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Tayọ Aluko, the playwright bringing African stories to life, and Leeds this April
Tayọ Aluko is a Nigerian-born writer, singer, actor, and producer based in Liverpool. Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown – A concert in a play, written and performed by Tayọ, tells the story of George Coleridge-Taylor, a retired Sierra Leonean diplomat, caught up in the civil war in Sierra Leone in 1999. George finds solace in the music of his famous uncle, the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, against a backdrop of violence and trauma. Here, Tayọ tells us about the play, which he will perform at Hawksworth Village Hall, Leeds, on April 3, and his own remarkable story…
Where did the idea for Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown – A concert in a play, come from? Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a black-British composer who died in 1912 at the age of 37. His father had returned to Freetown (Sierra Leone) in 1875 unaware that his white girlfriend in London was pregnant. So father and son never met. Samuel grew up to become one of England’s most accomplished classical composers. I’ve always been fascinated by him, being a black man myself, but felt I couldn’t tell his story in his character because he was of dual heritage and died when he was half the age I am now. So I looked for a character that I could tell his story through and I happened on his father’s grandson, George, in Freetown. George studied philosophy both in Freetown and at Durham University and ended up becoming a diplomat for the Sierra Leone government.
Your play touches on some dark themes, including gender violence. What can you tell us about it? It’s set during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. George imagines himself touring the world singing his uncle’s songs, while in reality he is holed up inside his room in the staff quarters of the college where he works. He tries to remove himself from the trauma of what is happening around him by transforming himself in his mind into a concert performer far away. He welcomes the audience to this concert, drops in a little bit of history and then sings the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor songs.
Why did you want to tell this particular story? I’m fascinated by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s life and I love his music and with my plays I try to examine and share world history from an African point of view.
What are the underlying themes that you explore in work? I explore world history but particularly the history of people resisting the domination of Europeans, but also as with this last play the domination, corruption and brutality of African governments.
Can you tell us a little bit about your own story? I was conscripted into my school choir by my mother when I was in primary school in Lagos at the age of six and I haven’t stopped singing since. I’ve always sung and been acting on stage. I moved to the UK in 1978 at the age of 16. I went to a boarding school down south and then to university before moving to Liverpool in 1989. For 15 years I worked mostly as a self-employed architect and developer in Liverpool, but eventually I gave this up to do something I loved. Whilst working as an architect I happened on the story of Paul Robeson and I ended up writing and performing a play about him. I enjoyed it and I realised there’s something special about telling stories in the unique way I tell them, talking about history and using my singing voice.
What makes Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s music special? It’s so beautiful and melodic. There’s something very sweet and highly accomplished about his music. His most famous piece came just after he finished studying at the Royal College of Music, and the fact that he came out with all this music and died at the tender age of 37, I just think is quite remarkable. After his death in 1912, his music remained popular and right up to the outbreak of the Second World War there was an annual pilgrimage to the Royal Albert Hall for Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s epic composition, Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha. People went dressed in Native American costume to watch this pageant which included a big choir, a big orchestra and a set made up of Native American scenes, and people singing this huge cantata. But after the war his music died away and it’s only in the last 15 years or so that his music has become popular again.
What do you hope audiences take away from watching your play? I hope people learn some of the history that I share in the play about trans-Atlantic slavery and its abolition and enjoy, even in all this context, some absolutely beautiful music and singing.
Why is it important that stories like this are told? We have politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, and even in Africa, where you think ‘we should be able to do better than this.’ The reasons these people get into power is the ability for the elite to tell us stories about our history that are false. If we can find ways of telling our stories in a palatable way through drama, that is one of the weapons that we, as artists and consumers of the arts, have to counter this deception. Storytelling is basically a defence. Paul Robeson, my hero, said: ‘I use my art as my weapon in defence of my people and all oppressed people of the world.’ And I feel he’s passed this baton on to me.
Main image credit: Kristy Garland
“I don’t know when that light switch moment would have come for me without Leeds Lads happening” – Q&A with actor Riana Duce
Actor Riana Duce was born in Leeds. She appeared in Leeds Lads (2016), a Red Ladder production written by Anthony Clavane and Nick Stimson. Riana is best known for appearing in films such as The Good Book (2020), Napoleon (2023) and Gladiator II (2024).
