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Dec 14
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Panto Vote

Choose our 2024 panto

By | News, Panto

Red Riding Hood opens in just one week, almost a year after you chose it in our audience vote at Robin Hood.

This Christmas we once again invite you, our panto audience, to choose next year’s show. Let’s meet your candidates.

Cinderella

An absolute classic, which we last performed in 2017 at Fruit. Pattie Breadcake would have to be one of the two sisters, but who could be the second?

Jack and the Beanstalk

You trade the family cow for some magic beans and grow a beanstalk in the backyard that leads to a sky castle inhabited by a giant. We’ve all done it!

Treasure Island

We know you love a curveball when it comes to panto and if anybody can out-Muppet the Muppets, it’s Middle Child.

Dick Whittington

The one where the jokes write themselves, last performed by us in 2016. Dick, Puss in Boots and one of the best panto villains in King (or Queen) Rat.

***

Everybody who attends Red Riding Hood at Social this Christmas can vote at the Buns of Steel polling station, by the bar.

Remember: it’s one panto pal, one vote, but whatever you choose, we’ll perform next year!

Godspeed, and may democracy prevail.

Nov 16
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Fresh Ink Hull Playwriting Festival at the Fruit Market

Revealed: Fresh Ink, a new Hull playwriting festival

By | Artist Development, Fresh Ink, News

A new playwriting festival is coming to Hull next summer, supported with funding from founding partners Wykeland and J F Brignall Charitable Trust

Fresh Ink will support writers from Hull to create and develop new plays in the city, while giving audiences a glimpse behind-the-scenes of how theatre is made.

Inspired by ‘scratch’ nights, the festival will stage script-in-hand performances of early-draft plays over one weekend in July 2024.

Performances will take place at venues across the Fruit Market, including the outdoor Stage @TheDock.

Six new plays of varying lengths will be commissioned for the festival, with applications now open to writers.

A company of actors will perform the plays and be made available to other theatre makers who have work they’d like to share with an audience.

This first festival will be a pilot, so Middle Child can learn what works best and improve on it for the following years.

Middle Child have launched the festival to address the numerous threats to new writing in theatre.

Artistic director, Paul Smith, said: “Edinburgh Fringe is becoming impossible for many companies, Vault Festival’s long-term future remains uncertain and challenges abound in finding financial deals for ‘risky new work’ that suits both touring companies and receiving venues.

“Theatre makers must also contend with rising costs, reduced audience numbers in the face of covid and competition for funding, while freelancers bear the brunt of low pay and fewer employment opportunities, especially in Hull.

“While these are massive, industry and country-wide challenges, we at Middle Child want to do everything we can to increase opportunity, employment and access for theatre workers in our small corner of the world.

“That is why we’re launching an annual new writing festival, to directly fund and support the grassroots development of new plays in Hull, bringing new ideas to the stage and inviting audience feedback on early work to shape its future.”

Collage of four images. Top left, a Black woman in orange sweat and purple shiny wig dances. Text says six new paid commissions. Top right, two young white actors perform with scripts. Text says script in hand performances. Bottom right, an outdoor wooden amphitheatre, set in an old dry dock, with an audience watching a show. Text says venues across the Fruit Market. Bottom left, a white non-binary person with curly mullet sits at a desk laughing. Text says give it a go workshops.

The six commissions up for grabs include two 15-minute pieces, two 30-minute plays and two more up to 70-minutes.

Writers with a connection to Hull are invited to apply for one of the commissions, with a new idea, before the deadline of Monday 8 January.

Chosen playwrights will then work with the Middle Child literary team to each write a new script, which will be performed at the summer festival.

Audiences will be able to enjoy the lo-fi sharings, then share their thoughts and feelings with the writers and creative teams.

Paul Smith added: “All of this is only possible thanks to the incredible support of founding partners Wykeland who are funding the first three years, and the J F Brignall Charitable Trust, who are funding the first two years of this exciting new event.

“Working with these brilliant local partners has already been incredibly liberating, as both demonstrate a genuine desire to make Hull a better place to live, work and play, and we thank them for their trust and support in making this dream a reality.”

