PERFORMANCE MAKER | ACADEMIC
| CULTURAL STRATEGIST

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.