Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England, which presents drama productions, and also tours. In March 2022, the theatre's original premises on Coltman Street, Hull, was recognised by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

to coincide with the theatre's 50-year anniversary.New blue plaque installed honouring founding of Hull Truck Theatre
'' Hull Live'', 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022

Formation

The Hull Truck Theatre Company was founded in 1971 by actor musician Mike Bradwell when he could not find work. He placed an advertisement in '' Time Out'' magazine which read, "Half-formed theatre company seeks other half". Its first production, ''Children of the Lost Planet'' played to meagre audiences, as did the next, ''Last of the Great Love Goddesses''. The company began to devise plays for children. Initially touring out of its Coltman Street base in Hull,Hull's newest blue plaque announced to mark special 50th anniversary
'' Hull Live'', 22 February 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022 where company members lived and rehearsed, Hull Truck started to receive acclaim for its children's work. It was at the same time devising shows that were being performed in working men's clubs and as late-night cabaret. Bradwell, who insisted that all the actors play musical instruments, described the approach as "provocative and challenging, but above all, entertaining.” Music was at the heart of their work, along with an underlying sense of anarchy. In 1974 the company devised ''The Knowledge'' and, although over half the audience walked out at the play's premiere at the Forum Theatre in Manchester, the critical praise of ''The Guardian'' reviewer Robin Thornber led to the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

taking an interest and staging the production.

Hull Truck in Spring Street

In April 1983 the Hull Truck Company made the Spring Street Theatre its home. Originally converted from St Stephen's church hall (the church itself had been bombed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

), this tiny 150-seat theatre space was known as The Hull Arts Centre where Hull playwright

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his fami ...

co-founded the Humberside Theatre in 1970. The theatre had closed in 1981. From 1983 it was known as the Hull Truck Theatre.

John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is known mainly for observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. He has been cre ...

became artistic director in 1984 although at first he was unaware of how much the Hull Truck Theatre was struggling financially. He had been making a good living as a teacher but the idea of being able to produce some of his own works led him to accept the post. He wrote '' Up 'n' Under'', a play about rugby league in Hull, which proved to be a success. One of Hull Truck's most performed and famous plays is Godber's ''Bouncers''. This celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 and was the final play to be performed before moving to a new venue.

A new home in Ferensway

In 2006 work had begun on a new 440-seat theatre in Ferensway, Hull, as part of the St Stephen's development. Specially built for the Hull Truck Company, funded by the Arts Council,

Hull City Council (Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation and fou ...

and the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

, the theatre was completed three years later at a cost of around £15 million. The first production was Godber's play ''Funny Turns'' which opened on 25 April 2009. Under the two-year tenure of artistic director Gareth Tudor Price, the Hull Truck Theatre hosted the launch of Hull's

Larkin 25 Larkin 25 was an arts festival and cultural event in Kingston upon Hull, England, organised to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet and University of Hull librarian, Philip Larkin. The festival was launched at Hull Truck Theatre on ...

Festival in June 2010, marking 25 years since the poet's death with 25 weeks of events. The launch included poetry from

Mario Petrucci Mario Petrucci (born 1958) is a poet, literary translator, educator and broadcaster. He was born in Lambeth, London and trained as a physicist at Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge and later completed a PhD in vacuum crystal growth at ...

, a performance from the band All What Jazz (named after

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...

's 1985 book) and provided the setting for the annual Philip Larkin Society Distinguished Guest Lecture, given that year by actor and dramatist

Barrie Rutter Barrie Thomas Rutter OBE (born 12 December 1946) is an English actor and the founder and former artistic director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Dean Clough complex, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Biography Rutter was ...

. The following month, following a review of Hull Truck's management structure, Paul Marshall became operations director and Andrew Smaje was appointed to fill the newly created role of chief executive to develop the theatre's programme and to entice new audiences. Smaje took up his role that October, moving on from a decade at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

Notable seasons

40th anniversary celebrations

In 2012, Hull Truck Theatre celebrated its 40th birthday. This year's production included a revival of the play ''

Once Upon a Time in Wigan Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

'' starring Craige Els, the premiere of Matt Hartley's ''Sixty Five Miles'' with

Ian Bleasdale Ian Bleasdale (born 1950, in Upholland, Lancashire) is an English actor and television presenter. He divides his time between Haworth in West Yorkshire and Bristol. He started off life as a teacher before deciding that he wanted to become an actor ...

, a new production of ''

Krapp's Last Tape ''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee (actor), Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's e ...

'' by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

and a UK tour of '' DNA'' by

Dennis Kelly Dennis Kelly is a British scriptwriter for theatre, television and film. His play ''DNA'', first performed in 2007, became a core set-text for GCSE in 2010 and has been studied by approximately 400,000 students each year. He wrote the book ...

