
Dr Tom Payne
PERFORMANCE MAKER | ACADEMIC
| CULTURAL STRATEGIST
Exploring climate crisis, civic imagination
and experimental performance
01 About
Dr Tom Payne SFHEA, FRSA is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Sheffield Hallam University and Director of Moot Works, a studio focused on climate, place and participatory performance. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Tom’s work sits at the intersection of ecological performance, civic engagement and higher education. He leads nationally recognised frameworks such as Ark and Storm-Cloud, and his creative research has been presented at theatres, museums, universities and climate forums across the UK, Europe and Australia. His projects are used by institutions to support climate literacy, co-creation and inclusive public programming.
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Tom is Environment Champion and a Board Director at Forced Entertainment, one of the UK’s most influential contemporary performance companies and recipient of the prestigious Ibsen Award. He has contributed to national sector policy through his role as a panel member for the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement in Dance, Drama and Performance. As Co-Founder of the international collective Doppelgangster, he has co-authored more than 25 works exploring environmental and political systems through satire and hybrid form.
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His practice combines site-specific performance, critical pedagogy and interdisciplinary research, advancing performance as a tool for civic resilience and environmental storytelling. Projects have been staged in theatres, galleries, public squares, online platforms and a UNESCO biosphere, and supported by partners including National Theatre Wales, Sheffield Theatres, Cape Farewell, the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, and Arts House Victoria.
02 Portfolio
These nine tiles reflect a curated ecology of over a hundred performances, installations, films, podcasts and participatory works, shaped through place, dialogue and collaboration across the UK, Europe and Australia.

Storm-Cloud
A research-led interdisciplinary programme interrogating ecological grief, visual poetics, and the politics of atmosphere in the shadow of climate crisis, developed with the Guild of St George, Sheffield Museums, UK EONS and No Bounds Festival.

Ark
A socially engaged performance model using creative civic action to explore climate, care, and belonging in places facing profound change, with versions developed in partnership with National Theatre Wales, Bradford City of Culture, and Sheffield Theatres.​

Rapid Response
A mentoring and commissioning programme developed with Sheffield Theatres and Migration Matters Festival, supporting emerging artists to create new climate- and migration-themed work for public festivals.

Doppelgangster
An international performance collective using satire and bold theatricality to explore environmental challenges, media narratives and systems of influence worldwide, initiated with support from National Theatre Wales.

Map Dwr
A creative community mapping project developed for Towards Hydrocitizenship, connecting water, memory and place through participatory arts and environmental research, funded by the AHRC’s Connected Communities programme.

Ty'n yr Helyg Theatre
A nationally recognised rural theatre and civic experiment in mid Wales, combining site-responsive performance with co-created environmental dialogue. Developed as part of a practice-based PhD and supported by National Theatre Wales and Aberystwyth University.

Notes from the Edge
A collaborative project with artist Sam Christie, combining performance, film, photography and podcast to explore post-industrial landscapes, borders and belonging. Supported by Culture Colony and Pixel Foundry.

The Silver Rocket Club
A theatrical space-rock band blending live music, character performance and sci-fi aesthetics to engage festival and street audiences, developed as a playful exploration of liveness, persona and popular culture within public space.

The Proposal
A series of collaborative works exploring live art, documentation and critical response, developed with Ashley Wallington and Miranda Whall in partnership with Aberystwyth Arts Centre and with support from Platform.
03 Contact
Academic contact
Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University
t.payne@shu.ac.uk
Studio contact
Director, Moot Works
tom@mootworks.co.uk
www.mootworks.co.uk