Read more about the thinking behind the festival in artistic director Paul Smith’s blog post or find out all the details for the commissions on our commissions page.

The commissioned writers will be revealed at the Middle Child season launch in March 2024.

The full festival programme will be finalised, with tickets going on-sale, by June 2024.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or join our mailing list to stay up-to-date with plans for the festival, alongside our various other projects.

Oct 27
1
Jay Mitra, a South Asian nonbinary person, is sat on the steps outside looking directly at the camera. They have black hair and are wearing a white t-shirt, a studded black and red leather jacket, and black leather trousers. The photographer Jeanie Jean is credited on the bottom right of the photo.

Jay Mitra: What I learned as a young trustee

By | News, Uncategorised

Outgoing trustee, Jay Mitra, shares a behind the scenes view of being a young trustee for Middle Child

Jay Mitra, a South Asian nonbinary person, is sat on the steps outside looking directly at the camera. They have black hair and are wearing a white t-shirt, a studded black and red leather jacket, and black leather trousers. The photographer Jeanie Jean is credited on the bottom right of the photo.

As a writer from Hull, applying for a position on the board of Middle Child was an easy decision. Middle Child played a monumental part in my own career as a writer – of course I’d want to give back in any way I could.

It was in 2019, when I had just lost the Hull heat of the prestigious Roundhouse poetry slam, that I first encountered Middle Child. They reached out to me in a moment of defeat.

Little did I know, the artistic director of Middle Child was in the audience that night and saw something in my poetry. Paul Smith requested my contact details from the organisers and then emailed me with a paid writing retreat opportunity.

Why am I telling you this? Because it speaks to where Middle Child’s heart is—with the underdogs. The people who don’t necessarily succeed first time around. The person whose voice trembles on stage. The performance poet who may still have to read from the page. Those who have something important to say and just need a little help saying it.

If you are interested in theatre, writing, and most importantly, the development of people, why wouldn’t you want to be a small part of a theatre company that actively makes a positive difference to their local city?

Anti-Racist, queer-friendly and compassion driven: Middle Child has made waves in Hull and inspired many budding playwrights, poets, and writers — me included.

But what does it mean to take on the responsibility of Young Trustee?

As a young trustee, you are a part of the board of Middle Child – a charity and Arts Council England national portfolio organisation (NPO).

It is an unpaid position, but you will be offered free tickets to incredible shows, food and drink will be provided on board meeting days and your travel will be reimbursed too.

All they want from you is a few hours every few months to attend board meetings, which you can do virtually if need be, and your insight, both professional and personal. They will give you board meeting dates several months in advance so you can book time off work if need be.

The only reason I am stepping down from this position is because I am starting my career in teaching, so will be unavailable during school hours in the work week and thus less able to make it to board meetings.

This is something to keep in mind before applying for the trustee position—the board meetings are where important decisions are made in running the company, so make sure your job and work/life balance is flexible enough to attend.

What if I don’t have much to contribute? I’m just a student!

If I’m honest, as a young trustee, I was mildly intimidated at my first board meeting. I felt I didn’t have a huge amount of industry knowledge to make a massive difference to the proceedings and discussions.

If you’re a young person who is relatively new to theatre, this may well be one of the reasons who are putting off applying for the position. To that I say: do it anyways! Apply! Especially if you come from a marginalised background like me!

Even though I didn’t have a lot of knowledge around accounting or avenues of fundraising, I did have my lived experience around being a disabled, brown, queer person. A diverse board is important and can help an NPO like Middle Child reach demographics it might not have.

I distinctly remember having a conversation about the problematic term ‘BAME’ and the move towards discussing the inclusion of alternative terms like ‘Global Majority’. It’s a small thing, but an important conversation to have.

Similarly, as a transmasculine person, playing a small part in the production of a show like Modest — which showcased some of the UK’s best drag kings — was incredibly inspiring and exposed me to new possibilities for queer theatre.

Everyone on the board is friendly and understanding — they are not expecting you to be an expert on all things theatre and business; they just want you to be present and contribute any way you can, even if it’s in a small way.

