History
THE CHANGING SHAPES OF RED LADDER
The Agitprop Street Players – as Red Ladder was originally known – emerged when a group from a socialist information service performed a play at the Trafalgar Square Festival of 1968.
The plays were short and biting, morale-boosting sketches often relying on striking visual images to get the message across, they were highly portable relying on few props and were performed at mass political demonstrations, tenants association meetings, weekend schools etc.
Gradually the basis of the work broadened and plays that fed directly into particular struggles and issues developed; such as ‘The Big Con’ against the Industrial Relations Act and ‘The Cake Play‘against productivity bargaining,
The 60’s were an era of riots, demonstrations and revolt – economic prosperity served to broaden political debate and theatre wanted to take part in this revolution of ideas. As it was conventional theatre changed little so the ‘alternative’ emerged in the shape of fringe theatre. Red Ladder became a prominent member of the fringe movement, known as one of the best established political theatre companies in Britain.
By 1971, the name Red Ladder evolved, after a much loved and used prop. There also evolved a policy of taking theatre to ‘working class’ audiences in places where working people usually find their entertainment, this now included trade union clubs.
By 1973 the commitment of the company was recognised with an Arts Council grant of £4,000 and in 1976 the company moved from London to Leeds, Yorkshire and is still based in the city, although it continues to tour on a national basis.
While early Red Ladder plays 1968-73 fed directly into political disputes of the time, below is a list of full length plays produced from 1974 together with changes in Artistic Policy.
‘Taking our Time’, was a watershed in Red Ladders Artistic development: creating a more analytical approach to story telling as opposed to the simple solutions of Agitprop. The early 1980’s became another watershed as it made the company consider the role and practice of political theatre in 1980’s, a very different environment to that of the sixties & seventies. It led to a year of experimentation with new ideas, building on the experience of the past.
1985/86 led to another changing shape for the company from a Collective to a Hierarchy with the appointment of a Board of Directors who in turn employed an Artistic Director – Rachel Feldberg. Therefore the company developed a New Policy.
The Company’s aims were as follows:
· To create an artistically exciting socialist feminist theatre.
· To take this work to audiences who would not normally see theatre, young people 14 - 25 and the adults who work with them. To perform on their own ground, in Youth Clubs and places where they normally meet, rather than in theatre venues.
· To make our work accessible to all young people and in particular to reach young people for whom there is little or inadequate provision; young disabled people, Black young people (within which we include Asian and African Caribbean teenagers), young people in inner cities and isolated rural areas.
· To offer theatre of the highest possible standard which is exciting and challenging both for the audience and performers, which uses a wide variety of forms and which seeks to develop the vocabulary of this form of theatre by offering young people ‘the best’.
· To base this work on issues of concern to our audience and to develop the ways in which theatre can be used which parallel groups and professions (for instance Youth Workers). To encourage these workers to use theatre as part of their work with associated training, preparation and follow up.
· To continue to implement and develop the Company’s Equal Opportunities Policy (including our Anti-Racist strategy and Action Plan on Disability) placing it at the core of our work and seeking to achieve a fully integrated Company at all levels.
· To raise the profile of this area of work amongst other Companies, funding bodies and professional workers and to encourage Regional Arts Boards and Local Authorities/Youth Services to work in partnership.
The Artistic and Audience Developments were as follows:
· An innovative tri-part programme for Asian girls to include parallel projects in India and the North of England, coupled with development of a new, long term, Asian women’s theatre project based in the North.
· A consistent development of the Company’s work for disabled teenagers through a series of experimental projects - using sign theatre, dance and an environmental installation.
· A continued development of the Company’s work with disabled performers, pursuing adequate funding for their support.
· A continued exploration of work with teenagers in unusual and artistically challenging environments, through a promenade piece and a mobile performance space for isolated rural areas.
· An emphasis on work which draws on different artistic and cultural forms. ‘Bilingual’ work will be a focus of the three small scale ‘Work In Progress’ projects.
· An extension of the Company’s role encouraging new writing from under represented groups through the creation of an annual ‘Work In Progress’ slot backed by dramaturge attachment.
In 1994 there was the Appointment of Kully Thiarai as Artistic Director.
