Who We Are

Heather Rose- Creative Producer

Heather has been working as a Creative Producer in Ireland since January 2020. She leads Rose Producing, managing strategic, financial and artistic planning across all projects, as well as company management. This means that artists are free to prioritise their practice and their work without having to carry the weight of funding applications, financial management, contracting, and more.

Before moving to Ireland, Heather worked as Associate Producer for the Pleasance Theatre in London and the Edinburgh Fringe, and as Programme Manager for the house touring network in South East England. Heather lives in rural county Sligo with two children, a dog and four Shetland ponies.

Artists We Work With

  • Cliodhna Noonan

    Cliodhna is an established Early Years Arts performer and event organiser who speaks 7 languages. She founded Acting Up! Arts in 2009 and Grasshoppers early years festival in 2019. Cliodhna is lead artist of the EYNA network.

  • Alison Ní Mháirtín

    Alison has written several Super Paua Stories (in multiple languages!), and is the writer of Pegasus the Clothes Horse (National Opera House, 2024). She is a frequent collaborator and lives in Wexford.

  • Miriam Needham

    Miriam Needham is a theatre-maker from Co. Leitrim. She writes and creates her own work, as well as regularly collaborating with other artists to make work for stage, working as a writer, director and performer. Her work has been supported by Create, Creative Ireland, and The Arts Council of Ireland.

  • Sinéad Sexton

    Sinéad (Zinéad) Sexton is a Digital Marketer, Performance Artist, and Theatre Practitioner based in Sligo who has been working in Social Media Management for Rose Producing. Sinéad’s theatre work focuses primarily on women's stories, especially those of hidden voices from the past and present that deserve to be heard. Sinéad presents her work through archived material, music, mixed media, and spoken word.

  • Selma Daniel

    Selma Daniel is a choreographer and artistic director with over 25 years of experience in dance who creates meaningful dance productions for young audiences, leading to an portfolio of work that has been extensively toured across Ireland, as well as internationally. Since 2020, she has been an associate artist with Solstice Arts Centre.

  • Ben Lucent

    Ben is a theatre-maker, performer, multi-disciplinary artist, facilitator and former manager of Public Libraries of 15 years. He has broad experience of bringing together and guiding creative groups in a community setting, taking a uniquely hands-on approach. His most recent project is Teddy Play, a multisensory play for children with autism. A show designed especially for this audience using his own experience of being Autistic.

  • Sinéad O'Brien

    Sinéad is an Irish theatre maker wandering across Ireland, the UK and the EU who is passionate about storytelling. She’s dedicated to the power of theatre to impact hearts and minds. Sinéad believes that everyone has a story worth telling and was a dramaturg and collaborator on Teddy Play.

  • George Bernard Gallagher

    George is a production manager who frequently consults on our projects, and is production managing Museum of Believing to make sure it can fit into small rural schools but still have a wow factor. He has toured all over the world as a theatre and dance production manager as well as working in theatres and is currently Technical and Building Manager at Linenhall Arts Centre.

  • Em Ball

    Em has been collaborating with us since 2020 across many projects, including Super Paua Stories, Whodunnit? and Knapsack. They are a multitalented theatremaker with skills in directing, performance, dramaturgy and engagement. Em was engagement coordinator and then artistic director of Super Paua.

  • Sian Ní Mhuirí

    Sian was the artistic director and founder of Super Paua which eventually became Rose Producing. She is a writer and theatremaker, and wrote The Lonsdale Project.

Rose Producing seeks to empower artists to create work for young audiences that will bring them things that are beautiful and unexpected.

Our ethos is at the heart of everything we do- we put people first.  We value not only professional experience, but also life experience, and recognise that optimal working conditions look different for everyone.  We believe that the most surprising, ambitious, beautiful and hilarious creative work requires time and space for its incubation and creation, and therefore most of our projects are developed over years, not weeks or even months.

WHYs and HOWs of Rose Producing

How do we ensure fair working conditions?

We recognise unpaid work and financial instability as two of the biggest challenges facing artists, particularly carers and people with disabilities. This is why we have developed Hiring & Employment and Fair Pay Policies, ensure that all projects are fully funded, and do our utmost to limit working weeks to 40 hours/week, with flexibility wherever possible.

Why do we only make work for young people?

Young people are often not respected, and given very limited control over their own lives. We also know that what young people see and learn can be hugely impactful, so we aim to increase the breadth of the ideas and people that are connecting and inspiring young people. Female scientists, multicultural objects, and multilingual stories are just some small ways in which we seek to do that.

Why do we prioritise artist wellness?

Putting people first is such a simple and basic concept, but it doesn’t come naturally to many of us, who are accustomed to putting work ahead of our own needs. We believe that only by standing up for artist wellness can we begin to change the tide. We also hope that by making these decisions as a company, we avoid putting anyone in a position where they are seen as ‘difficult’.

How do we ensure ‘social relevance’ in our work?

Our work portrays the values of our social views and politics (everything is political!). This could be a simple idea like encouraging children to think creatively about science, the portrayal of a radical feminist figure, supporting artists from minority backgrounds, or choosing to present our work in small rural schools. We are proud to be just a little bit radical!

How do we choose what work we programme?

This is a complicated question, for which transparency is essential. Our work comes about primarily through relationships. A connection through a callout or as a collaborator leads to further conversations and ideas which lead to project development. Generally our projects are developed over at least 3 years. If you have a project you’d like us to consider, please get in touch.

Why do we prioritise work outside of Dublin?

We have found that for artists based outside of Dublin, there are significantly less opportunities. There are less arts organisations and venues, less funding avenues, and less local artists to collaborate with. In addition, we want young people to see the arts as a possible career, meaning we want them to see people from their area doing what they might want to do.

This section could be much, much longer. We have collaborated with many incredible artists, and are grateful to all of them for their work, their creativity, and everything we have learned from them. For more information and credits, check out our Projects. Or to get involved, Contact Us.