I have absolute faith that I leave this extraordinary organisation as we find ourselves on firmer financial ground, following years of Covid disruption and near long-term closure. Now, 40 years since my professional job in stage-management, I will enjoy this year steering the good ship Globe, alongside my inspiring colleagues, from our excellent leadership team to wonderful volunteers. Our brilliant Board of Trustees have backed a dynamic and responsive 3-year rebuilding strategy to help forge the way forward for my successor. I know The Globe will be attracting the very best to take the reins.

The Globe is particularly special, unique in its cultural and educational offer, and iconic on the London landscape. In 2022, we celebrated our quarter century anniversary, and I will be thrilled to continue celebrating the Globe as it confidently goes from strength to strength for the next 25 years to come. Shakespeare has loomed large in my life, with 16 years at the RSC, and nearly 14 at the Globe, I have been shaped by his fantastic works, celebrated this year in the 400^th anniversary of The First Folio – one of the great wonders of the literary world. Shakespeare’s ongoing importance and relevance is clear – his works offer endless opportunities for discovery and exploration. I will continue to enjoy how the Globe celebrates the power of storytelling year by year, as the hundreds of thousands of visitors coming through our door connect across the centuries as Shakespeare “holds a mirror up to nature” for inspiration and joy.