, starring

James Alexandrou James Alekos Alexandrou (born 12 April 1985) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying the role of Martin Fowler in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1996 to 2007. He was also the presenter of ''Bizarre Crime'' on B ...

Mike Bradwell, who had gone on to be Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre (1996–2007), returned to Hull Truck in March 2012 to perform excerpts from the early Hull Truck shows in celebration the 40th anniversary of the company's formation. He was joined by fellow performers from those days – the original Truckers – John Lee,

Steve Halliwell Stephen Harold Halliwell (born 21 March 1946) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Zak Dingle in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', which he has played since 1994. Life and career Halliwell was born in Bury, L ...

, Dave Greaves, Alan Williams, Cass Patton,

Rachel Bell Rachel Bell (born 1950 in Newcastle upon Tyne)"Bucket of Fun"
''The Northern Echo'' (8 July 20 ...

, Mary East, Pete Nicholson, David Ambrose, Steve Marshall and David Hatton. Later that year the company received a TMA nomination for The Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre. Touring productions that year included ''

The Lady in the Van ''The Lady in the Van'' is a 2015 British comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner, and starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, based on the memoir of the same name created by Alan Bennett. It was written by Bennett, and it tells the (most ...

'' by Alan Bennett, ''DNA'' by Dennis Kelly and ''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' adapted by Nick Lane. In October 2012 Hull city centre was awarded Purple Flag status for the quality of the city's nightlife. The Association of Town Centre Management praised Hull Truck Theatre in particular ''"for its outstanding contribution"'' to entertainment for city centre users. In January 2013 Hull Truck Theatre were nominated for Best Visiting Production at the Manchester Theatre Awards for ''DNA'' by Dennis Kelly. In April 2013 Mike Bradwell returned to direct for the company for the first time in over 30 years, directing the world premiere of ''Queen of the Nile'' by Tim Fountain. In May 2013 Mark Babych was appointed artistic director of the company. In April 2014, it was reported that the theatre had received £400,000 in grants from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and

. In November 2015, Hull Truck Theatre won the

Welcome to Yorkshire Welcome to Yorkshire (WTY) is the official tourism agency for the traditional county of Yorkshire, the UK's largest county, promoting Yorkshire tourism both nationally and internationally. It was formerly known as the Yorkshire Tourist Board ...

White Rose Awards' Arts and Culture award for their contribution to the planning of

Hull UK City of Culture 2017 Hull UK City of Culture 2017 was a designation given to the city of Kingston upon Hull, England, between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The designation means that Hull gains acc ...

. In November 2017, Hull Truck Theatre won the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards' Arts and Culture award for the second time. In November 2019, Hull Truck Theatre won the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards' Arts and Culture award for the third time. In 2019 Hull Truck Theatre also took home the Silver Award for Accessible and Inclusive Tourism at the White Rose Awards.

Hull UK City of Culture 2017

Hull Truck Theatre delivered its 'Year of Exceptional Drama programme' for

, working with partners including the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

Northern Broadsides Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Barrie Rutter, who was its Artistic Director until resigning in 2018, followed by Conrad Nelson who was i ...

and the Market Theatre of Johannesburg. In June 2017, Hull Truck Theatre were shortlisted for the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards' Arts and Culture award for their Year of Exceptional Drama programme for Hull UK City of Culture 2017. In September 2017, Hull Truck Theatre were nominated for the Achievement in Marketing/Audience Development award at the

UK Theatre Bangladesh, UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) was founded in 1894 as the Theatrical Managers Association, with Sir Henry Irving as its first president. There are however records of the activity of a Theatrical Managers As ...

Awards. In May 2018, the company hit the headlines when a local affiliated artist cancelled their production of ''Ununited Kingdom''. The play dealt with far-right issues. The staging of the play in London was cancelled in its entirety.''

References

Other sources

*Meyer- Dinkgrafe, Daniel. The Professions in Contemporary Drama. Bristol : Intellect Books, 2003. *Kershaw, Baz. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre As Cultural Intervention. London : New York Routledge, 1992. *Bennett, John. “Three careful owners: Divergent methodologies and shifting critical perceptions of the Hull Truck Theatre Company.” Studies in Theatre and Performance 26.3 (2006): 273 *“Review: Arts: THEATRE: For the love of Godber: Hull Truck hits 30, the Globe dons his pyjamas but Gagarin keeps his boots on at the Barbican.” ''The Observer'' 15 July 2001 *Hickling, Alfred. Thirty years ago it had no home and next to no audience. Now Hull Truck is a national institution, responsible for some of Britain ’s best- loved plays.” ''The Guardian'' 27 June 2001 *Shannon, David. “The people’s choice; John Godber. (Features).” ''Sunday Times'' 23 January 1994

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Culture in Kingston upon Hull Buildings and structures in Kingston upon Hull 1971 establishments in England Theatres in the East Riding of Yorkshire Producing theatres in England Tourist attractions in Kingston upon Hull