The benefits of learning the mechanics of it all

I was never all that clued up on what goes on behind the scenes of running a theatre company — spoiler alert: a lot! However the board offered me valuable insight into fundraising targets, operating reserves, and the importance of spreadsheets.

I learnt about the way funding has changed over the years, the intricacies of applying for Arts Council applications and how to deal with deficits and surpluses.

As a Middle Child trustee, you begin to have a much deeper understanding around the dips and troughs of finances in the theatre scene and how to navigate alternative avenues of investment.

I learnt about efficient fundraising and how it is much more difficult to secure money from trusts and foundations, as opposed to working alongside your local city council.

In the board meetings, you also get clear insight into budget breakdowns and you can have a say in how much is set aside in productions, salaries, artist development.

You see the steps the company is taking in terms of inclusivity, for example, how they have contacted transport organisations to sponsor and provide travel to shows, or creating an Acting Gym that gives actors a space to try out new material and exercise their skills.

The trustee position allows you exclusive access to the behind the scenes of Middle Child and if you are still young and don’t have lots of experience in creative industries, it’s certainly a good one for the CV.

Being on a board exposes you to different areas of expertise and allows you to build your network with various industry professionals—all of whom you can learn immense amounts from.

  • See the recruitment page for Middle Child trustees. Applications close on Tuesday 7 November.
Oct 17
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Hull Audience Survey

2023 Hull Audience Survey results

By | News, Uncategorised

Audience development manager, Jamie Potter, shares some of the headline results from our recent Hull audience survey and what it means for Middle Child as a company

A few weeks ago we invited Hull audiences to take a survey about our work and theatre in general, to help us plan for future activity. We hoped that 100 people would respond and you smashed that, with 181 responses.

We have some headline insights to share below, but first of all thank you to everybody who took the time to complete a survey.

Monitoring and evaluation, that wonderful term of jargon, is the least sexy part of theatre. It’s often laborious and usually a buzzkill for those on the receiving end, but it can also be invaluable.

Already, the results from this survey are helping to shape some of our plans, just as your response to our world cup survey last year gave us the confidence to shift the dates of our 2022 Christmas show. So again, thank you.

The results

Those 181 responses were across four ever-so-slightly different versions of the survey: one for people who have seen both our panto and new writing work; one for people who have only seen panto; one for people who have only seen our new writing and one for people who have never seen any of our work.

By new writing we mean a new script, that has never been produced. No Shakespeare or Churchill here. Not that there’s no place for that kind of work, it’s just not what we do as a company.

Now, onto the sexiest bit of the least sexy bit of theatre: what you said.

Behaviour

People are going out less frequently in the past 12 months compared to the previous year, especially our audiences who only come to panto. That’s unsurprising, given the ongoing cost-of-living (horrible phrase) crisis.1

As it happens, sales for Red Riding Hood continue at the same pace as Robin Hood did last year. While we may be cutting back on nights out elsewhere, people still want to celebrate those big occasions, like Christmas. It does however pose a challenge for theatre makers away from the draw of Pattie Breadcake.

Middle Child style

We were particularly keen to know what people who have seen our work before enjoy the most about our style. At this point we’d like to say thank you especially for all of the additional comments about your favourite Middle Child productions. These are really useful for us to understand exactly what makes a good night out for our audiences.

Back to the stats and for people who have only seen our panto, live music (93%), liveness (89%) and a local cast (86%) are the most appealing elements of our panto. When looking at respondents who have seen new writing, or new writing and panto, a majority consider “a new script” (68%) and “challenging subject matter” (52%) somewhat or very important. Similarly, 96% of new writing fans agree or strongly agree that they “like to take risks and would aim to see a play where the content or style is new to me.”

That’s validation of our mission to creating work not is not only a good night out, but which centres big ideas, working towards a world where anybody’s story can be told and heard. As theatre continues to adjust to the impact of covid, we will nail our new writing and good night out colours to the mast.

To our surprise, only 3% of people who have seen our new writing work consider large sets somewhat or very important, and only 9% consider large (six or more) casts somewhat or very important.