1994 Mission Statement
Red Ladder is a national Touring Company, recognising that investment in young people is an investment in the future and is dedicated to:
· Creating and providing artistically exciting high quality theatre for young people who have little or no access to, or experience of the theatre;
· Touring new work nationally which, through exploring issues specifically designed for young people, is pure theatre;
· Developing strategies which offer young people the opportunity to become involved in the artistic life of this country;
· Striving for artistic excellence in its performance and presentation in a way which is accessible and challenging to its audience;
· Developing new writing and other theatre skills.
Again in1998 there was the Appointment of Wendy Harris as Artistic Director. As well as our professional touring productions 2002 saw the appointment of Madani Younis as director of the Asian Theatre School. Under Madani’s direction the school created.
2004 Mission Statement:
To inspire and challenge the lives of young people.
Red Ladder Theatre Company is:
· A high quality theatre experience for young audiences.
· National tours
· New work
· After show work
· The Asian Theatre School
2004 Artistic Policy:
· To create theatre of the highest quality.
· To tour this work nationally targeting young people who have little or no access to theatre.
· To continue the artistic growth of the Asian Theatre School.
· To take artistic risks and explore new ways of working.
· To create excellent resource material and provide after show work.
· To work collaboratively with artists to create new work
· To run development weeks and creative labs for artists to experiment.
· To be informed by the young people and audiences we aim to reach.
· To embrace new technologies, high quality production standards and highly skilled creative teams to offer a unique artistic experience in non-theatre spaces as well as in theatres.
· To offer an alternative view of the world through theatre.
Recognised as the UK’s leading new writing company for youth audiences producing accessible theatre of the highest quality.
Red Ladder also provides:
· After show Chat backs
· Resource material for young people
2006 saw the Appointment of Rod Dixon as Artistic Director, and Madani Younis won the South Bank Award for Diversity.
2006 Mission statement:
To make theatre which celebrates, inspires and challenges young people, developing in them the desire and ability to express ideas and strengthen social and cultural cohesion.
Artistic Policy To:
- include young people in the creative processes of making theatre
- embellish current text-driven practice by experimentation with new theatre practice – including working with other art forms
- inspire a new generation of theatre makers through the quality and originality of our creative practice
- tour this work nationally, targeting young people who have little or no access to theatre
- seek international collaboration actively and to engage with theatre making in troubled parts of the world – helping ordinary people investigate global issues
- create a reputation for a unique Red Ladder artistic process and a 21st Century style – to compliment the reputation that precedes us.
- continue to raise our local and regional profile particularly through enabling and inspiring emerging local artists
- celebrate and build upon Red Ladder’s 40 year history of making theatre.
Red Ladder Theatre Company is:
· A high quality theatre experience for young audiences.
· National tours and after show “Chat Backs’.
· Red Grit Actor Training Project
· Customised Participatory Workshops
In 2007 The Asian Theatre School moved to Bradford to become its own independent organisation, and was rebranded as Freedom Studios.
1970’s Production List
1974-75
A Woman’s Work Is Never Done (also known as Strike While the Iron is hot)
Published by The Journeyman Press
About the role of women at work and home and their growing political awareness.
1975-76
It makes You Sick by Frances McNeill
A club show about the N.H.S.; devised and written in close collaboration with N.U.P.E.
1976 –77
Anybody Sweating by Steve Trafford
A club show about unemployment, high-rise flats, and Britain in 1976. It became known as ‘Would Jubileev It’, Red Ladder’s contribution to the celebrations in 1977.
1978
Taking Our Time by Steve Trafford & Glen Parkes
Published by Pluto Press
A play with music about industrialisation of the weaving industry in Yorkshire and the rise of Chartism. Massively successful, it attracted a wide popular audience throughout Yorkshire and the North; supported by the union of Dyers & Bleachers.
1979- 80
Nerves of Steel by Steve Trafford & Chris Rawlence
Explored the impact of the demands of working in the steel industry and the impact, overtime and shift working had on family life.
Power Mad by Steve Trafford
A reworking of the Faust legend around the subject of nuclear power and arms.
1980’s Production List
1980
Ladders to the Moon
An account of a strike in 1893 at Featherstone Pit in Yorkshire which resulted in the army shooting and killing several miners.
1981
Circus by Rony Robinson
An allegory in which the state of Britain in 1981 was likened to an ailing circus of the 1930’s, where the owner deceives the workers who have no real control over their work.
The Blind Goddess by Ernst Toller
The first extant script the company produced.
