TAHI Team 2026

Festival Director, Producer, Hatch Facilitator
She/Her

Dr Sally Richards is a director, teacher, deviser and producer. Her research investigates the rehearsal room relationship between the director and the solo performer. She is the creator , producer and artistic director of the TAHI: New Zealand Festival of Solo Performance. now a biennial fixture in Pōneke Wellington. Sally’s most recent directing work includes the polylogues Batch, Joy, Whānau, and Ono - six Māori and Pasifika writers on the theme of Aroha/Alofa/Love at Circa Theatre.

Marketing Manager

Emily is a communications and marketing specialist who helps creative projects find their audience. She has worked with organisations of all sizes, from NZ startups to global enterprises, focusing on purpose-driven projects for social good. With a background in brand, digital marketing, community engagement, and content strategy, she brings a practical, people-first approach to arts communications. Emily has worked on a range of festival and performance projects across Pōneke, supporting producers, not-for-profits, and arts organisations to build buzz and grow their reach. She's especially passionate about storytelling that reflects the energy, diversity, and voice of NZ's creative communities.

Website Manager
He/Him

Jacob Cleghorn has recently completed his Master of Fine Arts (CP) in Theatre at Victoria University of Wellington. Jacob’s passion is creating theatre that explores identity and culture through understanding history. Jacob recently debuted his show ‘FRACTURE’ at BATS Theatre which explored the stories of survivors of the 1931 Napier Earthquake. As well as working for TAHI Jacob is the Assistant Producer for PlayShop and has been involved in the 6 Degrees Festival and Second Unit and is developing his skills as an emerging Producer

Graphic Designer
She/Her

Aimée (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary designer who has been supporting businesses and charities in social media management, content creation and marketing for three years. She has worked extensively across the arts, and has designed posters for theatre companies across the motu. She currently resides in Te Whanganui a Tara.

Festival Photographer
She/Her

Dianna Thomson is a freelance photographer based in Wellington. Originally trained as a registered nurse Dianna uses her skills gathered from working with diverse communities to engage with and capture people in a natural and candid way. She has worked with international companies such as Illumina to capture children with rare disease, Hutt City Council photographing children at play for their pukutākaro project and for the Ministry of Education for their Gifted Children document.

HATCH Production Manager & Design/Tech Mentor

My name is Marshall and I'm a local theatre practitioner with a decade's worth of professional theatre experience.

As a multi-disciplinary artist, my skills branch into all corners of live performance. I frequently operate both local and touring theatre shows, I stage manage the Circa Theatre Pantomime, I have taught theatre technology at a tertiary level and most recently was the Lighting Designer of the hit show The Tiwhas! A Matariki Spectacular.

I'm also a theatre writer, having graduated with distinction from the Institute of Modern Letters' Script Writing program and because I cannot fathom having any free time at all, I write and facilitate tabletop RPG's for my friends whenever I find myself in between the roles described above."

Stage Manager - HATCH Showcase
She/Her

Emily Coyle (she/her) is a theatre-maker and emerging stage manager, currently based in her home city of Pōneke/Wellington. Her work is driven by an interest in emotional storytelling, collaboration, and the combination of music, movement and narrative. Emily is primarily interested in musical theatre and is drawn to concept albums and pop/rock musicals. She aims to create art that delivers powerful themes and meaningful messages whilst keeping the joy and entertainment of musical storytelling. She is also fascinated by cabaret, burlesque, physical theatre and immersive theatre, which celebrate bold expression and emotional performance with a focus on audience engagement. After completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Otago, Emily is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) in Theatre at Victoria University of Wellington.

Sustainability Champion
She/Her

Isabelle Lindsey is currently a Scenographer specialising in costume design, wardrobing, prop making and set design while completing her Master’s of Fine Arts degree at Victoria University of Wellington. 

She was born in America and moved to New Zealand at the age of two. Starting in Christchurch, then eventually moved to Dunedin and finally settled down in Wellington for the past 4 years.
Isabelle’s favourite art mediums are costuming and set design. Throughout her daily life, she is inspired by her personal experiences and observations. She likes creating mood boards of interesting things she's seen, so she is able to incorporate those into her ideas. She finds her best ideas come while she is in her own head, often listening to music and consuming other art while creating.
Isabelle took design and theatre through NCEA until her final year. From there, she pursued the design aspect of her theatre major. Although mainly self-taught through tutorials, trial and error and conversation, she also received guidance from her teachers and peers.

She has been part of many productions, her most recent one being ‘Ecz-asth-perated Fever’ through the NZ Fringe Festival, where she was the costume designer, wardrober and assisted with makeup and props.
She was also a part of Victoria University of Wellington’s third-year production, ‘Doctor Faustus’, and a few other works throughout the years. She worked on the puppet design and creation.

Marketing Intern
She/Her

Rebecca is a third year Communications and Theatre Student at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. No stranger to the theatre scene, Rebecca has experience in many different theatre disciplines such as Stage Management, Production, Costuming, Set Building and even treading the boards herself once or twice, but this is her first time using her communication skills in a theatre context. She is incredibly excited to be working with the TAHI team, and learn the ins and outs of festival marketing.

Operator/designer for The Hunt for The Canterbury Panther
Operator for Party Girl
They/Them

Nathan Arnott (They/Them) is a Pōneke-based multi-disciplinary designer/actor with a diverse skill set including carpentry, fabrication, photography, and operation. They are a recent graduate of the Master of Fine Arts (CP) in Theatre at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Their work explores the connection between themes of liminality and decay and the experiences that can be had within transitional space.