Our most recent shows, such as Modest and There Should Be Unicorns, were both “mid-scale”, featuring larger casts and more complicated sets. While these were huge successes for us and we are proud of what they achieved, mid-scale work is also expensive and complicated to make. Expensive mainly.

As Middle Child and the wider industry grapple with higher costs and overstretched budgets, it’s interesting that our audiences don’t see mid-scale work as vital to our identity as a company, despite loving the shows we have created at this level.

Access

Firstly, I need to hold my hands up to making a pig’s ear of this question. The intention was to understand demand for certain offers, rather than the value people place on each. I also forgot to include wheelchair access, as we always ensure this as a given and have done for many years now. When we next run this survey, we’ll make sure to improve that question.

Despite that error we were still able to find out that performers using microphones was the offer most people thought somewhat or very important (46%), followed by afternoon shows (41%) and relaxed performances (37%).

We remain committed as a company to providing BSL interpretation (26% thought somewhat or very important) for all our pantomimes and major productions, while literary manager Matthew May has now undertaken training in audio description, which will be integrated at every pantomime performance this Christmas.

Reviews and feedback

Audiences place more value on positive feedback from other audience members, including those they don’t know, than four or five-star reviews.2

Whether there should be more reviews, to engage in critical debate around a show and to document work for future generations, is another question entirely.

Word of mouth is how most people hear about our work (so please shout about us)

Marketing

Our email and Facebook page are the most popular channels that we manage, in terms of where people have heard about our activity in the past year. Meanwhile word of mouth and Facebook are the most popular non-Middle Child channels.3

Word of mouth is always by far the most popular in our post-show surveys too, reflecting the importance of feedback in the previous point. One of the best ways you can support our work as an audience member then is to tell anybody who will listen to come see our work.

Ticketing

£15-19 is the median ideal price for a standard ticket for a two-hour play, as chosen by 46% of respondents. This also happens to be what we charged for Modest back in May and for Red Riding Hood, coming up this Christmas.

Finding the balance between making theatre affordable and covering our costs is always tricky, so it’s reassuring to know that we are on the right lines with that.

We also continue to make performances financially accessible through things like pay what you decide shows, solidarity tickets and partnerships with local community groups and funders to offer free tickets.

Development

There is a strong appetite to see work-in-progress theatre, especially among new writing audiences, where 92% agree or strongly agree they would like to see some.

This is already proving the case with our Out Loud scratch night: 75% of audiences who attended Casino and 67% who attended 1988 and Shit Life Crisis did not work in the arts.

What next?

We continue to dig into the results further and bear them in mind as we start work on Red Riding Hood and our big show for next year Baby, He Loves You, as well as longer-term thinking. This includes future big show commissions and an exciting new writing programme coming next summer, which we’ll have more details about next month.

We are confident that as that work unfolds, you will be able to join the dots between this survey and the shows we stage in the future, so thank you once again for sharing your feedback.

Footnotes
  1. 46% of all respondents said they are going out less frequently to some degree, compared with 28% going out about the same amount and 25% going out more frequently to some degree. For people who’ve only attended panto, the figure going out less frequently to some degree is 51%.
  2. 32% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I am more likely to want to see a Middle Child show if I read a four or five-star review of it first”; whereas 70% of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I am more likely to want to see a Middle Child show if I read/hear a positive response to it from another audience member that I know.”
  3. 70% of respondents who have seen our work have heard about us through our email and 68% through our Facebook page. 57% of respondents who have seen our work have heard about us through word of mouth and 52% through other Facebook sources.
Sep 29
0

Meet the cast of Red Riding Hood

By | News, Panto, Shows

The harvest moon is a-rising and trouble is on the way… in the shape of our fabulous panto cast!

Meet the gang who will bring Red Riding Hood to the stage at Social this Christmas, in our anarchic take on the classic fairytale.

Chosen by you in a public vote last year, our rock’n’roll panto features a gnarly werewolf, live music and the chance to make as much noise as you possibly can.

There’s some Hull faces who are familiar to panto fans, as well as a few new ones, who we’re sure you will welcome with open arms.