About socialism in a fascist state, the position of women and the hypocrisy of justice. Translated for Red Ladder by Micheline Wandor.
1982
Playing Apart
A club show about the effects of unemployment on a northern family. It countered the label of ‘scrounger’ usually levelled at unemployed people of the time. One of the first shows to use a rock band in the play, an area which was rapidly developing within the company.
The Best of British ‘whose country is it anyway?’
A club show about life in post war Britain, from the ‘never had it so good’ fifties, through the ‘swinging sixties’ and the ‘cynical’ seventies.
1983-84
Preparations by Paul Goetz & Pat Winslow
The company’s first writing commission from Northern playwright Paul Goetz.
The piece looked at both an individual and the authorities’ response to the threat of the holocaust.
Bring out your Dead by Peter Cox
A club show looking at Britain’s in 1988, after another term of Tory Government. Big Mac from America was running the privatised health service. The show did not achieve much success.
Dumb Blonde by Peta Masters & Geraldine Griffins
Put together at very short notice following Bring out your Dead cancellations, this was a Busby Berkely style musical written by Masters & Griffiths with music by McGovan/Dougall, which took a light hearted look at women at work.
1984
Happy Jack by John Godber (an extant script)
The play charted the history of a coal miner and his wife through six decades of living on a pauper’s wage.
The Beano by Rony Robinson
A writing commission from South Yorkshire writer Rony Robinson
A hilarious yet sensitive account of a brewery worker’s day trip to Scarborough in 1914. The revellers frolicked on their one day out, meanwhile the clouds of war were gathering in Europe.
This Story of Yours by John Hopkins
A new path for the company as it was aimed exclusively at Theatre venues.
A policeman is accused of murdering a suspected child abuser during an interrogation. The play explored male violence & sexuality from a highly charged position.
The Danderhall Red Beano
Not a show at all, but a week long festival mounted by red ladder in conjunction with Mid Lothian District Council in the mining village of Danderhall, near Edinburgh. A return to the true spirit and ethos of the Edinburgh fringe.
1985
Stitchin’ the Blues & Mixing it by Maggie Lane
A double Bill. ‘Stitchin the Blues’ was a one women show based on the Lee jeans occupation of 1981. ‘Mixing it’ looked at what happened when an unemployed CND activist gets a job building a nuclear power station.
Safe with Us by Frances McNeill
A play commissioned by the Confederation of Health Service Employees Union for their 75th Anniversary celebrations. A fast moving play which looked at current issues within the Health service, using comedy & music.
State Agent by Rachel Feldberg & Ruth Mackenzie
A new play for youth clubs about young people and homelessness, exploring what happened to young people who lost their benefit in the now forgotten ( but then notorious) ‘ bed & breakfast’ laws.
1986
Back to the Walls by Jane Thornton
A new play based on young people’s experience of Youth Training Schemes.
Targeting young people 15+, unemployed people & school leavers.
On the Line (devised)
Beat Box Britain. A country where “there is no such thing as a racist attack”. On the Line looks at the origins of racism – where does it come from, who profits and most important, what are we going to do about it? Written for youth clubs, tackling a difficult issue in a lively and accessible way.
Spring 1987
Winners by Rona Munro
pecially written for young women exploring gender issues.
Autumn 1987
Empire Made by Paul Swift
Play for senior youth groups about Racism and police attitudes.
Winter 1988
One of Us
By Jacqui Shapiro & Meera Syal
A comedy about Nishi’s life as she grapples with her expectations & the realities of the world around her. (Targeting Asian Girls Groups)
Spring 1988
Off the Road by Rona Munro
A show comparing rural and city life touring to girls groups.
Autumn 1988
The Best by Mike Kenny
A play exploring deaf issues for young deaf people.
Spring 1989
Bhangra Girls by Nandita Ghose
The first commissioned work touring to young Asian girls groups.
Autumn 1989
Who's Breaking by Philip Osment
Play for mixed senior youth clubs focussing on HIV/Aids issues, integrating British Sign Language.
1990’s Production List
Spring 1990
Bus Shelter Project by Lin Coghlan
Tour for young people meeting on the street concentrating on homelessness & poverty.
Autumn 1990
Breaking the Silence by Kate O’Reilly
Especially written for disabled, Asian and Girls groups, integrating British.Sign.Language
Spring 1991
The Scrappie by Judith Johnson
Play about loss and separation for mixed senior youth clubs.
