For over 35 years, Glynis Hall has championed groundbreaking theatre, from Stomp to Ennio Marchetto to BLAM! She shares how her passion for the arts, risk-taking, and a belief in storytelling have shaped her career.
I’ve always been drawn to work that is different, perhaps even maverick. That’s been true since my early 20s, when I started working with Arts Council-funded companies that toured internationally. It wasn’t just about the performances – it was the entire experience, the way the arts could connect people across cultures. I remember one company performing in Bologna on New Year’s Eve, Abel Gance’s Napoléon playing with a live orchestra. I thought, ‘This is extraordinary. I wish the UK embraced the arts like this.’ That moment stayed with me.
The Edinburgh Festival has been a huge part of my journey. In my first few years, I presented a group of Kenyan acrobats and a band – acts I’d discovered while travelling. I was only 28, wandering through clubs in Nairobi to find the right band, and I didn’t think twice about it. I just knew I had to do it. That show became a global success. In the same year, I worked with Ennio Marchetto, a completely unique talent who has since performed in 70 countries. I still work with him today.
A year later, Stomp came along. Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas knew my company Glynis Henderson Productions had experience in international touring, and we took it to Edinburgh. It wasn’t the show it eventually became, but it evolved. Every show needs that moment of fire, and for Stomp, it was when we put it into Sadler’s Wells. It just exploded.
“I’ve always loved trailblazing into new territories”
I’ve always loved trailblazing into new territories, and Stomp became a production that was capable of introducing international audiences to something they had never experienced before. The first time we played Japan, where audiences politely clapped after each section, to last year, when they went wild, or taking the show to China in the very early days; Stomp pushes through all barriers.
One of my most memorable experiences was taking Stomp to Tel Aviv and Ramallah. We were determined to perform in both places, and the British Council helped us get the set through the border. In Tel Aviv, the show played to a cosmopolitan crowd. Thirty miles away, in Ramallah, though there was an initial moment of suspicion, the audience realised, “We’re allowed to enjoy this.” A week later, we played Beirut. In all three places, each with its own complex history, audiences reacted in exactly the same way. That, to me, is the power of the arts. It cuts through everything.
I’ve always chosen shows that move me. It could be because they’re wildly funny, deeply moving, or something that reaches across cultures and age groups. That’s why I fell in love with Dark Noon, a South African production I first saw years ago in Copenhagen. It never left me. The show explores land, migration, and the need to find a home. When we finally got it to Sydney, Brooklyn, and Manchester, audiences wouldn’t leave afterwards – they just stayed, talking about what they had seen. That’s when you know a show matters. I’m currently looking for European capital cities (especially London) to stage it.
“I’ve learned that commercial success and emotional connection aren’t mutually exclusive”
Another project I’ve been thrilled to work on is the Orchestral Qawwali Project, which blends South Asian Qawwali with Western composition. I saw it at the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden and then at the Roundhouse, and loved it. I used every contact I had to get the show into the Royal Albert Hall – something the creator, Rushil, had always dreamed of. Helping artists realise their ambitions is one of the greatest rewards in my career.
Over the years, I’ve learned that commercial success and emotional connection aren’t mutually exclusive. The shows I work on aren’t created through the usual model of script, director, and designer. They come from people with a unique and unusual talent. My role is to help that talent and turn it into something that can be shared with the world. That’s not always easy. There have been times when I’ve been unable to convince an artist to take the next step – like persuading Ennio to play New York for a year. I knew he could do it, but he didn’t want that life. I respect that.
After Covid, I worried that I had lost my mojo. But then I saw a couple of new shows and found myself right back in the thick of it. That’s what keeps me going – the possibility of discovering something that makes me feel, “Oh my god, this is extraordinary.” And when I see an audience responding in the same way, it’s terrific.