So without further ado, let’s introduce you to…

Alice Beaumont channelled Rik Mayall to play the Sheriff of Cottingham in Robin Hood last year to much acclaim.

This Christmas her character inspiration takes a sinister turn, as she injects the spirit of Margaret Thatcher into Baroness Scrimp, the politician out to destroy Red Riding Hood and Pattie Breadcake’s bakery.

Drummer extraordinaire Jack Chamberlain, who played King John in Robin Hood, sticks to the dark side this year, as hunter Colonel Montgomery Blowhard.

Blowhard by name, blowhard by nature, this khaki-clad nuisance is Scrimp’s right-hand man but more bark than bite.

Marc Graham returns as dame Pattie Breadcake, who has kicked the habit following last year’s spiritual sortie as Sister Skeg.

This year business is booming at the Buns of Steel bakery, where Pattie has her fingers in all the pies. The only thing missing is a fella to fix her soggy bottoms.

Long-time panto star Josie Morley resumes the role of audience friend, this time playing Jack Lumber.

He’s a lumberjack (geddit?) and so was his dad, and his dad before him, and his dad before him, and his dad before him. But his dad before him was an estate agent and we don’t talk about that.

Making her panto debut is Sarah Penney, of Beach Body Ready and Fast Food Megaverse fame.

Fun fact: Sarah’s skeleton is composed entirely of funny bones, so bring a mop because an accidental wee is 100% guaranteed.

Your favourite reluctant stage manager, Andy Ross, will once again appear with all the vim and vigour we’ve come to expect from them.

And after a star-turn as a moon in Robin Hood, we’ve managed to craft an entire extra character out of the same joke. Who says the arts are underfunded?

Oliver Strong returns as understudy, ready to step-in should a performer fall ill, as he did with great aplomb last Christmas.

You may also recognise Oliver from Faustus, by From Below at Stage at the Dock and as the Dungeon Master in Silent Uproar’s Dungeons and Dragons.

Beats Bus hero Kobby Taylor makes his first panto appearance since playing Flounder in The Little Mermaid.

This time Kobby, who also appeared in There Should Be Unicorns, plays Rupert Scaremonger, the roving reporter sowing seeds of fear among the people of Hull.

New behind the keys at Social this Christmas is Natalie Walker, who will lead the band in our rock’n’roll takes on various pop songs. Her most recent work includes Beverley Does Broadway and The Pirates of Christmas Island with She Productions.

And joining us on Saturday 23 December as BSL interpreter for three performances, including family and late-night shows, is Dave Wycherley.

Dave has interpreted our pantomimes every year since 2017 and we are delighted to have him join us again this Christmas.

Production team

Working their panto magic behind the scenes is our amazing production team.

Natalie Young is the evergreen brains behind our set, props and costume design and Katie Price, who turned up on our doorstep with a portfolio of costume work, is now our very first panto costume maker, bringing Natalie’s designs to life.

Adam Foley is our veteran lighting designer, tasked with glowing up the Buns of Steel bakery, Anlaby Woods and other scenery.

Jay Hirst joins the rehearsal room as deputy stage manager and will run the show from the tech desk in the venue, alongside sound engineer Tom Smith, while Anja Bryan-Smith joins panto for the first time as stage manager, after working on our Gipsyville project, This One’s For Us.

Jon Beney also enters the fray for the first time as choreographer.

Paul Smith, Middle Child’s artistic director, has once again written the script after it was selected by last year’s audience. He will also direct the show.

And finally the Middle Child core team will produce, production manage, dramaturg and market the show.

  • Tickets for Red Riding Hood are on-sale now, available from £13.50-19.50
Apr 26
0
A purple square with turquoise letter Ls in a pattern and yellow text on a white rectangle which says £5,000 fund for Hull actors

Equity Charitable Trust award Middle Child £5,000 to support Hull actors

By | Artist Development, News

We are delighted to have been awarded £5,000 from the Equity Charitable Trust to buy equipment and provide infrastructure to support local actors in the advancement of their careers, from our space in Hull’s Old Town.