Autumn 1991
Consequences by Mary Cooper
Play touring to Asian girls groups.
Winter 1992
Listen by Philip Osment
Play about a deaf young person and family relationships, using B.S.L
Spring 1992
Though the Heavens Fall by Lin Coghlan
Play about justice and law for senior youth club audiences.
Autumn 1992
Caught by Julie Wilkinson
Play for girls groups focussing on teenage pregnancy, integrating B.S.L.
Spring 1993
No Mean Street by Paul Boakye
A joint project between Kuffdem Theatre Co. & Red Ladder exploring HIV/Aids targeting Black young people.
Autumn 1993
Sleeping Dogs by Philip Osment
Play for mixed senior youth clubs focussing on intercommunal strife in Eastern Europe.
Spring 1994
Mixed Blessings by Mary Cooper
Play for girls examining mixed race relationships between African Caribbean & white young people.
Autumn 1994
The Wound by Gilly Fraser
Focussing on domestic violence, touring senior mixed youth clubs.
Sleeping Dogs
By Philip Osment
Retour to Arts Centres and small scale theatre venues.
Spring 1995
Waking by Lin Coghlan
Set in Ireland, a play touring to mixed senior youth exploring clubs issues of cultural identity, family and loss.
Spring 1996
End of Season by Noel Greig
1st International Co- Production with Red Ladder & Theatre Direct, Canada
A play touring to youth club audiences and theatre audiences exploring tribalism youth violence and cultural identity.
Autumn 1996
Josie's Boys by Roy Williams
A play touring to youth club audiences about single parenting, leaving home and ambition.
Spring 1997
Kaahini by Maya Chowdhry
A play touring to youth club and theatre audiences for Asian young people 14+
about gender, duty and kismet.
Autumn 1997
Crush by Rosy Fordham
A comedy about infatuation, fantasy and reality, men and women, and Boy bands!
Spring 1998
Wise Guys by Philip Osment
A co-production with Theatre Centre, exploring male identity and violence.
Autumn 1998
Crush by Rosy Fordham
A national retour to Arts Centre & Youth Service.
Autumn 1999
Last Night by John Binnie
Story of a pregnant teenager, an old man & refugee. Set on New years eve of 1999.
2000+ Production List
Spring 2000
After the End of the World by Mike Kenny
Red Ladder's Millennium Play, a comedy exploring respect and morality with Stick, a teenage boy living with Chintz, his single parent Mum and Wrinkle, his disabled Grandma.
Autumn 2000
Picture Me by Noel Greig
An international story set in England & Mumbai exploring the emotional impact of HIV/Aids on British Asian teenager.
Spring 2001
Hold Ya by Chris OConnell
Story of single parent Dad & his teenage son, a gritty story about love & change mixing club land culture & domestic life.
Autumn 2001
Lowdown Highnotes by Andrea Earl
Story of a ‘teenage wannabe’ which takes her off to find her real father, using music, video imagery and live vocals.
Spring 2002
After You by Brendan Murray
A story about a youth who searches for the truth with evocative text, video imagery, movement and design, beautifully crafted in this gripping piece of theatre. A chance meeting with a stranger at his dad’s graveside sets Chris off on a trail of intrigue and discovery. But Chris uncovers more than he bargained for, forcing him to re-evaluate his relationship with his parents. Cutting edge digital media, design & evocative text is beautifully crafted in this gripping piece of theatre.
Autumn 2002
Wise Guys by Philip Osment
Re –Tour Directed by Wendy Harris
Wise Guys bursts into action with the passion and drama of street culture combined with dynamic Teenage energy. Uproariously funny and deeply moving the play follows the journey of a gang of urban youth, mixing cutting edge digital media with a strong physical theatre style.
Spring 2002
STREETS OF RAGE: A CREATIVE RESPONSE FROM THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF BRADFORD
Directed by Madani Younis & Sarah Brigham
Performed by the Asian Theatre School
Streets of Rage opened eyes to the events of the Bradford riots of the summer of 2001. Mixing cutting edge digital media, the play gave a new voice to a group of young men and women from Bradford , heard on stage for the first time.
Devised by the Asian Theatre School participants, in response to the views of local people of Bradford the opportunity to re-tell the events of the riots from their perspective.
This well researched and innovative piece of theatre is the result of news footage analysis and interviews with members of the public who lived through the riots, and who are still dealing with the issues that were brought to life.
