“If theatre didn’t exist, this would be a good place to start.” - Keith Johnstone

Led by Phelim McDermott, Lee Simpson, and Matlida Leyser, Improbable is a theatre company that defies categorisation. We create work on every scale from spectacular productions in the great opera houses to tiny improvisation gigs in small venues; we are world-leaders in Open Space Technology, and create meaningful participation work. At the heart of our work is the practice and philosophy of improvisation, and all our work draws on improvisatory processes. This is true even for the large-scale opera and music theatre pieces that form the bulk of Improbable’s upcoming programme. We are a company that follows our intuition. 

There are four strands to our work:

• Making shows - from studio productions to outdoor spectacle, new operas to classic texts, touring the UK and internationally – all celebrating the vitality of theatre and communicating the power of improvisation.  

• Nurturing skills - engaging with communities, businesses and individuals through workshops and mentoring to offer skills, techniques and tools that enable and empower. Supporting our associate artists to develop their creative practice, develop their own work and find artistic autonomy. 

• Research and applied practice - our ongoing research exploring improvisatory processes as tools for creative practice; and connecting our work with global improvisational practice in science, business, medicine and education through the Impro Research Labs. 

• Holding space - including Open Space events such as Devoted and Disgruntled and Worldwork events: creating spaces with local, national and international communities, bringing people together in deep democracy to work on urgent issues within the arts sector and beyond it.  

Each strand of work underpins Improbable’s journey towards The Gathering and our new home in Kent. The breadth of Improbable’s knowledge of improvisation and its application is unrivalled and means we occupy a vital space in the landscape of international theatre. Since 2008 Improbable has been the only improvisation company in Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. 

2026 will be a busy year for Improbable as it’s our 30th anniversary. This year will see us produce and develop a variety of projects including:  

• My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (current run until August 2026).

• Devoted and Disgruntled 21 at Shoreditch Town Hall (May 2026).

• Perfect Show For Rachel Tour (until June 2026). 

• Improbable Summer School at Bore Place (Summer 2026). 

• Research and Development across the year for a variety of projects on Improbable’s slate.  

• Programme of Devoted & Disgruntled satellites and Open Space for Hire activity. 

• Local and community activity in the Sevenoaks area including movement and improv classes.

• And much, much more….. 

We want someone who can hold responsibility for the company’s financial management, fundraising and income generation; someone to work with other members of the organisation on governance, audience development and projects; someone to lead the company's organisation and infrastructure, who line manages other members of the team.

As 2026 is our 30th anniversary year, we want someone who can steer the team through this year long celebration that includes programming across the UK and a fundraising campaign that aims to maximise opportunity from this milestone. We also want someone who is interested in interrogating our business model as an organisation who produces work nationally and internationally but for whom Kent has become our home.

You can find out more about our work and our current team at www.improbable.co.uk

We are looking for people who hold the following skills and experience. If you have experience in, skills to do and aptitude for some of these areas but not all of it AND you have an excitement for working with Improbable we do want to hear from you. So if you’re thinking, maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't... maybe you should.

Essential 

(Take ‘essential’ with a pinch of salt. We are open to you not having undertaken some of these areas)

• Experience of holding leadership positions within a company including responsibility for development of and/or delivery of business plans.

• A thorough knowledge of and commitment to theatre and the performing arts. An understanding of the national cultural environment and the issues affecting the making and distribution of work in this sector

• A proven ability to work closely with a Board of Directors to shape the strategic direction of board meetings and to create associated board documents.

• A genuine interest and enthusiasm for Improbable’s work, values and vision.

• A proven aptitude for, experience and interest in running financial systems including managing annual company budgets, accounting, preparation of financial statements and reporting, running payroll, theatre-tax relief and company cash flow.

• A track record and understand of fundraising from a variety of sources including writing funding applications and management of major donors.

• A proven aptitude for team management, task prioritising and deadlines balanced with a willingness for new ideas to emerge amongst this.