When did you first work with Red Ladder and how did it come about? I had graduated a little while before then and was trying to figure out how to move to London because I thought that was what you had to do. A lot of my peers went down there but I did not have the means to do that. Then a family friend, who had been in one of Red Ladder’s community productions, said I should get in touch with them because they’re great. I had seen some of their productions at that point and it turned out they were about to start casting for Leeds Lads and I was cast in the ensemble. It was a real game-changer for me. There was about 35 in the cast. There was every kind of actor in terms of experience, from jobbing actors who had been doing it for ages to those who had never stepped on stage before, and people like me, who were somewhere in the middle. And there we all were on stage together having the best time. We were at the Carriageworks [in Leeds] and we were all treated like professionals and it kickstarted my career.
The cast of Leeds Lads credit Malcolm Johnson
You say you had seen several Red Ladder productions previously, were there any favourites? I was working at Leeds Grand and City Varieties box office for a short time and while I was there Red Ladder came with We’re Not Going Back and that’s the one that has stayed with me the most. It’s still one of my favourite pieces of theatre.
When did you decide you wanted to become an actor? There was no reason why I wanted to become an actor. No one in my family has ever done anything in this business, even remotely on the fringes. But when I was in primary school, about eight or nine, my mum sent me off to a summer youth theatre thing at Leeds Grand to bring me out of my shell a little bit because I grew up an only child. And that was a bit of a turning point. I just loved being in a theatre and seeing its inner workings despite having barely seen a production up to that point. It sounds a bit corny but I also loved being part of a group of people making something together.
What are your standout memories from Leeds Lads? I have really strong memories of the music to the point that I still sing some of those songs now on a regular basis. I remember the final song on the last night and this 35-strong cast all standing shoulder to shoulder and belting this song out, and the absolute emotion of that. And having had a couple of years of floundering after uni – I loved performing at uni but just hadn’t really done it since then – just the absolute euphoria of being able to do it again with a group of people I’d come to adore, and to do it in my home city with family and friends in the audience, that was just such a standout memory for me.
Riana third from right in Leeds Lads credit Malcolm Johnson
Why is Red Ladder important? The fact that it’s a Yorkshire theatre company telling local stories. They completely altered my view of what working as an actor was going to be. We’re very lucky in Leeds and the surrounding towns and cities that we do have a lot of theatre going on, but it’s still quite rare that you have a company that is so dedicated to working with local people and within the local community, whether that’s local creatives or the venues, I just think that commitment is absolutely vital. I don’t know when that light switch moment would have come for me without Leeds Lads happening.
How crucial are theatre organisations in giving opportunities to new talent in the North? It’s so hard to get a foot in the door without companies like Red Ladder taking a risk on new writing. Even more so now, with budgets tighter and funding less available. It feels like a lot of places, through no fault of their own, feel they have to put on the safe, classic plays. I love those stories and I see them regularly but we’ll never get the classics without someone taking a ‘risk’ on a new writer and putting their work on in community venues. I now know so many writers, actors and directors that have gone on to have great careers who started with Red Ladder and it’s quite scary to think where they might be without companies like this.
What does Red Ladder mean to you now? A couple of my very best friends are people I directly or indirectly met through being in Leeds Lads, so I think of the people first and foremost. They are people I work with time and again and hopefully will forever, and they are a big reason why I’m still here in West Yorkshire rather than having gone elsewhere.
How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend? They are a radical, political, local theatre company telling stories that you’ll see yourself in and in a million different ways.
Main image credit: Emily Goldie
“If you took Red Ladder out of my journey then god knows what it would look like” – Q&A with actor & writer William Fox
William Fox is an actor and writer whose numerous TV credits include EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Boat Story and the CBBC series Jamie Johnson. He has appeared in several Red Ladder productions, including Promised Land (2012), The Thing About Psychopaths (2013), Rabbitskin (2015), and Connected (2020).
When did you first work with Red Ladder? It was a community production called Promised Land, a play about Leeds United written by Anthony Clavane. I auditioned and got one of the main parts, so I was over the moon. Getting that initial job was a big deal for me because I’d only done little bits of work professionally up to that point.
