Our colleague and friend Nicola Thorold, who has died aged 51 of leukaemia, was a champion of innovative grassroots theatre. As chief executive of the Independent Theatre Council (1993-2000), she established a powerful voice in campaigning for smaller organisations to receive more resources and attention.
She put the resulting experience to use as director of theatre at Arts Council England (ACE) from 2000 to 2006, overseeing the substantial increase in funding recommended by the Boyden Report, which led to a flowering of regional theatre.
A restructuring of ACE prompted Nicola to leave and become a freelance theatre consultant – she worked for the Young Vic as an associate producer and for the National Theatre. She collaborated with both of us: with David when the Young Vic led World Stages London in contributing to the cultural dimension of the London Olympics in 2012, and then with Marcus when she was executive producer of the Roundhouse, in north London. There she fought for the inclusion of young people while producing work by leading artists.
The idea for What Next?, an organisation aiming to strengthen the role of culture in Britain, emerged during discussions about the arts between David and Nicola around the time of the 2010 election. What Next? grew out of a small meeting of fellow arts leaders into a London-wide alliance and then a movement across the whole country. There are now the first stirrings of similar alliances being created abroad. Typically, Nicola turned a vague idea into a living reality and encouraged a conversation about the kind of country people want Britain to be.
Born in London, Nicola was the daughter of Peter Thorold, a historian and writer, and his wife Anne (nee Fender), an art historian. She attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, in South Kensington, and St Paul’s girls school, Hammersmith, before winning an exhibition to New College, Oxford. After graduating in history, she briefly followed a banking career as a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley, but was drawn to the arts and joined ACE in 1989.
She was keen to improve the working conditions of theatre employees and made many people feel that she had their best interests at heart. In June this year she was appointed OBE.
In addition to her love of theatre, she enjoyed a wide range of music, from Benjamin Britten to hip hop. A lover of France and its language, Nicola was also a keen follower of French drama.
In 1990 she married Paddy Dillon, a writer and architect. He survives her, along with their children, Martha and Joe, and her parents.
