Breaking, Brilliantly: Jonathan Glew on LIPA at 30, creativity and collaboration
Wednesday 22 April 2026
As LIPA marks its 30th anniversary, we’re celebrating the graduates who continue to shape the institute’s story. Jonathan Glew (Acting, 2001) is the creative force behind our 30th anniversary gala taking place in June 2026.
Drawing on decades of experience across theatre, music and new writing, Jon has crafted a one‑night event that captures the spirit of LIPA’s past, present and future. We caught up with Jon to find out more about the gala, his varied career journey and what LIPA still means to him.
It’s personal: The 30th anniversary gala concert
When Jonathan Glew was asked to direct LIPA’s 30th anniversary gala, he knew it would be both an honour and a deeply emotional undertaking. As he puts it, “I remember LIPA as a golden period in my life, and I feel like I’ve taken with me the skill, the learning and the people I shared my time with everywhere I go.” From the outset, he knew the gala could not be frivolous. It needed to be meaningful, resonant and rooted in the shared experiences of everyone who passed through LIPA’s doors.
He began by speaking to fellow alumni, trying to understand what LIPA meant to them in retrospect. The result is a gala performance that he describes as, “a cross between a multi‑disciplinary Jools Holland and a tear‑jerking town hall reunion”. It’s a show designed not just to entertain, but to reflect upon the unique, shared experience of thousands of LIPA students, staff and collaborators.
The programme will be deliberately broad, with Jon determined that no single discipline should dominate. “What makes LIPA so special is the cross‑pollination. You have unique opportunities to create new work, collaborating with students from music, design, production, dance and so many other disciplines. It establishes a passion for stepping outside your comfort zone”. His own training at LIPA embodied that ethos: he acted, played music, designed sound, even stage‑managed. “The idea of being a polymath is built into LIPA’s DNA. There are a wealth of opportunities to leave LIPA with at least one extra string to their bow.”
The gala will include dance, music, acting, and musical theatre – all powered by LIPA designers, creative technicians and managers. The full running order is still a closely guarded secret, but Jon promises familiar LIPA alumni faces. There are two people attending who will enjoy a special display of gratitude: LIPA’s founders. Jon speaks with deep admiration about Mark Featherstone‑Witty’s determination in building the institution, “an incredible achievement and amazing endeavour”. And he is unequivocal about the extraordinary contribution of Sir Paul McCartney: “One of the most celebrated songwriters of all time has been a steadfast champion of LIPA for 30 years. Paul McCartney is Mozart. We have Mozart.”
For Jon, the gala is also personal. Twenty-five years after graduating, he sees it as a rare moment for alumni to gather, reflect and reconnect. “This may be it. The last time we’re all going to be in the room together. So it’s a great opportunity to reflect on ourselves, on each other, on the journey of life”. He expects to be “an emotional mess” at the gala, but hopes audiences arrive ready to laugh, to celebrate and to feel.
The art of collaboration: Jon’s time at LIPA
Jon grew up in Preston in Lancashire and came to drama late following an early flirtation with sports. At 14 or 15, he took part in a school play and felt something shift. “I had an awakening moment: I don’t have to compete to be the best, I can collaborate and enjoy the feeling of a shared success”. Sport fell away, creativity took over.
He couldn’t afford London drama schools, so his options were regional. The moment he walked into LIPA, he knew it was the right place, helped by being a longtime Beatles fan. He remembers waiting in the canteen on the day of his audition, staring at the walls displaying photos by Linda McCartney of luminaries such as Janis Joplin and the Doors: “All the touchstones of things that were important in my life were dotted around the walls. The audition felt right. The city felt right. So when the offer came, it was a no‑brainer”.
As an Acting student, he nevertheless valued the opportunities to collaborate with others and the early training in lighting, sound and filmmaking. He also thrived in the recording studios, continuing his development as a musician, often staying up until 4am practising. “I was absolutely broken, but in a brilliant way,” he says.
He describes LIPA as a place where learning drops at different times. Some lessons immediately make sense; some only sink in later. A defining moment came in his third‑year production of Manfred Karge’s The Conquest of the South Pole, directed by fellow student Hakon Moe. The ensemble process unlocked something fundamental in his creative practice. “It was an absolute highlight, where all my previous training came together and reaffirmed my love for acting”.
He has returned to LIPA many times since – to direct Girls Like That, Second Person Narrative, The It and Spring Awakening as well as two acting showcases. He recognises that LIPA has changed, expanding to reflect the shifting higher education landscape. But the core of LIPA – idealistic young people pursuing something meaningful supported by passionate staff – remains intact.
Making his mark: Actor and director
Jon spent 15 years as an actor, with his first major job being Jerry Springer: The Opera at the National Theatre. It was a formative experience, edgy, controversial and creatively rigorous. “As a 23‑year‑old, I had to put my trust in the creative team [Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas]. I learnt so much working with them and their fastidious approach to the production.”
But acting was unpredictable. He worked secondary jobs, including five years as a shoe shiner, and increasingly felt drawn to making his own work. A turning point came when he secured the rights to adapt John Lennon’s In His Own Write for the stage. The show premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe, before later being performed at the Victoria & Albert Museum. That project crystallised his identity as a creator: “From that moment, I knew that making things was the direction I needed to point my life in”.
Determined to deepen his craft, he spent 18 months reading a play a day to deepen his understanding of theatrical forms and to develop his taste. That discipline prepared him for further creation, including his long‑running collaboration with director and fellow LIPA alum Jamie Lloyd.
The two had known each other since LIPA and reconnected professionally around 2011. Lloyd invited him to be associate director for part of the Pinter at the Pinter season, which led to a series of high‑profile collaborations including Betrayal, The Seagull, A Doll’s House, The Effect, Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest. Jon also co-directed another gala performance, to mark what would have been Harold Pinter’s 88th birthday, featuring performances from Tom Hiddleston, Kit Harington, Simon Russell Beale, Kristin Scott Thomas, Felicity Kendal, Russell Tovey, Samuel West and Sheila Hancock.
Alongside directing, he continues to write, currently working on a new version of Mother Courage and a rock‑musical adaptation of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.
A life transformed: LIPA’s impact
LIPA’s impact on Jon runs deep. The rigour, the collaboration, the cross‑disciplinary curiosity are the principles that have shaped his entire creative life. “Anything I’ve done that I’m proud of comes from LIPA’s approach,” he says.
That’s why directing the 30th anniversary gala feels so significant. It’s not just a celebration of an institution, but a celebration of the community that shaped him and thousands of others. It’s a chance to honour the past, acknowledge the present and hand something meaningful to the next generation. “It’s going to be a lovely night”, he concludes, “It’s for us, and for everybody who’s ever been transformed by the experiment that is LIPA”.
