Our Team

Rhian Smith (She/Her), Brand and Marketing Lead

Rhian Smith joined Trestle as Marketing and Development Manager in December 2009. She trained under founding member Sally Cook at Melton Mowbray Performing Arts College, before graduating with a BA (Hons) in Devised Theatre from Dartington College of Arts in 2004.

Rhian worked for several years as a freelance theatre facilitator for UK arts organisations, and has been producing film since 2006 through VIDEOfeet, the studio she runs with her husband, director Matt R. Smith, across narrative film, artist film, and live performance. Their work has been supported by the BFI, Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Wales, and DRAC Occitanie, and includes New Atlantis and The Parish, nominated for Best UK Short at Raindance and selected for Fantastic Fest in the USA. Rhian is also co-founder of EX_SITU, a collaborative film project with theatre company OBRA exploring abandoned architectural sites.

Before joining Trestle, she served as Marketing and Press Officer for The Alban Arena and Harpenden Public Halls.

Elaine Johnson (She/Her), Creative Spaces and Exhibitions Curator

Elaine graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 2009, with a degree in Contemporary Applied Arts. She joined the team at Trestle shortly afterwards, working part time as the Gallery Programmer and Finance Assistant. Complimenting her work at the arts base, she has practised as a freelance artist creating artworks for exhibitions and worked within community settings to deliver arts-based activities and projects to people of all ages.

Elaine has also worked on the Leisure team at Three Rivers District Council as their Arts Development Officer and more recently, their Heritage and Culture Officer. She is passionate about developing opportunities for people to engage with the arts and heritage in their local areas and is a strong advocate for using creativity as a tool to enhance wellbeing.

Leda Douglas (She/Her), Creative Participation Practitioner

Leda Douglas began her career as a street dance choreographer in her hometown of Leicester before training in Lecoq-based physical theatre and graduating from The Oxford School of Drama in 2018.

Her acting credits include The Talented Mr Ripley (UK tour, 2025); Julius Caesar and Pride and Prejudice with Aquila Theatre (U.S. tours); The Night Before Christmas (Polka Theatre), Nuclear Future (one-woman show); Shudder (Soho Theatre); and leading roles in The Time Machine and Alice in Wonderland with Creation Theatre. Her directing credits include It's All Greek to Me (Actors’ of Dionysus, 2023); Trailblazers (Tower of London, 2024); The Nutcracker (Storystock Circus, 2025); and The Great British Summer (Dover Castle, 2026).

Leda is delighted to be part of Trestle's creative community and to share her passion for empowering young performers.

Tristen ZiJuin (He/Him), Creative Participation Assistant

Tristen ZiJuin is a Malaysian-born, London-based performer, choreographer, director and founder of The Fever Kinetic. Tristen holds an MFA in Acting with Independent Production from Drama Studio London and was one of the youngest choreographers in Malaysian theatre history to have worked with Istana Budaya (Palace of Culture, National Theatre), choreographing their production of Ratu Kuning Langkasuka. He played the lead role of Danny Gan in PohLiThik, which won Best of 2019 at the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards and his choreography for Catch-22 and #WFH received the Mercedes-Benz Creative Excellence Award and Best Choreographer Award at Short+Sweet Festival.

Tristen's practice spans physical and devised theatre, movement direction and text-based performance, and he's excited to bring this range of experience into his work with Trestle School of Drama.

Bob Wright (He/Him), Mask Maker

Bob graduated from Middlesex University in 2010 with a degree in illustration.  He has been successfully running ‘Life Drawing St Albans’ at Trestle Arts Base since 2014 whilst working freelance artist and illustrator. As a familiar face around Trestle Bob is looking forward to continue working the many different communities that work and operate from Trestle.  He is excited to be on board and be part of the fantastic Trestle team! 