Did you know about Red Ladder before you worked with them? I came into acting later on, when I was in my mid-20s, but I’d always fancied having a go, and they were on my radar a couple of years before I actually worked with them. I saw them as a company really worth getting involved with.
William Fox in Promised Land credit Tim Smith
What are your favourite memories of working with Red Ladder? Working on Promised Land was a wonderful experience. The next project was The Thing About Psychopaths, written by Ben Tagoe who I didn’t know at the time. They had an audition day, but unfortunately I was booked to work on Coronation Street so I couldn’t take part in the audition. I’d gone over to Manchester and on this particular day Bill Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth, sadly passed away so the day’s filming was cancelled. I called Rod Dixon and asked if I could still come down and he said ‘yes’. So I got the train back to Leeds and ended up getting the part. This was a full-on proper professional production that went on tour and it felt like another step up for me. I’ve done four projects with Red Ladder and I have nothing but great memories of working with them.
What makes Red Ladder and its work special? No one makes theatre to become a millionaire. People do it because they love it and because they want to tell stories, and the good thing about Red Ladder is not only the nature of the work they produce but what they stand for. For someone who’s not come through one of the traditional routes of going to drama school, trying to break into theatre can be very daunting and seem kind of impenetrable. But what Red Ladder does is they push that door open and say ‘theatre’s for everyone’. They also do a lot in the wider community, like making theatre accessible. So they’re important because of the stories they tell, the way they tell them and the way they want to include other people. If you speak to certain sections of society, and certainly a lot of working class people, they often feel theatre’s not for them, and Red Ladder works really hard to try and change that view.
William Fox in The Thing About Psychopaths credit Tim Smith
How crucial are theatre organisations in giving opportunities to new talent in the North? I was one of those people who always felt like there was an itch to scratch but thought I’d missed my opportunity because I was 25 and had a young family, and then Red Ladder gave me a chance. It’s so important that organisations like them exist because they provide these opportunities. They bridge that gap. They used to run a programme called Red Grit where you could do a six or eight-week course and you could learn all these fantastic techniques as an actor. Then there’s great writers like Ben Tagoe, Alice Nutter and Boff Whalley, who’ve come through those kinds of programmes. If you take theatre companies like Red Ladder away then so many people would never get these opportunities.
What impact has Red Ladder had on your career? It’s been huge, from the point of view of being an actor and writer, the opportunities they’ve given me and the people I’ve met. If you took Red Ladder out of my journey then god knows what it would look like, because I’ve gone on to do so many things and work with so many people as a result of that first play. A lot of creatives talk about that imposter syndrome, especially if they’ve not come through drama school. It’s easy to feel a little bit inferior because you didn’t study this particular writer, or that particular theatre-maker, but working with Red Ladder gave me that self-confidence.
What does Red Ladder mean to you now? It means a lot, even though I haven’t worked with them for a little while. I feel very lucky and proud to be a little part of their history.
How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend? A really exciting theatre company that tells important stories.
Main picture credit: Yellowbelly Photo
“I don’t think my career would have taken off in the way it has without Red Ladder” – Q&A with writer Ben Tagoe
Ben Tagoe is a screenwriter and playwright. His plays Bittersweet Sunshine (2010) and The Thing About Psychopaths (2013) were produced by Red Ladder Theatre. He is a consulting producer on season 3 of Amazon Prime’s hit series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, and is adapting his stage play Better Days for TV. His numerous TV writing credits include EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
When did you first work with Red Ladder Theatre and what was the production?
Bittersweet Sunshine was actually my first professional commission, so it was a huge deal for me. At the time the BBC had launched the BBC Writer’s Academy and I’d applied for it two years in a row, even though I didn’t really have the professional credentials because the stipulation was you needed to have a professional theatre commission, or a TV or radio commission. That first proper professional allowed me to apply for the Writer’s Academy properly and I got in the next year, which I wouldn’t have been able to do without that Red Ladder commission.
What are your standout memories of collaborating with the theatre company?
