Maria Roberts

Summary

A Penguin published author, writer and creator, Maria Roberts was born and raised in Manchester. She is an arts writer and editor, covering theatre, festivals, music, dance and everything cultural in between. She has a sneaky interest in weird / tech / hybrid arts. Maria has a wild side and loves Latin dance beats, hip-hop, EDM, and wouldn’t say no to a night at Creamfields or WHP.

Experience

After time at City Life as the Kids and Out & About editor, Maria spent a decade as editor-in-chief of an international arts magazine, watching shows in development and onstage in the UK, Europe, Asia, and North America. She’s sat through a concert played on kitchen utensils in Berlin, held her concentration through hours of naked contemporary dance shows in Reykjavík and Jerusalem, chatted over tea with Lang Lang in San Francisco, interviewed Andrew Garfield in Leeds, and flew to China and back in 48 hours to eat intestines with a minister of culture. From 100-cellists at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, to wood-whittling in Taipei, and festivals in Malta, she has enjoyed (endured) a multitude of artforms.

Areas of Expertise and Interest

• International, national and regional works
• Theatre / musicals
• Festivals
• Dance (traditional, contemporary, weird), circus, puppetry
• Music including Classical, neoclassical, ambient, opera
• Tech and cultural mashups
• Museums / galleries / visitor experiences
• Cultural experiences at home and abroad
• Literature / spoken word

Review Approach

Maria believes that culture is for everyone, not just the few, and that we should all try something new. She reviews the arts on the quality of the work, the purpose, the context, and audience engagement.