ABOUT US
The Herd makes space for childhood. Rooted in Hull, and acclaimed nationally, we collaborate with young children to dream up shows, installations and programmes of play that ignite joy, celebrate child creativity and nurture family connection. We believe in the radical power of the arts to reimagine a world with more space for early childhood, a world where children thrive and communities flourish.
WHO WE ARE
Led by theatre makers Ruby Thompson and Sam Caseley, we’re a herd of artists, makers and play workers, with a shared dedication to the genius of young children.
WHAT WE DO
Rooted in Hull, and acclaimed nationally, we collaborate with young children to dream up shows, installations and local programmes of play that spark joy, celebrate child creativity and nurture family connection. We run regular creative play sessions in family hubs, community centres and schools. We tour shows to our local libraries and the UK’s leading theatres. We build play installations in disused shops and world famous arts venues.
WHY WE DO IT
We believe in the radical power of the arts to help children thrive, families connect and communities flourish. We think that 21st century life leaves little space for childhood, and puts pressure on family connection, so we create stories and spaces dedicated to children and their adults. Our work has creative play at its heart because we know from child psychologists that play is the way that children develop their brains, bodies and social skills. We work in communities where the pressures of poverty have a particularly negative impact on childhood.
HIGHLIGHTS
In 2016, Ruby and Sam wrote stories with children at a pupil referral unit in Hull. We turned these stories into a show, put the show on at Hull Truck, and with that The Herd was born. 2018 saw us diving into the wonderful world of toddlers, and with the help of McMillan Nursery in North Hull, we made Slime - an immersive, playful, tactile show for under 5s. Slime began life touring libraries, before a stint at the Edinburgh Festival led to two national tours and the Guardian labelling it a ‘howling delight’. Since Slime, our obsession with early childhood has grown. In 2023 we made REPLAY for the Southbank Centre, a play installation made entirely out of reclaimed materials. In 2025 REPLAY returned to the Southbank Centre, joined the Bradford City of Culture programme and has so far reached over 50,000 people. This year sees the Herd more rooted in our local community than ever with the creation of Play Herd, a weekly programme of creative play for Family Hubs, whilst our national significance grows as we tour our unique blend of theatre and play around the UK with Counting Sheeps.
Since 2016 The Herd has reached an audience of over 94,000 people and worked with over 5000 children as participants in play sessions and workshops.​​
CORE TEAM
RUBY THOMPSON
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Ruby is a Theatre Director and co-runs The Herd. Ruby directs our shows and comes up with ideas for our shows and projects. Ruby is the Designated Safeguarding Officer at The Herd.
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Other directing credits include the Kiln Theatre, The Yard Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, and Paines Plough's Roundabout. Ruby has devised and led drama workshops at Leeds Playhouse, The National Theatre, The Yard, Women in Football and Donmar Warehouse.
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Ruby is the Vice-Chair of Governors for Sidmouth Primary School Hull.
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SAM CASELEY
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Sam is a writer and composer, and co-runs The Herd. Sam wrote and scored SLIME, Ducklings and How to Fly Like a Reindeer. He is currently writing The Last Dinosaur. Sam wrote the SLIME book with Shoo Rayner and co-created Wired Differently, Ten Foot Tales and Square Patties. He was project lead on Combo Collective and Wires Crossed.
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Other work includes his role as writer and performer on British Council Sierra Leone Exchange Project, Poda Poda and Project Lead on a weekly arts project for young people with Learning Disabilities for Croydon Council. Sam is a trustee of Corali Dance Company, leaders in dance created by people with a Learning Disability.
HANNAH EVERARD
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AND FACILITATOR
Hannah has always been interested in the way children engage with the world through play and the impact it has on their development, well-being and social skills. With degree in Children's Inter-professional Studies and a background of six years working within children's residential care, Hannah has a deep appreciation for the critical role that fun, safe and supportive environments play in fostering healthy growth and how play is the most powerful tool for building connection.
EMMA BRIGHT
CO-PRODUCER AND PERFORMER
Emma is a performer and producer, who co-devised and performs in The Herd's Counting Sheeps. Emma grew up on a small farm in rural Derbyshire and is a co-founder of Hull based theatre company Middle Child. She has worked for several arts organisations in the city including Hull Truck Theatre, Freedom Festival and Middle Child.
As an actor she has worked with many companies across Yorkshire including Slung Low, Hull Truck and Sheffield Theatres. With Middle Child her credits include lots of pantomimes, 25, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, which performed at the Paines Plough Roundabout in Edinburgh and transferred to The Bush Theatre in London.
KATE ALHASHIMI
FINANCE SUPPORT
Also known professionally as Kate Sarley (she/her) was born Baghdad Iraq and grew up in Newham, East London. She trained in Technical Theatre and Stage Management at RADA before studying Arts Admin at Birkbeck College, University of London. Kate then spent over ten successful years as a Stage Manager for a variety of organisations including Birmingham Rep, the RSC, Unicorn Kids Theatre and in the West End.
Having moved into administration Kate worked for English Heritage, Soho Theatre Company and Theatre Royal Stratford East, before undertaking senior management contracts with Colchester Arts Centre, Culture&, Talawa Theatre Company, Oval House, Daily Life Ltd, Jacksons Lane, Discover Centre for Children, Eastern Angles, Shape East Architectural Centre, WeareUnit, and Hoxton Hall. Current clients include Actors Touring Company, The Herd, Corali Dance, Gorilla Circus, Certain Blacks and Curious Directive.
