Cathie Boyd, Founder and Artistic Director
Cathie Boyd is an internationally respected artist, Artistic Director and cultural entrepreneur with more than 30 years’ experience creating extraordinary artistic experiences, building cultural organisations and connecting artists across borders.
Born in Belfast, Cathie trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before founding Cryptic in Glasgow in 1994, driven by a desire to create performances that would ‘ravish the senses’. Her artistic career spans opera, music, visual arts, film and technology, with work created and presented in more than 25 countries.
An artist as well as a cultural leader, Cathie is passionate about discovering exceptional talent, nurturing emerging artists and fostering international exchange, particularly beyond established cultural circuits in regions such as Myanmar and Georgia.
In 2012, she founded Sonica Festival in 2012, an 11 day biennial festival celebrating audiovisual art, experimental music and immersive arts. “Bonkers but brilliant” – Grazia
A NESTA Fellow, her artistic collaborations include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. Cathie also participated in the Performing Arts Research metaLAB with Harvard University. A former President of IETM, her honours include an ISPA International Citation of Merit and European Woman of Achievement for the Arts.
Combining artistic vision with entrepreneurial spirit, Cathie thrives on challenges, embraces the unknown and remains driven by curiosity, creative exploration and connecting cultures.
Cathie’s five favourite things:
- Outdoor swimming : Le lac d’Oô in the Pyrenees
- Riga: one of the most beautiful and welcoming cities in the world
- Best spa: Therme Vals in Switzerland, designed by Peter Zumthor
- Writers: Samuel Beckett
- Austin Healy Frogeye Sprite
Nina Franklin, Festival Producer
Nina is a producer, broadcaster, and artist based in Liverpool. With over a decade of experience in live events, electronic music, interdisciplinary art and alternative broadcasting, she’s particularly interested in bringing working class artists to the forefront of culture and exploring the cutting edge of performance mediums. Prior to working with Crypric, she was a producer at Manchester International Festival, and the station manager at Melodic Distraction Radio in Liverpool. Outside of producing work, she maintains a strong broadcast-as-artform practice as a presenter at NTS and regularly gives talks on the vitality of the European independent radio scene for festivals like We Out Here, Unsound, No Bounds and many more.
Nina’s five favourite things:
- Brisk and blustery mountaintop hikes followed by a pub lunch – (lager shandy and salt and vinegar crisps, please)
- Bronze Age and Neolithic history, stone circles, burial chambers
- The Blindboy Podcast
- Getting a fresh BIAB set 💅
- Niche independent music radio stations
Tara Marshall-Tierney, Head of Marketing and Communications
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Dancing in a crowd: dark clubs, sunny festivals, loud gigs, or a combination of all the above
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Being round a table of good food and drinks with great people
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Getting blown about on a windy beach, preferably in the waves. Favourites: Shingle Street, Suffolk and Freshwater East, Pembrokeshire
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Harmonised singing in choirs
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Café Môr crab rolls with a pint of Guinness
Claire Moran, Executive Producer
Joining Cryptic in 1997, Claire Moran was responsible for producing all of Cryptic’s works until 2002. She rejoined the company in 2005 and has been instrumental in the production of work that was toured across Europe, South America and Asia. Claire studied Performing Arts, specialising in new dance, at De Montfort University, Leicester in the UK, and on graduating moved into the field of arts management. She has worked with a variety of theatres and cultural organisations in Scotland including the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Scottish Ballet producing arts events, conferences, festivals and education programmes. From 2000 – 2002 Claire was chairperson of Renfrewshire Dance Project, she is now chairperson of the Board for Glasgow-based theatre company Vox Motus and also recently joined the Board of Objet-a.
Claire’s five favourite things:
- Walking along the deserted Praia do Beliche, Algarve
- A glass of chilled Viognier sitting on the veranda of Peppers Retreat in the Hunter Valley, Australia
- Having a rummage in Kinokuniya Bookstores, New York
- The arrival of springtime flowers
- Memories after seeing The Nutckracker, when we left the theatre to enter a gentle snow storm – magical!
Freya Povlsen, Administrator
Freya joined Cryptic in 2026, following her role as an Administrator within the University of Glasgow’s School of Arts and Humanities. She supports Cryptic’s day-to-day operations and artistic programme. She studied Painting at Gray’s School of Art, graduating in 2023. Alongside her work at Cryptic, Freya is also a practising visual artist. Her work investigates themes of human nature, transformation, associations and subconscious creation through painting, draughtsmanship and digital collage, and has been presented in both solo and collaborative exhibitions.
Freya’s five favourite things:
- Entering a flow state while painting for hours
- Hiking through forest, hills or by the sea
- Finding a new outfit combination
- A herbal tea on a fresh summer morning
- Silver accessories
Zoe Farrugia, Immersive Arts Producer
Caroline Thompson, Head of Inclusion and Evaluation
Caroline re-joined Cryptic in 2013, having previously worked with the company on its productions of The Paper Nautilus, Optical Identity and Orlando. She has worked in the arts and cultural sector for more than 20 years, with a particular focus upon artist, participatory and organisational development. In her current role she is responsible for the development of planning and embedding inclusion, diversity, equalities and accessibility across the organisation. Data collection and analysis, research and evaluation are a key aspect of this work. She has developed and delivered creative development and co-design, workplace innovation and inclusive practice for a number of organisations including Aproxima Arts, Articulate Cultural Trust and Dandelion. Caroline is currently a Director of Friends of the Pipe Factory.
Caroline’s five favourite things:
- Loch Maree
- Centre Pompidou in Malaga
- Walking the South Downs Way
- The smell of rain on freshly cut grass
- A glass of chilled Jurancon in the garden of Clos Mirabel
Lizzie Urquhart, Project Assistant
Lizzie Urquhart is our Project Assistant, joining the team in 2026. She is a visual artist and co-founder of record label Somewhere Press. Somewhere Press is a collaborative artist research-based practice. They prioritise work by women, non-binary and queer artists and have programmed events internationally. She hosts Silent Sea, a residency on Mutant Radio that explores liminality, desire and sensory encounters in intimate sound.
Lizzie’s five favourite things:
- Long walks in nature
- Listening to music with friends
- Breathing in sea air
- Taking photographs/analogue photography
- Basking in the sun eating fresh fruit
Board
The current Cryptic board consists of Chairperson Shirani Sabaratnam (Chair, Television Executive) and Directors: Annette Christie (Glasgow City Council Convenor for Culture and Sport /Glasgow Life Chair); Paul Condron (Brand Director at Highland Park); Elizabeth Hollinger (Data Specialist); David Moir (Senior Director at CBRE); Kaja Przepiora (Robertson Scholar); Paul Simmons (Founder, Timorous Beasties); Gina Wilson (Senior Legal Counsel, Employment, Workday) and Cathie Boyd (Founder & Artistic Director, Cryptic).