Izzy Cresswell (She/They), Mask Maker

Izzy is a multi-disciplinary artist who studied Performance Design BA (Hons) art Arts University Bournemouth, specialising in production design. As well as mask making, Izzy builds props, does scenic carpentry and painting, and designs for fringe theatre/independent projects varying from music videos to short films. Her work ethic centres around grassroots stories and honouring her working class background and is passionate for the importance of community and arts as an intersect and removing barriers within the arts space. In her spare time, Izzy writes screenplays, poetry and short stories in tandem to pursuing filmmaking.

Our Board

Samantha Lane (Trustee)
Samantha is the Artistic Director of Little Angel Theatre (since 2015), where she commissions and directs theatre for children, as well as overseeing a wealth of projects for schools, communities and an online programme of activity. She was formerly Director of Projects at the Almeida Theatre where she made theatre for, by and with young people aged 14-25, led a Facilitation PGCert in partnership with RCSSD, a thriving schools partnership programme, and an exciting participation programme for over 500 young people. She was also Education Manager at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, where she created numerous Theatre-in-Education shows for primary and secondary schools, as well as directing community plays with casts of 60+ people. Samantha has also worked at The V&A Theatre Museum, as a secondary Drama Teacher and on various freelance theatre/education projects – including working in Singapore and Canada. She is also the author of Directing Young People in Theatre: A Guide to Staging Plays with Young Casts (Macmillan).

Andrew Chaloner (Trustee)
Andrew studied Theatre Studies at Lancaster University before building a 17-year career in finance with Morgan Stanley, Citi, and HSBC, where sustainability and governance have been central to his work. Although his professional path has been rooted in finance, he has always maintained a passion for the arts and a desire to contribute meaningfully to theatre. As a board member, he brings extensive experience in governance, stakeholder collaboration, and accountable decision-making, with a commitment to supporting Trestle and its community.

You can find out more about the current Communities 1st board here

Our Youth Board

Trestle's Youth Board are raising money to support Trestle Arts Base! Find out how you can support us here

Freddie Kent, he / him (18)
Freddie joined Trestle in September 2019 in the Evolve class and has continued his journey into the Advance class and volunteers with the younger classes. Freddie has a passion for film and theatre and is an amateur film maker. His first acting role was at 5 years old when he played Mary in the nativity.

Marcelo Skut, he / him (15)
Marcelo joined Trestle School of Drama 6 years ago when he was 7 and now he is in the Evolve class. His favourite Trestle show he was in was The Myths of the Sea performance in the summer of 2023. Some of Marcelo’s favourite drama games include penguin, would you rather and torpedo. 

Elsie Padden, she / her (16)
Elsie attends the School of Drama Advance class, before which she took part in various projects at Trestle Arts Base. She has a strong passion for theatre both onstage and backstage. She also enjoys film-making as a hobby.

Archer Smith, he / him (13)
Archer joined Trestle School of Drama when he was 5 but has been connected to Trestle since birth because his mother (Rhian) works there. Archer has always been interested in theatre throughout his life. He has always loved watching performances at Trestle and loved Frankenstein On A Budget by Lamphouse Theatre Company. 

Zack Moody, he / him (17)
Zack joined Trestle School of Drama in the Evolve class and is now in the Advance class. He has been in many shows and his favourite performance was ‘Tuesday’. Zack has been involved in drama for a very, very long time and his first ever acting role was as an Italian pizza delivery person in the Nativity! 

Allie Reed, she / her (13) 
Allie joined Trestle at the age of 7 as part of the Emerge group. Her favourite memory of performing was in year one when she played a star in her school’s nativity. 

Mila Hinton, she / her (17)
Mila joined Trestle 7 years ago when she was 9 years old. She loves drama and trying new things. Her favourite memory was doing a solo show when everyone else couldn’t perform. She also volunteers with the Begin Class. Mila’s favourite play she has seen was Much Ado at the Globe. 

Abi Clark, she / her (18)
Abi has been involved with Trestle since 2018. She has been in many performances, such as Animal Farm and Brainstorm, and has volunteered to help the younger classes.

Geneva Allen, she/her (14)
Geneva is a regular at Trestle Arts Base through her work with Young People’s Puppet Theatre. Her favourite puppet performances were Aladdin and Baba Yaga where she played Baba Yaga herself!