I was having a lot of meetings with various different people and I met Rod Dixon, who was artistic director at the time, through Freedom Studios in Bradford. Rod was a bit of a maverick and I went in with a couple of ideas for stage plays and he liked the idea for Bittersweet Sunshine and I walked out of that meeting with my first professional commission. Bittersweet Sunshine was the first time I’d seen my work performed in front of a paying audience and the fear, thrill and excitement of that awoke something in me. A play that goes well is the best experience you will have as a writer because you see people’s responses in the room and you can tell when they’re really enjoying it. And I had that with this.
What makes Red Ladder important?
In terms of the writing ecosystem in Leeds, Red Ladder has always been really important. The Thing About Psychopaths was initially a seed commission, put on as a scratch night upstairs with a few other plays, before becoming a full commission. So there’s a real willingness to take a chance and to be passionate about fostering new talent.
How crucial are organisations like Red Ladder when it comes to nurturing new creative talent in the North?
Down the years I don’t think there’s any other organisation in Leeds that has done as much to promote, help and nurse new writing talent, and probably acting talent as well. Certainly from a writing point of view, Red Ladder has been the organisation in Leeds that has done more than any other in that regard. There was this Red Writers group that went on for a couple of years. We used to meet up every few months and there was me, David Peace, Boff Whalley, Alice Nutter, Nick Ahad, Emma Adams and people like that. It was a Red Ladder thing that went a bit under the radar. They provided tea and biscuits and a room, and we met up to talk about writing and mentor each other and support one another’s careers.
What impact has Red Ladder had on your career?
It’s never just about one big break, but that first Red Ladder commission really started off a chain of events that moved my career forward massively in those first few years. Smaller companies like Red Ladder, and Freedom Studios over in Bradford, have helped bring on new writers and without them I don’t think people really know where to go. I don’t think my career would have taken off in the way it has without Red Ladder, that’s for sure.
The Thing About Psychopaths: Babajide Fado, Shaun Cowlishaw, Kyla Goddey and William Fox credit Tim Smith
What does Red Ladder mean to you now?
There’s a passion and affection for the company for what they’ve done, not just for me personally, but many other people. I recognise that having an organisation like Red Ladder in the city is really important, because there’s got to be somewhere for the next generation of writing talent to start off. Also, it’s not just about the theatre world, it’s about being there for the communities throughout the city and people of all classes and backgrounds.
How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend?
It’s a small Leeds-based theatre organisation (and the Leeds-based aspect is really important) that punches above its weight, especially when it comes to nurturing new talent.
“It isn’t an exercise in virtue signalling, it’s a hardworking and realistically focused theatre group.” – Q&A with comedian, actor & performer, Phill Jupitus
Phill Jupitus is best known as a stand-up, improv comedian, actor and performer. He was a team captain on BBC2’s long-running pop quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks and a regular guest on TV and radio shows like QI and I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. In 2013, he played old-style variety entertainer George Lightfeather in Red Ladder’s Big Society! In 2019 he stepped away from performing to study fine art at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at Dundee University.
How did you come to work with Red Ladder? Rod Dixon got in touch with me via my agent. I had recently done Spamalot and Hairspray, so I’d done a couple of musicals, and the City Varieties angle really appealed to me. I liked the idea of having a production which is set in a theatre itself so this was too good to resist.
What was the appeal of performing at City Varieties? It is one of my favourite rooms in the world in terms of performance spaces. There’s nowhere quite like it with those dimensions and of that size, that has the same feeling. It’s not like any other major city venue I’ve ever played in. There’s something very homespun and cosy about it. The staff all know each other and that notion that they used to give Ken Dodd the key when he was playing so he could lock the place up, there’s just something irresistible about that. I often talked to other performers about other favourite venues to play and myself and Jack Dee were having a chat once and we came to the conclusion that the best sized venue with the best layout in the country is City Varieties.
L-R Kyla Goodey, Lisa Howard, Phil Moody, Phill Jupitus & Boff Whalley in Big Society! credit Tim Smith
Had you heard of Red Ladder before you worked with them? Yes. When you’re in theatre and fringe cabaret you get to know about the people who are doing stuff. Fringe theatre was what I grew up with as a kid in London, so the fact other places were doing it around the country never came as a surprise to me. So I’d heard of Red Ladder but not seen any productions.