This interview is an excerpt from the Touring Entertainment Report (TER) 2025, which is available exclusively to IQ subscribers in print or as a digital magazine. Subscribe now and view the full report.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
I’ve always chosen shows that move me
In an excerpt from the Touring Entertainment Report 2025, Glynis Hall of Glynis Henderson Productions shares lessons from her trailblazing career
29 Jul 2025
For over 35 years, Glynis Hall has championed groundbreaking theatre, from Stomp to Ennio Marchetto to BLAM! She shares how her passion for the arts, risk-taking, and a belief in storytelling have shaped her career.
I’ve always been drawn to work that is different, perhaps even maverick. That’s been true since my early 20s, when I started working with Arts Council-funded companies that toured internationally. It wasn’t just about the performances – it was the entire experience, the way the arts could connect people across cultures. I remember one company performing in Bologna on New Year’s Eve, Abel Gance’s Napoléon playing with a live orchestra. I thought, ‘This is extraordinary. I wish the UK embraced the arts like this.’ That moment stayed with me.
The Edinburgh Festival has been a huge part of my journey. In my first few years, I presented a group of Kenyan acrobats and a band – acts I’d discovered while travelling. I was only 28, wandering through clubs in Nairobi to find the right band, and I didn’t think twice about it. I just knew I had to do it. That show became a global success. In the same year, I worked with Ennio Marchetto, a completely unique talent who has since performed in 70 countries. I still work with him today.
A year later, Stomp came along. Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas knew my company Glynis Henderson Productions had experience in international touring, and we took it to Edinburgh. It wasn’t the show it eventually became, but it evolved. Every show needs that moment of fire, and for Stomp, it was when we put it into Sadler’s Wells. It just exploded.
I’ve always loved trailblazing into new territories, and Stomp became a production that was capable of introducing international audiences to something they had never experienced before. The first time we played Japan, where audiences politely clapped after each section, to last year, when they went wild, or taking the show to China in the very early days; Stomp pushes through all barriers.
One of my most memorable experiences was taking Stomp to Tel Aviv and Ramallah. We were determined to perform in both places, and the British Council helped us get the set through the border. In Tel Aviv, the show played to a cosmopolitan crowd. Thirty miles away, in Ramallah, though there was an initial moment of suspicion, the audience realised, “We’re allowed to enjoy this.” A week later, we played Beirut. In all three places, each with its own complex history, audiences reacted in exactly the same way. That, to me, is the power of the arts. It cuts through everything.
I’ve always chosen shows that move me. It could be because they’re wildly funny, deeply moving, or something that reaches across cultures and age groups. That’s why I fell in love with Dark Noon, a South African production I first saw years ago in Copenhagen. It never left me. The show explores land, migration, and the need to find a home. When we finally got it to Sydney, Brooklyn, and Manchester, audiences wouldn’t leave afterwards – they just stayed, talking about what they had seen. That’s when you know a show matters. I’m currently looking for European capital cities (especially London) to stage it.
Another project I’ve been thrilled to work on is the Orchestral Qawwali Project, which blends South Asian Qawwali with Western composition. I saw it at the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden and then at the Roundhouse, and loved it. I used every contact I had to get the show into the Royal Albert Hall – something the creator, Rushil, had always dreamed of. Helping artists realise their ambitions is one of the greatest rewards in my career.
Over the years, I’ve learned that commercial success and emotional connection aren’t mutually exclusive. The shows I work on aren’t created through the usual model of script, director, and designer. They come from people with a unique and unusual talent. My role is to help that talent and turn it into something that can be shared with the world. That’s not always easy. There have been times when I’ve been unable to convince an artist to take the next step – like persuading Ennio to play New York for a year. I knew he could do it, but he didn’t want that life. I respect that.
After Covid, I worried that I had lost my mojo. But then I saw a couple of new shows and found myself right back in the thick of it. That’s what keeps me going – the possibility of discovering something that makes me feel, “Oh my god, this is extraordinary.” And when I see an audience responding in the same way, it’s terrific.
This interview is an excerpt from the Touring Entertainment Report (TER) 2025, which is available exclusively to IQ subscribers in print or as a digital magazine. Subscribe now and view the full report.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.