Producers, General Managers, Production Managers and Technical Consultants for Events and Theatre

TEAM

Gary Beestone

Director

Director of Gary Beestone Events & Theatre, Gary started his career as a production manager. He worked his way through UK, West End and touring theatre, before heading over to LOCOG to head up the production of the Team Welcome and Victory Ceremonies for London 2012.

Following the opening of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London’s West End, Gary is now International Technical Director for the production and was Project Director for the Lyric Theatre Refurbishment on Broadway, as well as recently overseeing the renovations of the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and the Mehr! Theatre in Hamburg for the Ambassador Theatre Group.

Gary is currently developing productions with Disney Theatrical, Michael Harrison and Sonia Friedman Productions.

Alongside theatrical production management, some of his events include the Tottenham Hotspur Opening Ceremony, the Hull City of Culture Opening, AA Getaway Drive In and the Rugby World Cup entertainment production.

Gary also works as a consultant to various capital projects including most recently for Tall Stories in the renovation of their new space and in an advisor capacity to the Public Theater in New York.

Zoe Snow

Director

Zoe is co-director and Managing Director of Gary Beestone Events & Theatre and a live events and immersive theatre specialist. She started her career working at Alexandra Palace, before heading to media giant EMAP where she was Head of Commercial Events. She then worked extensively within some of London’s leading event agencies, before working on Victory Ceremonies for London 2012.

Zoe’s experience now includes experiential, sport, theatrical and ceremonies and recent project highlights include; Tottenham Hotspur Opening Ceremony, NFL Superbowl 50, Welcome to the Forest – London Borough of Culture, the World Para Athletics, Hull City of Culture Opening, the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Les Enfants Terribles, the Rugby World Cup entertainment production, Secret Cinema presents Star Wars, London and Casino Royale, Shanghai and British House Rio 2016 with innovision. Recent clients include Veuve Cliquot, Jeep, Coca-Cola and Apple and she works with a wide range of brands on their experiential campaigns.

Zoe and Gary met on London 2012 and have been working together on theatrical productions ever since.

Richard Seary

General Manager

Having originally worked with Gary and Zoe on London 2012, Richard has a background in Technical Theatre and General Management, trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and joining us from Southwark Playhouse where he led the team as Technical and Production Manager and then General Manager.

Richard’s events and theatre highlights include; Asylum for Kneehigh during Summer 2019, various productions for the National Youth Theatre, Greenwich and Docklands Festival and Victory Ceremonies and Team Welcome at London 2012.

Richard is trained in IOSH Managing Safely, Emergency First Aid and is a Personal Licence holder.

Chris Hay

Production Manager

Chris joins Gary Beestone Events & Theatre as Production Manager. He most recently worked for the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National Theatre as Technical Director and he has worked as a Production Manager across a range of theatrical productions, some of Chris’s international work toured throughout the UK and North America as well as China, New Zealand, Australia.

Notable projects include The James Plays for National Theatre of Scotland/National Theatre of Great Britain in Scotland, Let The Right One in the UK, USA and Dublin, various projects with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Flight for Vox Motus at the Edinburgh International Festival and at international locations.

Chris chairs the Federation of Scottish Theatre’s H&S Forum, set up in the wake of the pandemic to offer support and guidance to companies seeking out information on how to manage themselves during this time, he has also been involved in driving a peer support group for fellow production and technical managers throughout 2020.

Chris was trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Technical and Production Arts. He is trained in IOSH Managing Safely.

Oli Bagwell Purefoy

Assistant Production Manager

Oli was previously Technical Assistant Stage Manager for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London’s West End. He’s now Assistant Production Manager across a range of our projects and also ensures the continuity of resources and specialist skills required in the roll out of our events and productions Internationally.

Oli is a RADA graduate in Technical & Stage Management.

Sophie Scotchford

Project Assistant

Sophie’s career began in theatre, where she worked backstage at the Birmingham Hippodrome on various touring productions including Miss Saigon, Matilda and Grease. Since then, Sophie has worked within one of London’s leading event agencies, working on global, large-scale events for clients including Facebook, Samsung and Heineken. Sophie now assists Gary Beestone and the team across our wide range of projects.

Sophie trained in Production Arts at Birmingham Ormiston Academy and went on to study Creative Events Management.