This is a quick blog to let you know what we’re planning.

First thing we did was ask. Thanks to all those people who filled out the survey we posted: we really hope that what we’re planning reflects the needs of the acting community of Hull. So here is what we’re going to do with the money.

Create a self-tape space

This was the most popular request, so we are going to spend a big chunk of the money creating a soundproof space that has all the equipment in it you might need to create and edit your self-tapes to the highest possible quality. This will remove financial and practical barriers to allow you to do your best work. A big thanks to local actor Matt Sutton who is advising on the best possible setup.

Update the technical equipment we can offer

We’ve been delighted with how much use our rehearsal room has had already this year but we’re also aware that some of the equipment that you have to use when you come in is… knackered. So, we’ll be replacing some of those old faithful bits of kit with stuff that doesn’t turn off when you turn the lights on, as well as also making sure you have access to computers for both creative and administrative work.

Improve the library

We’ve got such a big stock of plays that it can be overwhelming to find what you need, so some of the money will be spent creating a database of monologues and duologues to help you find the piece you need as quickly and easily as possible. We’ll also be making sure the library stays up to date with the most contemporary plays from the best writers worldwide.

It’s also worth noting that quite a few of the responses were about continuing to offer things that Middle Child already provide, so to be clear, our spaces including the rehearsal room will remain free to book and can be done so through our website. Our Acting Gym will return in October, and we also have some new sessions starting this summer, including talks about issues within the industry and a book club, where artists will get a chance to read and chat about contemporary plays.

Also, our Take Your Seat initiative is now up and running where, with our friends at Hull Truck Theatre, we offer free tickets to see new plays and then a chance to come and chat about them afterwards.

Hopefully if you’re an actor based in Hull, this all sounds good, but as ever this is just the start of the conversation. Do keep talking to us about how we can improve our offer and hopefully we’ll see you all soon taking advantage of the new self-tape space.

Mar 23
0

Middle Child in 2023

By | News

Hold tight, Hull, here’s what we’ve got planned for you over the next 12 months!

A world premiere in Hull and trip to London for a new drag king cabaret-inspired play about Victorian artist Elizabeth Thompson, an outdoor show created with the residents of Gipsyville, two scratch nights, the return of our people’s panto and extensive artist development opportunities feature in a jam-packed programme of ground-breaking theatre for the year ahead. All from our home in Hull.

This exciting programme for 2023-24 speaks to four key commitments across our work: to Hull, to new writing, to broadening who theatre is made for and by, and to lessening the impact of the cost of living crisis and removing financial and social barriers to change.

We kick-off with the premiere of Modest at Hull Truck Theatre, our electrifying new play about Victorian artist Elizabeth Thompson, produced in collaboration with the wonderful Milk Presents, with support from the National Theatre’s Generate programme.

Written by Middle Child co-founder and Hull writer, Ellen Brammar, with music by Rachel Barnes, Modest tells the story of the artist who fell two votes short of becoming the first woman elected to the Royal Academy, in 1879.

See it in Hull from 23-27 May before it heads on tour to Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Ipswich, Scarborough, finishing with a two-week run in London at the Kiln Theatre.

Our people’s panto, as chosen by our audience, returns to Social on Humber Street this Christmas with Red Riding Hood. Expect an anarchic, rock’n’roll take on the classic fairy tale, with tickets going on-sale (already!) on Tuesday 4 April. Plus, we are very, very excited to announce that Red Riding Hood will return in the February half-term of 2024, for a mini-tour of Hull with the good people at Back to Ours.

A year-long project with the residents of Gipsyville, commissioned by Absolutely Cultured, culminates with a free outdoor performance of This One’s For Us on Saturday 3 June. Written by Rachael Abbey, this sparky and uplifting show brings together protest and celebration in the heart of the community.

Out Loud, our scratch night for new writing in association with Silent Uproar, returns in July following its first time out with Casino at the Humber Street Gallery a year ago. This year we host a double header over three nights at our rehearsal space in the Old Town, with Shit Life Crisis by Olivia Hannah and 1988 by Hannah Scorer. A second edition follows in October with Cuckoo by Chris Pearson. Both Hannah Scorer and Chris Pearson came through our Writers’ Group, while Olivia Hannah has taken part in Silent Uproar’s Making Trouble programme.