• Ability to lead income generation with mixed income models.

• Confidence and skills in line management and relationship management.

• Ability to create policies (such as environmental policies) and processes to support those policies to happen.

Desirable (You don’t need to have all of these, but it gives you a sense of the role) 

• Experience working in a variety of organisational structures (for example, building based and nomadic organisations) to draw from as we develop business models to support our work.

• Ability to manage yearlong fundraising campaigns.

• Ability to negotiate co-production deals and contracts in the subsidised and commercial sector.

• Ability to manage artists and/or process-led projects.

• Hold existing networks / contacts within UK / international theatre and performance.

• Experience of working with and managing Arts Council England grants, specifically National Portfolio Organisation grants.

• Knowledge of recruitment practises.

If you would like to see a breakdown of responsibilities and areas of work, please contact office@improbable.co.uk and we'll share that with you.

Salary: £40,000 - £45,000

Hours: Flexible and to be negotiated.

Term: May 2026 – May 2027 (12 months). We are open to discussing flexible start dates.

Holiday: 25 days per year, plus statutory bank holidays for full time post or pro rata.

Place of work: Improbable is currently a hybrid organisation but we are looking to put down roots in 2026. You will work between London, Bore Place (near Sevenoaks) and in touring locations as required. We aim to work together in person once a week.

Probationary Period: Three months.

Deadline for applications: Thursday 26th February, 10am

How to Apply 

We actively encourage people from a variety of backgrounds with different skills, experiences and stories to join us and influence and develop our working practice.  

1. Send us: 

• Your CV. 

• A cover letter outlining the skills and experience you bring. Why you want to work with us and why now. 

• A completed, anonymous copy of the equal opportunities monitoring form.  

2. We anticipate having one round of interviews which we will arrange with shortlisted candidates in early March.

If you want to talk through an application before you submit it, please get in touch with Ellie Claughton, Executive Director on office@improbable.co.uk and a member of the team will be in touch to arrange an informal chat with you. 

 Applications should be sent by email to ellie@improbable.co.uk marked “JOB APPLICATION.” The deadline for applications is Thursday 26th February at 10am.

We are Improvisers. Performers. Directors. Writers. Artists. Facilitators. Parents. Partners. Friends.

We are leaders. We are listeners.

We are tricksters.

We have spent our lives following our curiosity, trusting the unlikely, believing in the quirky, the subtle, and the irritating, giving time and space to all the improper things that are usually dismissed or discarded in a creative process. We are also all these things ourselves: improper, quirky, irritating. We are not always easy to live with.

We are often… Sad. Overwhelmed. Furious. Funny. In despair. In hope. Determined. Devoted. Disgruntled.

We believe that Improvisation can save the world.

We are wildly ambitious and not attached to the results.

We believe in the power of vulnerability.

We are committed to celebrating and holding space for the marginal. We mean those marginalised by race, sexuality, gender, class, (dis)ability - all of these things - and we also mean the marginalised in ourselves: the dreams, dilemmas, accidents, odd impulses, uncanny images.

We are Improbable, seeking a home, and, right now, seeking a collaborator, otherwise known as Administrator, to help us make it all happen.

If the spirit of this speaks to you...

If you care, not only about theatre but the way in which theatre is made...

If you believe grief has as much value as gold...

If you believe poetry is as hard as nails...

If you believe spirit has as much leverage as a plan...

If you believe leaders are followers...

If you believe silence is as eloquent as words, and that listening is as important as speaking…

If you believe that dreams are as real as the real...

If you’re happy to step out before the ground has appeared...

If there’s one thing that you know and it is that you ain’t learned nothing yet...

And in a time of despair, if you believe the story of the artists is not over just yet...

Then, maybe, you should apply for this job.

And, as we say when we are Opening Space - after that moment of silence when we are waiting to see whether everyone is done calling their sessions - if you are thinking maybe you should, maybe you shouldn’t, maybe you should......

Lee, Phelim and Matilda