical division of the Festival, which runs from 30 June to 10 July this year.
Grahamstown's National Arts Festival has brought on board two dynamic women to head up the technical division of the Festival, which runs from 30 June to 10 July this year.
Following the resignation of the Festival’s technical director, Tony Groenewald, the Festival has appointed Nicci Spalding as the new Technical Director and Michelle Lowry as the new Technical Manager.
Both will assume their new roles at the beginning of February. Spalding, who holds an honours bachelor degree in Dramatic Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand, has been working in the production side of the entertainment industry since 1994 and previously worked as the assistant technical manager to Tony Groenewald.
Her experience includes working as operations and site manager at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as a crew-member for the Garsington Opera Festival, and touring extensively with shows in Britain, Europe and Asia.
Lowry has more than 25 years of experience in staging theatrical and event productions. Locally, she has worked with John Kani, Barney Simon and Mannie Manim. Her international experience includes working at the National Theatre with Jason Barnes of the Cottesloe Theatre, and with directors such as Sir Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn and Sam Mendes.
Her credits in the events industry include the opening and closing ceremonies of the 7th All Africa Games in 1999, and in 2002 the opening ceremony of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Also no stranger to Grahamstown, Lowry has been the Resident Stage Manager and Venue Manager of Rhodes Theatre at the Festival for two years.
