Today we have announced that Executive Director and Joint-Chief Executive Liam Sinclair will leave the organisation later this year, to take up the post of Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive with the National Theatre of Scotland. 

Liam joined Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre in 2019, as the Rep marked its 80th year. Despite external challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, he has helped to steer the organisation to a period of success and ambition in the last six years, both on and off the stage. Under Liam's leadership, we have received several accolades, including nominations for the UK's Most Welcoming Theatre and Excellence in Sustainability, and a win for Best Production in 2024. Scottish Dance Theatre was nominated for Best Independent Company in 2021 and Best Mid-Scale Company in 2022 and 2023 at the UK National Dance Awards and the organisation also celebrated 30 years of its Dramatherapy service, using theatre to support mental health and well-being.

Dundee Rep premiered A History of Paper, winner of the Scotsman Fringe First award and Musical Theatre Review’s Best Musical at Edinburgh Fringe 2024, and the world premiere of No Love Songs continues to tour internationally, with transfers to New York and Australia this year.

He has embedded strategic thinking and direction throughout the company, and most recently oversaw the organisation’s successful application for Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland, with £8.3m over three years was awarded just last week. The award signals a moment of confidence for the city and culture in Dundee. It allows the organisation to embark with renewed confidence on an enriching and impactful programme, opening up access to some of the best cultural experiences in the world for all of the city’s residents and visitors as well as for the communities to which Dundee Rep Theatre and Scottish Dance Theatre tour nationally and internationally.

Liam will take up his new post at the National Theatre of Scotland from September 2025 and plans to replace Liam will commence in the coming weeks.

The move marks the next phase of Sinclair’s career, and all at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre wish him every success.  

Liam Sinclair, outgoing Executive Director and Joint-CEO said:  Firstly, I want to extend my deepest thanks to the team at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, who have helped to make my time here such a wonderful experience. I am hugely heartened to be leaving the organisation at a time of promising stability and growth, with the boost of Creative Scotland’s funding decision. The quality of creative experiences, the expansions of our programming and the strengthening of our community connections have all been hugely rewarding developments to have been involved in and I have loved supporting all those meaningful connections for our audiences and communities. The team is incredibly creative, inclusive, smart and strategic and I look forward to remaining an engaged and interested supporter and audience member into the future.  

Andrew Panton, Artistic Director of Dundee Rep and Joint-CEO said: I want to thank Liam profusely for his incredible work and steady support helping to steer the Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre ship over the last six years. In a period that has been at times challenging, he has been a voice of confidence and resilience both for us and the wider Scottish performing arts sector. In Liam's time with us we have enjoyed a brilliant collaborative relationship with the National Theatre of Scotland, from our 2019 revival of The Cheviot to our trilogy of digital shorts for Scenes for Survival, and this year we're thrilled to be working together on Make It Happen as it premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival. I know I speak for the entire Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre team when I say that Liam will be missed. He is going to be a wonderful appointment for NTS, and I'm already looking forward to many more years of collaboration to come. 

Dr Susan Hetrick, Chair of the Board said: “On behalf of the DRSDT Board and the entire team at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, I want to extend our greatest thanks to Liam for the incredible job he has done working with us over the last few years. On a personal basis I would like to thank him for his wisdom, guidance and insights in navigating organisation through challenging times. Liam has been a staunch champion for our creative work, our audiences, our city, and our sector in his six years with the company, and we wish him all the very best in his new role with National Theatre of Scotland.

Joan Clevillé, Artistic Director of Scottish Dance Theatre said: “Liam joined the organisation in the same year I joined Scottish Dance Theatre as Artistic Director, and in that time it has been a pleasure and a privilege to work alongside him. He has helped us to oversee six years of ambitious programming for audiences in Dundee and beyond, a strengthening of links with our community, and leaves us in a place of stability as we look ahead to the next few years. I can't thank him enough for his support during our time working together, and I'm excited to see the brilliant work he will help to make possible at NTS.”