Joint CEOs Artistic Director Paul Hart and Executive Director Claire Murray, and the whole team at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre are delighted to reveal its new brand identity, marking a significant step forward for the award-winning organisation, as it continues to create bold, inventive and accessible theatre.
The new brand identity, including a refreshed logo, colour palette and typography, embraces the theatre’s history, whilst reflecting its ambition, creativity and deep connection to its surroundings.
At the heart of the new design is the Watermill’s iconic water wheel, sitting proudly atop the water—a visual tribute to the theatre’s historic site. The typography draws inspiration from old grain sacks, a nod to the building’s past as a working mill, as well as vintage playbills, celebrating the theatre’s storytelling legacy.
The colour palette, drawn from the theatre’s idyllic natural surroundings, blends marigold orange, sky blue, and fern green, reflecting the vibrancy and warmth that define the Watermill experience.
Executive Director and Joint CEO, Claire Murray, said,
The development of the new brand identity and website has been underpinned by a wider conversation about our vision and values. Our customers, participants, staff, trustees and other stakeholders have contributed to this work which we hope captures a sense of our energy and ambition, and will soon become synonymous with the surprising, inventive and engaging work that we create with our talented teams and communities.
She continues “We are simultaneously launching a new website, which has been designed to offer an inclusive, dynamic and intuitive experience to everyone who visits. As we look ahead to an exciting 2025 season—including the much-anticipated production of Jesus Christ Superstar—the refreshed brand identity is a statement of confidence in our future, while honouring our remarkable past.”
Artistic Director and Joint CEO Paul Hart said, “We wanted our brand to reflect who we are—surprising, inventive, friendly, and vibrant. It celebrates our heritage and the unique site that makes the Watermill so special. This feels like us; we hope our audiences love it as much as we do.”
This rebrand follows an extraordinary couple of years for the Watermill, which was honoured as Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards 2024. The recognition acknowledged the theatre’s continued ambition and resilience as an independent charity.
2024 was a year of bold artistic achievement. The theatre produced seven homegrown productions, including two new musicals (Sherlock Holmes and the Poison Wood and Pinocchio), a new play (Fanny), and an exhilarating reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing. The summer spectacle Barnum thrilled over 14,000 audience members with its breathtaking tightrope act, while The Lord of the Rings, originally staged at the Watermill, captivated audiences internationally, transferring to Chicago, New Zealand, and Australia.
Beyond the stage, The Watermill’s outreach and community work remains central to its mission. In 2024 alone, the theatre delivered over 85 accessible performances and provided 13,000 opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in theatre-making, including a week dedicated to the Youth Ensemble on the Watermill stage and offering free theatre tickets for over 400 children to last year’s Christmas show.