2003
Silent Cry
Directed by Madani Younis & Sarah Brigham
Performed by the Asian Theatre School
Silent Cry…
A family looking for justice.
We hear the voices of an ordinary family who once had an ordinary life.
A death in Police custody.
We see a Mother’s journey that begins as her son’s life ends.
A system with no answers.
We tell a story based on true documented evidence and interviews.
Following the unprecedented success of STREETS OF RAGE the Asian Theatre School brings untold stories from the hearts of communities to the stage. ATS has its finger on the pulse of a multi-cultural modern Britain. The show performed to full houses at Bradford Alhambra Studio & the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
“It is educational, painful, and a pleasure.” Bradford Telegraph and Argus
2003
The Dreaming of “Bones” by Damian Gorman
Red Ladder & Contact Theatre , Manchester Co production
Directed by Shabina Aslam
The heart-hitting story of a heart-scalded young man.
Xavier ‘Bones’ MacMillan, like many young people, dreams of a special, beautiful life for himself.
In preparation for a stay at the local “Thin Bin” he rehearses the story of his past and present life: his ‘over-worrying’ mum, his estranged dad, his cool mate Lenny and his dream girl, Nicola Price all play their part.
Weaving dramatic monologue, poetry, movement and original music “The Dreaming of Bones” looks at how the strong, true yearning of one young person can overcome the often warped, harsh realities of life pressing in around him.
Damian Gorman is one of the most socially significant contemporary Northern Irish writers working in both film & theatre. He has won numerous awards, including 4 Peacock Ulster Theatre awards Northern Ireland’s first BAFTA and an MBE for his service to the arts.
2004 Tour April – July
Soulskin by Esther Wilson
Directed by Wendy Harris
A story about fractured families, loyalty, destructive pride, and taking responsibility. Suitable for 13+
Chrissie, the child of a teenage pregnancy, has been brought up by her Gran, Mary. She’s hasn’t seen her Mum, Bernie, in years until Mary dies. It’s the night of the funeral and the eve of Chrissie’s sixteenth birthday. She’s alone in the house, waiting for Bernie (Mum) to pick her up. As she packs Chrissie tries to make sense of the painful memories and secrets that have kept the family apart. But as the sun sets, Chrissie’s memory plays tricks, conjuring up strange meetings, with real and imagined situations haunting her until…. Mary herself appears and Chrissie has to face up to her part in the fragile relationship between mothers & daughters.
Walking into the future is hard. This is about finding the courage to do it amid a blur of Fantasy, memory and reality. A brilliant new work with an original sound track and evocative film imagery
“Superb….hard hitting and attention grabbing – not only a splendid piece of theatre, but a powerful tool for influencing lives.” Reviewgate.com
2004 Tour Sept – Dec
Tagged by Louise Wallwein
Directed by Faroque Khan
Developed in collaboration with Half Moon Young People's Theatre, London
Time is ticking by for Chris. He’s electronically tagged and on a 7o’clock curfew. If he breaks it he’s going down. Two friends, a bike, a pylon, a tractor and a police helicopter conspire to keep Chris from his freedom.
Exclusion and frustration rule this molotov cocktail of poetry, quick fire dialogue and urban sound-and-visions capes. The young audience entered the theatre chatting during the opening scenes; by five ,minutes into the narrative they were gripped. This wonderful new play about society's desire to tag anything that moves is a real eye-opener.
- Glenn Meads (reviewed at Manchester’s Contact Theatre)
2005 Tour April – July
Free Falling by Madani Younis
Directed by Wendy Harris
Roof tops a jumping,
Kites flying as high as,
A school that’s failing
Gang o’ youth waiting,
Hot summer burning,
A generation that’s free falling…
A new play developed with young people in Yorkshire and a team of artists from Red Ladder - inspired by the urban sport of Free running (or le Parkour) with strong visual imagery and storytelling that will connect with youth across Britain. Suitable for anyone over 13 years. This play contains strong language.
Free Falling - a play about success and failure, about a search for beauty about a generation of youth looking for a future. Multi media, hip beats, cool moves and inspirational words challenge young audiences creating visionary theatre that impacts and reflects the diversity of our society.
2005 Autumn Production
Caravan
Written & directed by Madani Younis
Performed by Asian Theatre School
At the end of a run down street with back to back houses that frown at one another and whose gardens have seen better days, the Caravan sits patiently and quietly.
