Our board are actively involved in the company's strategic development whilst also bringing their personal skills and experience to the ongoing guidance of the organisation. We welcome applications from individuals with a passion for culture from all areas of our diverse community.
Download the Trustees Information pack (PDF)
Chris is currently a freelance writer, theatre director, producer and arts consultant. He was formerly Associate Director for New Perspectives Theatre Company in Nottinghamshire, where he won several national awards for various participatory arts projects; Executive Artistic Director for Beaford Arts in Devon; Director of Dance & Theatre for Take Art in Somerset; Artist Development Lead for Akademi in London, and Creative Producer for both South East Dance in Brighton and the Bonnie Bird Choreography Fund in London.
He has been Chair of the Board of Trustees for Tavaziva Dance, State of Emergency, as well as being a Trustee for Ben Wright’s bgroup and the children’s theatre company Stuff & Nonsense. He has written more than 20 plays, all of which have toured professionally, and his novels, poetry and short stories have been published by Mudlark Press and Flax Books. He is a graduate of Manchester University with a BA Joint Honours degree in Drama & English.
Ben has worked in professional theatre for over 20 years. He completed his formal training in 2003 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, achieving a BA (hons) in Stage Management and Technical Theatre. During his time at the college he specialised in lighting, sound and set construction.
Ben now works as the Chief Electrician at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Here he runs the day to day work of the technical department including managing over 30 staff, overseeing all technical aspects of the shows that come to the Centre including being involved with the Centre’s own productions.
He has production managed UK tours, works on several festivals around the UK and is head of lighting for the Hay festival.
Paula studied teacher training and art at Manchester Polytechnic. Her first job was as a box office assistant at the Palace Theatre in Manchester during the mid-1980s. She moved to London in 1985 and for 15 years she worked for various venues including the South Bank Centre, National Film Theatre, Orange Tree Theatre and Lyric Theatre Hammersmith – posts included fundraising, marketing and booking late night cabaret and comedy. In 2000 Paula left London for Somerset and was appointed Director of the Merlin Theatre in Frome. She invited Mark to be an Associate Artist and supported the company with rehearsal space and programmed sell-out performances of Sea of Bones and Love and War. She left the Merlin in 2010 but support for the company continues with both Made in Heaven and Dracula being presented.
Since August 2014 Paula has worked on a freelance basis as a Programmer for Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts – the largest arts centre in the South West. She joined the Board in 2007 and is Company Secretary. She lives in Frome with her husband, Terry and dog, Betty.
Iain Harvey, having qualified as a chartered accountant, spent ten years in publishing, mostly at the Penguin Group. During that time he developed an interest in animation, executive producing The Snowman, When the Wind Blows and Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas.
Subsequently he went on to form The Illuminated Film Company, an animation studio with successes such as Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories, Christmas Carol – The Movie, War Game, On Angel Wings and the Little Princess series.
Iain has always enjoyed his involvement in the creative world and believes that, wherever possible, an exciting vision should have the chance of being realised. Working with Mark Bruce gives him the opportunity to try and help a true visionary in the field of dance.
Born in South Africa, Dane Hurst is a multi-award-winning independent director, choreographer, dancer, actor and founding Artistic Director of the Moving Assembly Project. He joined Rambert Dance Company in 2004, receiving the Spotlight Dancer of the Year award from the Critic's Circle National Dance Awards in 2007 and Best Male Dancer of the Year award in 2014.
Graduating with an MA Choreography from University of Kent and Central School of Ballet, Dane has received choreographic commissions from The Place, Barbican, RichMix, Wilton's Music Hall, Dulwich Picture Gallery and regularly choreographs for Rambert's evening of New Choreography. His work has been performed at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town & the National Arts Festival in South Africa, The Genocide Memorial Theatre in Kigali, Rwanda, and throughout the UK.
Film work includes Primitive directed by Tom Rowland and winner of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival Best Dance Film award; the 2018 feature film, The Beast in The Jungle by Clara Van Gool and collaborations with Akala on his Ruins of Empire BBC Performance Live film and Shakespeare Live filmed for BBC2 with Nitin Sawhney. Dane is an Associate Artist in Residence at the Jazzart Dance Theatre in Cape Town.
Jeremy Newton qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and is now a Director of Technology Law Alliance, a London-based law firm specialising in the fields of intellectual property, information technology and data protection law.
He has had a lifelong interest in the arts: Jeremy originally studied English at the University of Warwick, and has two Masters degrees in humanities subjects. He has been actively involved with the boards of several arts companies over the years (both professional and amateur), and he first came across the Mark Bruce Company in 2013 when he saw Dracula at Wilton's Music Hall. Jeremy joined the Board in 2014.
Jennifer has worked in destination management and culture for over 18 years. Initially achieving a degree in Business Studies and working in IT, she moved into retail and then into destination management and human resource management for which she has a masters. She has held senior management roles for many years including head of visitor experience for Visit Birmingham and more recently head of visitor economy and inward investment for Visit Leeds.
Jennifer has a passion for dance and was Northern Ballet’s Director of Development for five years, leading a team of talented fundraisers to achieve ambitious income targets for the company from 2018 to 2023. Northern Ballet is the widest touring ballet company in the UK delivering outstanding and narrative ballets on the stage and screen, whilst enabling people of all means and abilities to take part in dance activities through varied learning and outreach programmes, and through the Academy of Northern Ballet, the leading centre of excellence for dance in the North of England. Jennifer is now Head of Fundraising & Marketing for Calvert Trust Exmoor, an outdoor and indoor activity centre welcoming guests with physical, behavioural, sensory and learning disabilities.