ASSOCIATE ARTISTS
RŪTA IRBĪTE
RÅ«ta is a designer working on projects across theatre and art, often designs for unusual spaces, with a practise in sustainable design.
For The Herd RÅ«ta has designed REPLAY, made entirely our of waste and reclaimed materials, Snowmen, The Last Dinosaur, Slime and How To Fly Like A Reindeer.
Other design work includes We Could all be Perfect (Sheffield Theatres), Say Yes to Tess (Leeds Playhouse) Primetime and Open Court (Royal Court Theatre), And The Rest Of Me Floats (Bush Theatre), Hotter and Fitter (Soho Theatre), Blink (Emergency Exit Arts).
PARKEY ABEYRATNE
Parkey is an actor, puppeteer and aerialist based in Bristol. Work with The Herd includes Snowmen and Counting Sheeps.
She works extensively in Theatre and Opera and some of her favourite experiences include Sally Cookson’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Leeds Playhouse/Bridge Theatre), Satyagraha (LA Opera/ENO), Spitting Image Live (Birmingham Rep/Phoenix Theatre) and Die Zauberflöte (Glyndebourne).
She is the co-creator of Aerial Lines and is passionate about creating work that champions racial and socio-economic diversity and inclusivity.
LUA BAIRSTOW
Lua is a live artist. Lua performed as slug in SLIME and is the writer for WHALESONG.
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Lua is a Spotlight Practitioner at Edshift; an arts based core provider of domestic and sexual violence prevention and early intervention programmes for young people aged 4-18.
Lua is the co-founder of Theatre with Legs, and other works include Cathy in Wuthering Heights (China Plate/ Inspector Sans) creator of The Sound Grief Project (Leeds Playhouse/ Transform) Director of Fat Girls Don't Dance and Essex Girl.
FINLAY MCGUIGAN
Finlay is an actor, facilitator and theatre maker. Finlay performed as Caterpillar in SLIME and Casper in How to Fly Like a Reindeer.
Other work includes Simon in JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (Lyric Hammersmith), THE SNOW QUEEN (Polka), and THE TEMPEST (The Unicorn/ Regents Park Open Air), Joseph in BATHWATER (Vicky Foster/BBC Radio 4), and Finlay in GREAT ADVENTURES IN STORYLAND (Hull Truck Theatre).
YSABELLE WOMBWELL
Ysabelle is a Musician, Music Producer, Creative Producer and Consultant who has been working in the Arts for 15 years.
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Born in London, now based in Hull, Ysabelle is a a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for social change, activism and creative and inclusive practise.
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Ysabelle has worked with The Herd as an Access Consultant on REPLAY, Counting Sheeps, Fast Food Megaverse, and Whalesong. Ysabelle has worked as a composer and musician on Counting Sheeps and Whalesong.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
NAQIYA EBRAHIM
CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
Naqiya is Executive Director of Seenaryo, a theatre and play-based learning charity working in Lebanon & Jordan. Naqiya co-created the Seenaryo Playkit, an app for early years teachers.
ANN-MARIE MERRICK
Ann-Marie works in fundraising, helping to raise money that makes lots of exciting work happen. She’s worked in different theatres, libraries, heritage attractions and universities.
JAMIE JACKSON
Jamie works in Development for Gaumont a TV production company who make drama in the UK and internationally. Jamie creates shows and works with writers to get shows made.
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KATHERINE IGOE-EWER
DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD AT BOARD LEVEL
Katherine is a cultural producer with a specialism in youth and community arts participation. She is currently the Head of Producing and Participation at The Yard Theatre in East London, where she has led the community engagement programme for the last seven years. Katherine is interested in the power of storytelling, play and imagination, particularly for children and families. Katherine’s family is from Hull and she is a big fan of Bob Carvers’ chips.
LOUISE HOLMES
Louise is a charity consultant and governance professional with a background in development and management. Over the years she’s worked with and for charities including the Hackney Empire, Room to Read, Lumos Foundation and the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.
ANDREW SHIMMIN
Andrew worked as Headteacher of Mcmillan Nursery School in North Hull, until his recent retirement. Andrew is a champion of the development of arts projects for Early Years, made in collaboration with young children. ​
HELEN SAVAGE
Helen has worked in children's centres and primary education for over 25 years and is currently an assistant principal at Endike Academy in Hull.
Helen works nationally as an eyfs lead for the David Ross Education Trust and also in the position of area lead for the DfE Covid Recovery programme in the London Borough of Hackney. Helen is a governor for Thomas Hinderwell Primary Academy based in Scarborough.
Helen is an enthusiastic childhood advocate and promotes playful and creative learning experiences across all her work within schools and private nursery settings for children and families.
POLICIES
CHILD PROTECTION - Read our Child Protection Policy here.
Ruby Thompson is The Herd's Designated Safeguarding Officer, and is accredited by the NSPCC.
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EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY - Read our Equality and Diversity Policy here.
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We have adopted the ANTI-RACISM RIDER as an important statement of intent and will work with colleagues from across the industry to implement this. We have made a commitment to meet the baseline actions of the rider.
The Herd's Core Team and Associates received ANTI-RACISM Training in October 2022.