What are your memories of working with Red Ladder? What I liked about working with Rod and Chris Lloyd [executive producer] was their approach to the work. At the time, the possibility of losing their funding was something they were cogent of, but it was always a case of ‘how do we do it without the money? because we’re going to do it anyway.’ And I love that. They’re real artists. They cut their cloth according to what they had available. Rod would say things like ‘if we can’t get an actual theatre space, we’ll go round all the pubs in Yorkshire and ask who’s got a back room and we’ll do it there.’ And that’s what I love about Red Ladder – they walk it as they talk it. It isn’t an exercise in virtue signalling, it’s a hardworking and realistically focused theatre group.
What makes Red Ladder and its work important? It’s quite punk rock. It’s like that field of dreams thing – if you build it, they will come. You make the work because you believe in it and you’re passionate about it. They focus on doing the work and let it grow organically and that’s the beauty of Red Ladder and other similar organisations. Punk rock was never about ‘how we can play here?’ or ‘how can we play there?’ It was ‘how can we play anywhere?’ That’s what I love about them. There’s a genuine and sincere accessibility to their working model.
What impact do organisations like Red Ladder have on regional theatre? We’ve seen what’s been happening to the arts across the UK and what Red Ladder does is establish a way that you can carry on. Red Ladder not only brings up new writers, new actors and new performers, but everyone I worked with on Big Society! was involved with theatre groups, whether it was in the West Country, London, or Scotland, and they came from similar organisations to work on this production. When you get a large group of people and they all have a similar mindset then you have that ‘can do’ attitude.
Phill Jupitus in Big Society! credit Tim Smith
How crucial are local theatre companies in developing young talent? The kids that get to work with Red Ladder have a much broader toolkit when they come away. They’re not just going to be actors, or lighting technicians. When you sit kids down and tell them it’s about doing the work they look at you slightly askance. Through no fault of their own they see a world where people seem to slot into things and do well. But what they don’t see is the work that took them to get there. I will be forever grateful to Grayson Perry who, when I was an art student a couple of years ago, did an online lecture. He talked about all the projects he was doing, he was talking about tapestries, ceramics and his drawing work, and at the time he had a couple of TV shows on. He was massively prolific and he said, ‘What you’ve not seen is the 20 years of nothing happening that it took me to get there.’ You can’t teach that, but somewhere like Red Ladder I think makes you more predisposed to realising that this is the way real art, in the real world, works. It’s the field of dreams paradigm. Just do it. Make it happen.
What did you most enjoy about working with Red Ladder? The autonomy and passion of an organisation like Red Ladder is something you don’t really see in mainstream theatre and that’s what’s so appealing. It’s a purer form of the work. There’s a lot of joy in working with Red Ladder. For someone like me, who had been working in mainstream television for 20 years, coming to work with Chris and Rod I got to see a wider world.
How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend? The Clash doing Shakespeare. They have the ethos of a punk rock group but they still do the quality work, and there’s something very enticing about this. This is a theatre that deserves all the support it gets, and I love the fact the Yorkshire media get behind Red Ladder. They have an incredibly good reputation in Yorkshire and deservedly so. They’re a theatre company that delivers amazing work.
Main Image: Harry Hamer and Phill Jupitus in Big Society! credit Tim Smith
“I realised that being in the theatre was a bit like being in a band.” – Q&A with writer and Red Ladder ‘ally’, Alice Nutter
Alice Nutter is a playwright and screenwriter and a former member of anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. In 2008 she wrote Where’s Vietnam? to mark Red Ladder Theatre’s 40th anniversary. Her TV writing credits include Jimmy McGovern’s The Street, Casualty, The Mill, and acclaimed US drama Trust, created by Simon Beaufoy.
How did you come to work for Red Ladder?