Caravan looks at the lives of ordinary people and how communities endeavour to continue a normal existence in the face of terror, media hype and a global society at odds with itself. The production is inspired by Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy
This new piece of theatre is performed by the Asian Theatre School, whose unique brand of theatre brings stories from the hearts of the cities and communities of multi-cultural modern Britain to the stage.
Pay it Forward
A unique series of artistic partnerships between various performance groups across the region with support from Stage Exchange. A Pay It Forward performance preceded each performance of Caravan.
Proper Job & Suga Brown Thurs 1st Sept,
DAZL & Vera Media performing Fri 2nd Sept
RJC & Leeds Young Authors Sat 3rd Sept
2006 Tour May – July
Worlds Apart by Mick Martin
Directed by Juliet Ellis
Worlds Apart takes us into the of life of Sam Harris, a 14 year old girl dealing with life, love, communication and difference in the world around her. At home there’s Mum, her step dad Pete and her eight year old half brother Adam. Adam is autistic. At school there’s her best mate Kelly to whom she tells everything. Enter Sam’s world and share her joys, her confusions and her frustrations as she gives her thoughts and feelings about boys, parents and Adam.
Using multi-media, illustration, original sound and light design, Red Ladder creates visionary theatre that reaches out to teenage and adult audiences. During the making of the play the company was inspired by PECS - The Picture Exchange Communication System - a non verbal communication system that has been successful with adolescents and adults who have a wide array of communicative, cognitive and physical difficulties. The play integrates this system in a creative and stimulating way.
2006 Tour Sept – Dec
Kaahini by Maya Chowdhry
Directed by Rod Dixon
Originally commissioned by Red Ladder and performed to high accolade in the 1990’s this was an updated version reaching out to 21st Century audiences. Using high energy movement, film and a hip-hop soundtrack, ‘Kaahini’ a physical show that speaks directly to young people.
Set in contemporary Britain, using rich poetic language Kaahini reveals the dreams, aspirations and frustrations of adolescence and questions gender and identity in Britain today
“Writing for me is about survival. I wrote Kaahini because of injustices of gender and sexuality, particularly for Asian women. The duality of the central character is loosely based on me. Society gives us ‘girls’ roles and boys’ roles’ and this is oppressive. Identity is more fluid – where is there a choice about who you are?” Maya Chowdhry.
July 2007
Doors; This Life was given to me
Devised by the Red Grit Project
Written by Madani Younis
Directed by Rod Dixon
A modern piece of Absurd Theatre made by and for a new generation. Three strangers are caught in a web spun from the mistaken choices of their past. As each one struggles, the web tightens. Giles teases and manipulates like a cruel puppet-master; Jo hides behind his angry mask; Leah comforts herself in fantasy.
Frederick arrives.
Painful old wounds split open – lies and deceit smother the truth.
Can anyone escape this 21st century hell?
We either change the way we live, or the world in which we live changes us forever.
Fusing symbolism, style and physicality the performance refuses to talk down to its audience by pretending to be film or television, aiming instead to raise expectations of what theatre itself can do.
2008 40th Anniversary Year
Where’s Vietnam? By Alice Nutter
Directed by Rod Dixon
Performed by a cast of Red Ladder artists and actors from the Leeds community, Where’s Vietnam? Is the 40th anniversary production of this Leeds-based company. With a soundtrack of sixties soul and dirty funk, this is a black comedy about love, loyalty and not letting disability stand in the way of extreme violence.
Hungry for revenge, two brothers, Banks and Arthur set off on a road trip that takes them down the M1 and into a world they don't understand. 1968, and the sexual revolution is stuck in a traffic jam just outside Leeds but Banks and Arthur are about to see beyond the city's narrow perimeters.
A fan of the Kray twins, Banks proudly models himself on Reggie Kray and pushes his gentle giant of a brother into the subservient role of Ronnie. As they hitch across country they encounter a shifting cast of characters, who offer them everything from fish paste sandwiches to balloon based sex. A new world unfolds before them, a world where the young demonstrate and get laid; the last thing Banks wants to do is give peace a chance.
2008 UK Tour Sept – Dec
Forgotten Things
Written by Emma Adams
Directed by Rod Dixon
A dark comic play designed for cross-generational audiences, fusing puppetry and surreal style.