Elsewhere in the city, young people from the Warren Youth Project will see monologues, inspired by ideas shared in a series of creative writing workshops about mental health, staged for the first time in Three Minute Monologues at Freedom Festival, funded by Comic Relief.

The Middle Child Theatre Library, featuring over 2,000 scripts and reference books free-to-borrow to residents of Hull and the East Riding, continues to grow and further comes to life with the start of a monthly Book Club and series of regular Library Talks about hot topics in the theatre industry and wider world.

Similarly, Take Your Seat is a series of fully funded group excursions to see productions of exciting new writing at Hull Truck Theatre and discuss it over coffee the following day, starting with Too Much World At Once in April.

Elsewhere in our development programme, the annual Writers’ Group returns in the autumn, with introduction to playwriting workshops led by Hull playwright Tom Wells leading up to a first-time sharing of scenes in January 2024.

Our ever-popular Acting Gym is also back this year, with a focus on monologues providing performers with a place to flex their acting muscles in-between jobs. Literary manager, Matthew May, also continues to offer notes to writers on draft scripts through our 1:1 Script Support programme.

Bond 31, our creative hub on High Street in Hull, featuring a rehearsal space, writing room and hot desking space remain available and free to use, subject to availability, throughout the year. We look forward to welcoming local artists into our old warehouse to use the space, including Belle Streeton and Jamie Potter with an R&D project about pirate radio in Hull, Jack Chamberlain with a further R&D project looking at AR and VR in performance and the NYAT Youth Theatre every Monday afternoon.

We also continue our efforts to improve working conditions in theatre and advocate for change by implementing a four-day week for our core team and the wider company during rehearsals and production periods. Artistic director Paul Smith has written a separate blog post about our experience so far and why we’ve made the switch.

Finally, the next 12 months will also see us pilot a new financial access rider scheme with Classroom, asking the freelancers we work with what adjustments we can make around payment schedules to help people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make a career in theatre.

This is Middle Child in 2023 (and a bit of 2024…) We can’t wait to have you join us.

  • Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear about upcoming on-sale and application dates
Feb 23
0
A white woman with shoulder length fair hair, in a white and black patterned dress

Exec director Lindsey Alvis heading to PiPA

By | News

After five years as executive director and joint-CEO, Lindsey Alvis is leaving Middle Child for an exciting new role as programme manager at Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA).

A white woman with shoulder length fair hair, in a white and black patterned dress

PiPA is a campaigning charity founded to address a lack of provision for parents and carers in the performing arts.

Middle Child have been a charter partner since 2019.

Lindsey joined Middle Child in 2018 as we became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) for the first time.

She had previously worked at Hull UK City of Culture 2017, Liverpool Everyman and Headlong.

During her time with Middle Child, Lindsey worked on productions including One Life Stand, Us Against Whatever, Modest and multiple pantomimes.

Lindsey has also had a huge impact on life behind the scenes at Middle Child, overseeing the implementation of flexible working, a successful period of fundraising and the move into our new venue on High Street in Hull.

Middle Child artistic director and joint-CEO, Paul Smith, said: “Everyone at Middle Child is delighted for Lindsey as she moves into this exciting new role with our pals at PiPA.

“We’ve felt the benefit of Lindsey’s passion for a more equitable industry first-hand and are in no doubt that this brilliant pairing is sure to benefit the entire industry.

“We’d like to thank Lindsey for everything she’s contributed to the company over the past five years, and know that we’re entering into our next period as an NPO stronger, thanks to Lindsey’s leadership.”

Lindsey said: “Alongside Artistic Director Paul Smith, leading this amazing company for the last 4.5 years from my home city has been incredible.

“Creating award-winning theatre, securing a new home and working with so many talented people, has been everything. I am so proud that we’ve done all this whilst putting people at the heart of what we do and championing flexibility and inclusivity.