I had left Chumbawamba and I’d been writing for a couple of years. I managed to join the so-you-want-to-be-a-writer group at Leeds Playhouse and got a play on at the Courtyard there. After that, me and Harry Hamer – a brilliant actor-musician who was in Chumbawamba with me and has done the music for a few of my plays – applied for an Arts Council grant. We did a community play in Bradford called Love and Petrol and we put it on for three nights at the Joseph Priestley Theatre. Rod Dixon [Red Ladder’s former artistic director] came to see it and on the strength of this thought ‘I want to work with these people.’ He approached me about writing a play tied to Red Ladder’s 40th anniversary, which is when I wrote Where’s Vietnam? Rod took a real punt on me because I’d only written two plays at the time, so this was a big deal for me.
What are your standout memories of working with the theatre company?
I was used to being part of a gang and really loved working with a big cast, which is what we had with the community play in Bradford. So with Where’s Vietnam? Rod said they were going to audition for volunteer actors and have a huge community chorus, which was absolutely thrilling for me. What I really loved about Where’s Vietnam? is we had a real feel of being part of a gang all the way through it. You don’t always get this on productions but when you do you’re so lucky.
The cast of Where’s Vietnam credit Tim Smith
I loved the risks Rod took. He took a risk asking me to write it and getting Harry in, but it proved to be a risk worth taking because I think it worked. Red Ladder allowed me and Harry to be really adventurous. We were used to being adventurous because we’d been in a band everybody hated until we had a hit. So it was a real learning experience for me and that’s when I realised that being in the theatre was a bit like being in a band. It’s like being on tour, and while you’re all together this is your community. And I loved it.
What in your view makes Red Ladder important?
I think this changes over the years. Red Ladder will take theatre into spaces that nobody else would dream of looking at. There has been a focus on telling working class stories, which I think is important, but for me giving people access to theatre cheaply is really important. And another thing that makes it stand out is Red Ladder gives artists access to this world because they have a history of taking risks and working with people who aren’t tried and tested and that’s really unusual in the theatre industry which a lot of times can be quite safe.
Over the years they have done quite a lot of community plays but they don’t look like community plays and that was important to me because my stipulation was ‘I don’t want to make something crap.’ In rehearsals we had hundreds of people turning up and we had to be ruthless because we only wanted the best.
Centre David Toole with cast of Where’s Vietnam credit Tim Smith
What impact has Red Ladder had on your career?
I realised I could carry on in the same fashion with my career as I had done before and I didn’t have to become somebody else. I could take all the risks I wanted to take, and I’ve carried on with that in my television work. I just needed to find the right ally and in Red Ladder I found the right ally. You find the people that are allies and are simpatico and have the same ethos regarding respect, creativity and high standards. I’m a bugger for high standards. I think with Where’s Vietnam? the stars just aligned – I saw a chance and I just grabbed it with both hands.
How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend?
If you say the word ‘institution’ it makes it sound stuck in its ways and unable to change, but that’s not Red Ladder. Red Ladder is a moving vehicle that has different people in at different times, but they are always shouting out of the windows, ‘Get in, you’re going to have a lot of fun. But you’ve got to be good…’
Main picture credit Ruth Saxton
Rugby star & change-maker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan MBE on why he loved being a Red Ladder trustee
Click on the photo to watch Jamie’s story.
Jamie with the cast of Leeds Lads
Why Red Ladder is crucial to a thriving theatre ecology in Leeds By Leah Francis
As a freelance theatre maker, performer, and facilitator based in Leeds, I’ve known about Red Ladder for a long time. Anyone who works in theatre in the North has probably heard of Red Ladder and I’ve been lucky enough to work with them several times over the years, starting with a small part in Alice Nutter’s Where’s Vietnam? and later one of the leading roles in Leeds Lads, co-written by Anthony Clavane and Nick Stimson.
Leah with the cast of Leeds Lads
This was back when Rod Dixon was in charge and both he and Red Ladder were hugely supportive when I set up Speak Woman Speak, a theatre company that highlights the voices of women from diverse backgrounds.
Last summer I was fortunate enough to spend a bit of time shadowing Cheryl Martin during the Sanctuary rehearsals. Seeing a black female as an artistic director, a role that, let’s be honest, is normally occupied by a white male, was really empowering because it showed me that these important artistic roles in the theatre are not beyond reach.
