New chief exec for the "come on in!" Brighton Festival

“I live in Lewes so I haven't had to do a big life relocation. It is a city that I have known for a long time but I'm really looking forward to getting to know it so much better. It has been a really perfect balance. I actually used to be on the board of Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival from 2017 until I stood down to apply for this job. I had been coming to the festival in my capacity as a trustee for a long time but I've been coming to the festival as an audience member since my 20s.

“But it's great that I had that governance oversight coming to the role now. It means that I know what I'm walking into but the lovely thing is that there is still so much more to discover. When (the previous artistic director) Andrew stepped down, I simply had to put my hat in the ring.

“And as I say, there is still a huge amount to learn. I've spent the first couple of months asking lots and lots of questions and getting to understand the mechanism of the festival, the business model of the economics, just understanding the ecosystem of the festival and also the year-round operation of Brighton Dome and also (the music education hub) Create Music (which reaches almost 20,000 young people across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex).

“For me it was brilliant to arrive just as the festival was being locked in and announced. It was too late for me to have any impact on this year's festival but I was able to meet the incredible team behind it and also meet (guest director) Anoushka (Shankar) and see what her approach has been and to see the incredible things she has achieved, just to get a sense what works well and what makes the festival work as a whole.”

Under Anoushka’s guest directorship, Brighton Festival takes as its theme as New Dawn this year. Running from May 3-26, it will feature:

• 15 Brighton Festival commissions including mass public art project that invites anyone and everyone to draw their New Dawn

• A programme of South Asian music, dance and performance including Meera Syal, Aakash Odedra, Aditya Prakash, Aruna Sairam and Arooj Aftab

• Other highlights including Nadine Shah, Rebecca Solnit, Martin Parr, Max Cooper, Hofesh Shechter and more.

As Lucy says: “There are certain things about the Brighton Festival. The big one is the city itself. There are no other festivals in England that are as long standing as this or run as long as this one does across so many different art forms. But also there is the fact of it being this particular city in this particular location with the sea and the Downs. It's very much a city with its own energy and creativity and its own brand. There are so many things that cohere around the city for the festival to come together, not the least of which is its own grooviness. And the city’s grooviness means that the festival is instinctively groovy.

“There is a permissiveness in the city and there is also the fact that it is so outward-looking. And that's reflected in the festival. The festival works brilliantly when it's hyper local but is also great when it's really international, and part of my job will be to see just how much we can push that in the future, especially as next year is the 60th anniversary of the festival which is a real gift. It's a festival which was born in the 60s with all that the city had to offer and it remains a really inclusive city and festival still. It's a ‘come on in’ festival and city. It's a city that is all about the ‘what if we did this?’ There is a great natural curiosity. It's a city that is all about the possible.

“With Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival we have got a sole CEO model but you are surrounded by really creative producers. Ultimately the core business is the work that we put on stage, and the chief executive has to be accountable for that work. So it's very much a programming role but absolutely it is programming in collaboration.”

But Lucy expects her own personality and her own particular interests to come through as she grows into the role: “I have been quite visible in the sector around my climate leadership and I'm sure that I will find a place for that going forward. I do think your own values and your own strategic priorities and the personality of your own leadership will come through but in a very collaborative way. I want to be very visible in Brighton and I want to really work with all the brilliant creative people that are here.”

Lucy joined Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival from her role as executive director at the Young Vic Theatre, where she oversaw major productions such as a 24-hour non-stop performance of The Second Woman, starring Ruth Wilson and featuring Idris Elba and Andrew Scott; and the Olivier award-winning production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma. Previously, she spent nine years as executive producer at London’s Royal Court Theatre, producing more than 100 world premiere productions including Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman, directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes; and the multi-award winning Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee Jones.