“Middle Child is vital, and I can’t wait to see what it achieves next as it navigates the challenges and opportunities it faces with authenticity, leadership and sheer star quality.”

Lindsey’s final day with Middle Child will be on Thursday 20 April and we wish her all the best for the future at PiPA.

Keep an eye on our recruitment page or sign up to our artist development newsletter to hear more about future vacancies with Middle Child.

Jan 27
0
A white woman with fair hair tied back, wearing a khaki green coat and orange scarf

Amanda Smethurst succeeds Martin Green CBE as chair

By | News
A white woman with fair hair tied back, wearing a khaki green coat and orange scarf

We are delighted to reveal arts consultant and facilitator Amanda Smethurst as the new chair of our board of trustees.

Amanda succeeds Eurovision 2023 managing director and former Hull 2017 UK City of Culture chief executive, Martin Green CBE, who has held the position since 2018.

She was previously the director of Artlink in Hull and director, London for Arts Council England.

Amanda will chair the Middle Child board through our second term as an Arts Council England national portfolio organisation (NPO).

Amanda said: “I’m delighted to be the next chair of Middle Child and ever since I met the team and saw their fabulous work in breaking down barriers to attending theatre, I knew I wanted to be a part of their story.

“I’ve been blown away by Middle Child’s passion, ambition and genuine commitment to the city and people of Hull.

“Hull was the city I chose to study in and begin my arts career 30 years ago. I’m so thrilled to reconnect with the city and community I was proud to call my home.”

“I want to say a huge thank you to Martin Green as he steps down from the chair role, for supporting Middle Child’s growth over the past five years and securing NPO status.

“I am excited to work with the fantastic board and team as the company continues to make gig theatre that excites, challenges and tells the untold stories that need to be heard, creating accessible spaces for people to hear those stories and have a good night out.”

Artistic director Paul Smith and executive director Lindsey Alvis, joint-CEOs of Middle Child, said: “We are delighted that Amanda has joined us as chair. She brings her skills and experience as a consultant, coach and facilitator working in the arts, as well as a genuine love for Hull.

“Amanda shares our values and her craft and care at bringing out the best in organisations and people make her the perfect person to lead Middle Child through the challenges and opportunities ahead.

“We would also like to thank Martin for the five years he has spent at the helm. From joining the Arts Council’s National Portfolio in 2018 to navigating the Covid-19 pandemic, he has led the organisation with ambition and vision.”

Martin Green said: “I have loved being the chair of Middle Child, seeing their profile and work grow in every way and steering the company through covid-19 and its successful second NPO application.

“After five years it’s time for fresh eyes and energy and I am thrilled with Amanda’s appointment. The company is in safe hands.”

The current board of trustees includes Jane Fallowfield, Jack Heaton, Rozzy Knox, Jay Mitra, Magda Moses, Emma Tucker and John R. Wilkinson.

In addition investor Chris Tonge has joined as a trustee.

Paul Smith and Lindsey Alvis added: “We are thrilled that Chris Tonge joins Middle Child as a trustee, bringing experience of corporate and commercial sectors to the organisation after years establishing and running a successful business.”

Jan 20
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A woman in a baggy yellow sweater with her back to the lens reads from a script to a man in the distance

Photos from our 2022 Writers’ Group sharing

By | Artist Development, News

Huge congrats to our 2022 Writers’ Group who shared their first-ever scripts with a wee invited audience at our rehearsal space on Wednesday.

Erin Anderson, Jessica Davis, Matt McCloud, Jim Norris and Samuel Sims have all been working on their short plays since taking part in workshops with Hull playwright, Tom Wells, in September and October.

They were performed by professional actors for the first time in front of friends, family and guests of Middle Child and deserve a huge round of applause for all their hard work 👏

We can’t wait to see where everybody goes next on their writing journeys and look forward to the return of our Writers’ Group in the autumn.

Thank you to Maureen Lennon for directing the scenes and Alice Beaumont, Jack Chamberlain, Sophie Clay, Jack Fielding, Marc Graham and Sarah Penney for performing.

Photos by iWilburnArt.

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