As the artistic director of Speak Woman Speak I have only, as yet, developed small scale shows, and seeing a bigger Red Ladder production up close like this was incredibly useful – watching how they work as a team and learning about their model of working with students to help them develop, has been invaluable.
Cheryl was incredibly generous with her time, and I learned how to lead big groups of people and how to begin the initial rehearsal process with the cast. When I was studying at college and then university, I never had a woman of colour as a teacher and seeing Cheryl showed me what was possible and acted as a reminder that someone like me can do this sort of role.
Credit Marcus Lee
For theatre makers and performers in Leeds, having the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with an organisation like Red Ladder really is priceless. Could we have more collaboration between arts organisations in the city? Yes. In recent years we have seen greater pooling of resources, but I think we need to develop more symbiotic relationships because if the bigger organisations reach out to those at a grassroots level then we will have a more sustainable and thriving theatre ecology.
Young people who are interested in a career in the arts need a pathway into it, something Red Ladder helps with through its workshops and collaborations. They give a platform to diverse voices and stories that often wouldn’t be heard or told. And we need to hear both because they reflect our lives and our communities.
People working in theatre, and those just starting out, need to feel they have an opportunity to progress, they need to believe there are organisations and individuals willing to invest in them – Red Ladder does all this.
They have really helped me thrive in the theatre industry – I probably wouldn’t still be in this industry if it wasn’t for Red Ladder. They have supported my growth over the years and working with Cheryl was the icing on the cake.
Main photo credit Emily Goldie
‘My first year with Red Ladder has been uplifting and inspiring – and this is just the beginning’ – Cheryl Martin
When I took over from Rod Dixon as Red Ladder’s artistic director at the start of the year I knew it was going to be exhilarating, exciting and challenging, and boy was I right – it’s been a hell of a year… and I’ve loved it.
Moving to a new city, as anyone who’s done it will tell you, can be tough so I made sure I found time in between my busy schedules to get to know Leeds a bit and meet some of the people from other arts and culture organisations based here, which was hugely beneficial.
One of the best things I did was run a series of workshops for writers and directors during the summer. I always start with writers because they are the backbone of any production, whether it’s a musical, comedy or drama. You need good pieces and being new to the area I wanted to see what kind of writers were out there, and those I met were really good. I actually picked one of them to co-work on Red Ladder’s Christmas production for 2025 (more on this in the coming months!) because she was so good.
The workshops were full within 24 hours of being advertised which just shows that demand for this kind of thing really is there. Seeing the writers and directors working together and bouncing ideas off one another was inspiring and has fuelled my desire to do more of this kind of thing because there are so many talented people out there, they just need a platform. For me, the next step is to be able to find a way to hire some of these creatives and showcase their work because it’s important to show that you can make a sustainable living as an artist in Leeds.
Cheryl with workshop attendees.
It would be great, too, if Red Ladder could set up a partnership with a local drama school and I would love to help set up a new writing festival in the city – that would be my absolute dream.
A lot of my work this year has been looking at how we do these things with a limited budget. I think collaborations are increasingly important in the creative arts and it’s something I’m keen to embrace and looking to develop next year and beyond.
One of the benefits of having a show like Sanctuary to get stuck into was it meant I got to see and meet a lot of our audiences. This gave me a better understanding of the connection between Red Ladder and its audiences which, as I found out, is a very emotional one. I had people coming up to me saying, ‘I saw my first Red Ladder show when I was 14’ and now they’re in their 40s.
We are very good at bringing theatre to different communities and in non-traditional venues and it’s something I want to do more of, because there are some working-class groups that we perhaps haven’t been able to reach. If you want people to come and see your show then you have to show a real interest in their community.
If the workshops were a personal highlight, then so, too, was seeing Sanctuary really resonate with audiences as we took it on tour to community centres, churches and theatres. The reaction from people was incredible and seeing the standing ovations we got from the beginning of the run right to the end really made all the hard work worthwhile.
People trust us to bring them something that others don’t, so telling a story about a failed Iranian asylum seeker might seem a strange choice for a musical but everywhere we went audience members were really moved by it.
