Our Team
You Are Here is created by a freelance team of artists and digital collaborators working across immersive theatre, digital storytelling and community-led practice.
Our PARTNERS
The project is supported by partners including Newcastle City Council and Curated Place, alongside community partners across Newcastle and County Durham.
We are working with organisations including No More Nowt and The Cultural Spring (part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme), building on existing relationships to support co-creation, audience reach and local engagement.
Melanie Rashbrooke
Melanie is a theatre-maker and digital artist specialising in immersive, participatory and place-based work. She leads the creative vision of You Are Here, bringing together performance, storytelling and digital elements into a cohesive audience experience.
Her work spans touring productions and community-led projects across the North East, including work with Live Theatre, Novo and The Cultural Spring. She has directed award-winning new writing, including Redcoat (The Guardian’s Best Theatre of 2022), and developed digital and audio work, including an OffWestEnd award-winning audio play.
During GIFT Festival 2020, she played a key role in shaping the festival’s shift into a digital programme, supporting artists to adapt work into live and interactive online experiences.
Her practice centres co-creation, working with communities to shape work rooted in lived experience and place.
Creative Director
Steven Blackshaw
Steven is a producer and theatre-maker working across community-led and digital projects. He leads delivery of You Are Here, coordinating artists, partners and the NOVUM team, and shaping how audiences experience the digital work.
He leads the community engagement programme, working closely with participants to develop material that feeds directly into the experience, creating welcoming, accessible environments and strong relationships with partners and communities.
He co-created I Made You a Playlist (2022), an interactive online experience combining live performance and digital participation, where audience input shaped the work in real time.
Steven is part of Curated Place’s supported producer programme, and his work focuses on connecting creative ideas, audiences and delivery in ways that feel engaging, inclusive and responsive.
Producer & Community CoordinatorDigital & Sound ArtistCalum Howard
Calum is a sound and digital artist working across immersive, interactive and location-based experiences. He leads on audio design for You Are Here and contributes to shaping the wider digital experience, creating a responsive sound world that interacts with place, movement and audience journey.
His work spans theatre, film and digital media, with clients and collaborators including NHS England, New Writing North and Great North. He has worked as a composer, producer and facilitator across a wide range of projects, bringing a strong understanding of how sound, technology and storytelling combine to shape audience experience in real time.
Alongside his creative work, Calum has an extensive live background as a performer and producer, contributing to touring, broadcast and collaborative music projects.
Digital & Heritage ArtistEmily Toth
Emily is a digital and heritage artist working across co-creation, storytelling and place-based practice. Alongside Melanie, she leads on community collaboration for You Are Here, working with participants to uncover and shape stories that inform both the content and geography of the experience.
Her work focuses on translating heritage and lived experience into creative digital responses, using film, sound and mapping to connect personal memory with place. Alongside her freelance practice, she is Heritage Programmes Manager at the Ouseburn Trust, leading heritage projects and public engagement.
Emily brings a strong understanding of how community stories can be shaped into meaningful, accessible experiences for audiences.
Software City supports the development of the digital experience for You Are Here, contributing to user experience design, technical integration and the overall audience journey.
As a leading organisation within the North East’s technology sector, they work with businesses, cultural organisations, charities and public sector partners to develop digital innovation and build capacity. Their programmes have supported thousands of organisations and individuals to adopt new technologies and create more engaging digital experiences.
Their involvement strengthens our approach to designing a clear and intuitive interface, ensuring the experience is accessible, robust and deliverable using existing platforms. Alongside this, they support skills development within the team, building confidence and hands-on knowledge around digital design, integration and audience experience.
Digital Development