From 2016 until her passing at 64 due to cancer, Helena Bell served as the artistic director of Kali Theatre. This company, established in 1991 by Rita Wolf and Rukhsana Ahmad, was created to promote the works of South Asian women writers and is currently based at the Albany Theatre in Deptford, South London.

Helena had a strong conviction that theatre should engage with political issues, dedicating her efforts to illuminate the narratives of writers who had been marginalized by mainstream culture due to their class, race, gender, or sexuality. In 2018, she initiated the Discovery programme at Kali, which aimed to “uncover” new South Asian women playwrights and showcase their works. An open call invited submissions, from which four scripts were selected for staged readings.

Writers who were not selected received detailed written feedback from dramaturgs and directors working on the programme, a unique gesture in the theatre sector that Helena championed to foster their growth. Eager to address the London-centric nature of British theatre, she also established Discovery programmes in Oldham, Leicester, and Birmingham.

Helena played a key role in producing a compilation of play excerpts to commemorate Kali’s 30th anniversary, titled *30 Monologues and Duologues for South Asian Actors*, which Bloomsbury published in 2021.

I met Helena in 2018 when she invited me to participate as a dramaturg in the inaugural Discovery programme, after she had seen my play Abi (a response to Abigail’s Party). During one of the rehearsals, I expressed my disbelief at getting paid to be in such an intellectually stimulating environment. While many rehearsals feature a dominant director, Helena abolished hierarchies, creating an inclusive space for all voices to be heard, irrespective of their position.

She had a remarkable ability to nurture emerging talent and provided a supportive environment for playwrights to flourish. Her laughter, which could brighten any room, was infectious and brought everyone together.

Born in Bristol, Helena was raised by her mother, Jean Bell, who married Mervyn Uren shortly after Helena’s birth. She attended Ashton Park School in the southern part of the city and graduated from Warwick University in 1982 with a degree in English literature. Helena initially began training to be a teacher in Brighton, but in 1988, she co-founded Alarmist Theatre with Stephen Plaice, remaining as co-artistic director until 1998.

In 1990, Helena directed Stephen’s adaptation of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s *The Bedbug*, which portrayed a cryogenically frozen Russian hipster awakened 50 years later in an imagined European superstate. Following its premiere at the Pavilion Theatre in Brighton and engagements at the Brighton and Edinburgh festivals, it became one of the first productions to tour in post-Gorbachev Russia. Providing sustenance for the cast and crew in Moscow presented challenges due to food shortages, so they resorted to an international hotel that accepted payment in dollars. During dinner, Helena met an American who had run into trouble with the local mafia; she fondly recounted how she lent him her Russian fur hat as a disguise to help him out.

Upon returning to Britain, she was guided by director Clare Venables, who offered invaluable mentorship in a male-dominated field.

In 1996, Helena directed *Fossil Woman* by Louise Warren, which highlighted the remarkable life of fossil hunter Mary Anning from Dorset (who also happened to be one of Helena’s ancestors). This co-production between Alarmist and Shaker Productions first premiered at the Hawth Theatre, Crawley, then proceeded to the Union Chapel in Islington before transferring to the Lyric Hammersmith, where it earned a Time Out Critic’s Choice.

Soon after, she was selected as one of six directors for the Arts Council’s directors’ bursary, a programme aimed at nurturing the next generation of British theatre creators, during which she established strong creative partnerships with directors Rosamunde Hutt and Pat Trueman.

Helena once expressed her passion for curating not just artworks, but connections among people. She facilitated introductions between artists, nurturing relationships that would last a lifetime. She met her own partner, writer Grant Watson, in 1997. Helena later directed his play The Lamellar Project, an expansive exploration of a near-future scenario where food systems have collapsed, presented at the Arcola Theatre in east London through the theatre and film company Pursued By a Bear, where Helena dedicated ten years of her career until 2016.

Though adopted as an infant by Mervyn, Helena always understood that she was of mixed heritage; her biological father was a Punjabi Sikh student who had a brief relationship with her mother. Helena later traveled to India and Pakistan for research on Ahmad’s play *The Gatekeeper’s Wife*, produced by Alarmist Theatre.

During that trip, she began the journey of reconciling her dual cultural backgrounds. The insights she gained from her experience in the subcontinent significantly influenced her work, ultimately leading to her role as artistic director at Kali Theatre.

Helena is survived by her partner Grant and their son Jake, as well as her younger siblings, Geoff and Robert.

Helena Bell, theatre director, born 31 January 1961; passed away 31 January 2025.