Sanctuary: L-R Emily Chattle (Fiona), CAPA College Chorus (Vox) & Aein Nasseri (Alland) credit Robling Photography
So how do I look back on my first year? Pride and joy are two words that spring to mind. Having two national touring shows – We’re Not Going Back and Sanctuary, not to mention our brilliant Red Ladder Local programme – certainly stretched our resources. But life would be boring without challenges, and being able to produce all this to such a high standard really shows what a close-knit and talented team we are.
Some people probably think that being an artistic director is glamorous and yes, it does have its moments, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it too. When I joined Red Ladder, my hope was to find new voices to complement the many wonderful artists we already work with. I like to think I’ve made a start there and the challenge now is to continue building on these foundations.
Main image L-R: Jennifer Pugh on guitar with Cheryl in Sanctuary rehearsals credit Robling Photography
Learning on the job is a priceless experience for young people in the world of theatre by Rosie Whelpton
I finished my production, arts and media course at CAPA College in Wakefield in June and was fortunate enough to get the chance to work with Red Ladder on its new musical Sanctuary straight away.
Though I had worked on a couple of shows previously this was my first proper professional job. The course at CAPA College taught me all about what goes on behind the scenes with a theatre production, everything from the lighting and sound to the sets and the costumes. It was great, but there’s nothing quite like working on a touring show like this, especially with one of the most respected theatre companies in the North.
I knew about Red Ladder and what a great reputation they had, so it was a bit daunting coming in and joining a big touring production like this. I was part of the production team and I was effectively the touring stage manager and sound operator. This involved things like running the rehearsals before a show and doing the sound checks, so there was a bit of everything.
It really gave me the chance to build on my technical skills. I worked closely with the technical manager Tom Blackband who showed me how you take the production side of a show on tour. For someone like me – an 18-year-old fresh out of college – to be running a room full of professional actors was just incredible. The whole Red Ladder team were incredibly supportive, not just to me but to all the CAPA students who worked on stage and off it. They really did champion us.
And I learned so much. Not only about how a stage production works but also about myself. I was thrown straight into it and very quickly I learned how to work like a professional, that’s probably the biggest takeaway. I also discovered that I work quite well under pressure which was a pleasant surprise because until you’re put in that situation you don’t really know.
There were a few problems along the way, as with any big show, and to begin with it was challenging for us younger ones because we weren’t always sure what to do when a problem came up. But you learn on the job and by the end of the tour I felt like a bit of a pro.
You learn so much when you take a production on tour – and I loved it. It was great to see how the show worked in each of the venues, especially the churches. A highlight for me was doing the show in Selby Abbey, which was simply stunning. I really enjoyed the variety of places we went to. Most of the time you either do a tour of community venues, or you go to the big theatres, so it was great to experience both.
I loved going to all the smaller venues in towns and villages because that’s where we got some of the best audiences. The Red Ladder team kept saying it’s all about bringing theatre to the communities and this is exactly what we were doing. People don’t always want to travel to their nearest big city to see a show, whereas if it’s right on their doorstep they will. I think it made a real difference that they could go and see a show like this in their local church, or the community centre where they take their kids to karate or dance classes.
Being part of the team and taking Sanctuary on tour for a couple of months was a brilliant experience for all the students. I can’t overstate just how important opportunities like this are for young people. It means that more people get an opportunity to do what they love and try it out in a professional setting. It’s so easy for young people to fall into a job, or get pushed towards something they don’t enjoy, and to have people believe in you like the Red Ladder team did with us is just amazing.
It doesn’t only build your confidence it pushes you to challenge yourself. It gives young people a platform from which they can start building their career doing something they’re really passionate about – and that’s priceless.
In my case it helped me get the job I’m currently doing. When we were at the first venue, the Theatre Royal Wakefield, I got talking to the production manager and she mentioned they needed some stage crew for their panto and I said, ‘I’ll do it.’ I’d done bits of work for other visiting productions so they knew who I was and I got offered a job there and then. I thought I would have a quiet Christmas this year but instead I went straight into rehearsals for Cinderella, and I’m loving it.
Would I have got this job without having worked on Sanctuary? Probably not, which shows just how important it is that young people from all walks of life get these opportunities because you never know where they might lead and what doors they might open.
By Rosie Whelpton
Main picture credit: Robling Photography
