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Keisha Thompson FRSA is a Manchester based writer, performance artist and producer.  She is Co-Chair of the Independent Theatre Council, a trustee of Olympias Music Foundation and recipient of the DARE Art Prize 2024 from Opera North and the University of Leeds in association with National Science and Media Museum and The Tetley. 

Formerly, she has been Artistic Director and CEO of Contact, Manchester, Chair of radical arts funding body, Future’s Venture Foundation and was the first recipient of The Arts Foundation Theatre Makers Award in 2021. 

Recent works include The Bell Curves. Commissioned by Lancaster University and Manchester DNA. An all-female show that clashes science and culture by looking at the medical ethics linked to CRISPR-Cas9 technology; Children’s show, Issy, BOSSS & Fractal.  Commissioned by Fuel Theatre. Directed by Alan Lane (Slung Low); and 14% supported by Talawa Firsts, an immersive theatre piece looking DNA tests and structural racism particularly within the context British football culture. 

In May 2022, she completed a residency with Esplanade Theatre in Singapore. Her focus was on her on-going project, DeCipher. The expansive educational project, looks at mathematical pedagogy and how it can be taught in a creative way in non-educational spaces. She is working to find out how it can be decolonised, democratised and dismantled. The goal is to create interactions that allow for agency, joy and discovery. A maths lesson that feels like a poetry workshop, a dance class or an interaction installation.  

In 2020, she finished touring award-winning solo show, Man on the Moon. Her debut book, Lunar, features her poetry and the show script. This book has recently been reprinted after selling out 250 copies. Whilst Moonwhile is a poetic mini album featuring music from the show. 

In August 2020, she released a new mini album, Ephemera, in collaboration with Tom “Werkha” Leah and featuring riveting cellist, Abel Selaocoe. Performances of the album have included We Out Here Festival and Timber Festival. It was named as album of the week by Jazz FM DJ Tim Garcia.  

She has supported artists such as Kae Tempest, Hollie McNish, The Last Poets, Saul Williams, Amiri Baraka and has performed in Brave New Voices festivals 2008 & 2009. Her work has been presented at venues high profile venues and platforms such as Tate Modern, Blue Dot Festival and the British Council Showcase in Edinburgh. 

“From the mundane to the spectacular, I will use my body, my voice, my vernacular.” – Keisha