16 year old Toby believes he's a failure. He's losing the will to live…….
His parents are frightened. They don't want to lose their baby…….
Then there's Grandma Lilly - she's just losing her mind …… having forgotten 'something important' Lilly interrupts Toby to lead him into a mystery of half memories and family secrets. Finding answers might just save both their lives…
2008 Book Published
Look Back At Anger: Agit Prop Theatre in Britain” by Swati Pal
A new book that looks at Red Ladder Theatre Company’s extraordinary 40 year history was published by Swati Pal, an academic from Delhi University. Available from Amazon books.
Entitled “Look Back At Anger: Agit Prop Theatre in Britain” the book takes an in-depth look at Red Ladder’s agit prop beginnings, its progress through the 70s, 80s and 90s, and its current status as one of the country’s most enduring theatre companies.
In 1968, a large number of agit prop theatre companies mushroomed in Britain, the Agit Prop Street Players who later renamed themselves as Red Ladder, was one among many. With time other theatre companies surrendered to and became part of theatre history. Not so Red Ladder. It has survived and it is now time for a reassessment. Is agit prop theatre dead or alive? How does such theatrical practice contribute to society/community? These are only some of the questions the book explores. It looks back at all the anger that led to the emergence of Red Ladder and how it surged ahead as a leading theatre company in the multicultural Britain of today. The book’s distinctiveness lies in the textual analysis of the plays and the investigative nature of the research undertaken. To anyone interested in theatre history, past and presently in the making, to fellow academics, students, artists, practitioners, youth workers, young people, community activists and the general public, this book will be insightful.
Today Red Ladder is recognised as one of Britain’s leading national touring company’s and activity for 2009 includes: a Red Grit Actor Training Project culminating in performances at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds; a national tour of Forgotten Things by Emma Adams and a radical Christmas show with anarchist pop group, Chumbawumba.
Autumn 2009- Edinburgh & UK Tour
Forgotten Things by Emma Adams
Redirected by: John Barber
A dark comic play about finding hope…and what happens when it's taken away. This acclaimed cross-generational story fuses puppetry, innovative theatre and surreal style.
“Thinking theatre.... ” The Stage
Winter 2009
Riot, Rebellion and Bloody Insurrection – a musical comedy
By Dom Grace & Boff Whalley
Directed By: Rod Dixon
Riot, Rebellion and Bloody Insurrection - a musical comedy by Dom Grace & Boff Whalley Tour Dec 2009 - Jan 2010 Going back to our political roots Red Ladder collaborated with Chumbawamba on this new play. A riotous comedy set in Northern industrial Britain with a mix of theatre, music, banter and action for an audience looking for a world beyond TV Talent Contests and multi-millionaires taking multi-million pound pensions in this winter of recession.
December 1825. England is in the grip of a harsh winter, its army is fighting colonial battles abroad, and hunger and poverty are rife. Thousands are thrown out of work while the landed, property-owning few become indecently rich. Sound familiar? See the story of sassy Luddite rebel Elsie Proud as she wages war against the ruthless rags-to-riches Boss Ernest Hardgristle and career climbing politician, Robert Catchpenny. Experience a riotous mix of theatre and music, banter and action, this show is for an audience looking for a world beyond TV Talent Contests and multi-millionaires taking multi-million pound pensions in this winter of recession.
Come and have a laugh as Red Ladder and Chumbawamba get together to sing, dance, cajole, poke fun and point fingers, all against a backdrop of our nation's radical past.
“Red Ladder ……reaching parts other companies don’t, won’t or can’t.” David Edgar - The Guardian
Autumn 2010 UK Tour Ugly by Emma Adams
A brutal story set in the post climate-change dystopia in which Extra Super Specials are given the scarce resources and energy whilst the non-specials scrabble for life in the ghetto - the Non-Spec Zone. Receiving four star reviews, 'Ugly' wasin the top 5 recommended UK theatre productions to see by Aesthetica Magazine.
Winter Tour 2010 Sex and Docks and Rock& Roll by Boff Whalley
After the success of the 2009 winter show 'Riot Rebellion and Bloody Insurrection' Boff Whalley wrote a new show which was a development of the first - a radical left wing adult panto based on a true event in history - the 1960 Dock and Seamen Strike of 1960 in Liverpool. Fusing early rock n roll or skiffle with radical 'Royel family' type comedy the show was a massive sell-out hit.