Jude Kelly

Judith ("Jude") Pamela Kelly CBE (born 24 March 1954) is a theatre director and producer from Liverpool, England. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London, which oversees the Hayward Gallery, the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Saison Poetry Library, and the Arts Council Collection.

Kelly's love of theatre dates back to her childhood in Liverpool, where she would put on plays in her backyard with the neighbours' children. 'I've always had a passion for telling a story,' she says. At Quarry Bank School, she was taught by John Lennon's old headmaster, Bill Pobjoy, who encouraged his pupils to be creative. Already determined to become a director, she chose to study drama at Birmingham, one of a small handful of single honours degree courses available at the time. Jude graduated with a BA in Drama and Theatre Arts from Birmingham University in 1975.

Kelly founded Solent People's Theatre, a touring company, in 1976, and was artistic director of the Battersea Arts Centre from 1980 to 1985. In 1986, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. She became the founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse from 1990–2002, where as Artistic Director and then CEO she established it as an acknowledged centre for excellence. As the Artistic Director, she sat on the National Advisory Committee for Culture, Creativity and Education (NACCCE), led by Ken Robinson, that in 1999 wrote the All Our Futures report which led to significant government investment in young people's creative and cultural education.

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