The Mikron Theatre Company is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

touring

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

company, founded in 1972, which is notable for its tours by canal boat during the summer months, and by road in the spring and autumn. The company believes itself to be the only theatre company in the world which tours by narrowboat.

History

The company had its origins in an Edinburgh Fringe show in 1963. The name "Mikron", as well as being a Greek word meaning "small", is derived from the names of the trio who went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1963: MIKe Lucas, Sarah CameRON and RON Legge. In 1972 the company performed its first waterways-themed production, and in 1975 it acquired its narrowboat, ''Tyseley''.

Activities

The company is based in the town of Marsden, in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, although it spends the summer touring throughout the UK canal network. It claims to be "the UK’s most prolific theatre company" and in 2018 performed in 130 venues. The company is a registered charity and describes its activities as "Theatre anywhere for everyone by canal, river and road". In 2017 the company offered 151 performances of its two commissioned plays, to a total audience of 14,668 made up of audience sizes from 14 to 250 but averaging 97, at 81% average occupancy and with 43 shows sold out, in 83 local authority areas. On 17 March 2020 the company announced that its 2020 tour, due to start on 18 April 2020, was cancelled because of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. They had started to rehearse ''Atalanta Forever'' but not ''A Dog's Tale''. Both productions were first performed in June 2021, out of doors, with a touring programme of outside venues booked for the rest of the season.

Productions

In 2015 it toured two shows: ''Raising Agents'', written by Maeve Larkin and with music by O'Hooley & Tidow, which celebrated the centenary of the

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

, and ''One of Each'' written by

Deborah McAndrew Deborah McAndrew (born 1967) is a British playwright and actor, known for playing Angie Freeman in ''Coronation Street'' in the 1990s. She is also co-founder and Creative Director of the Stoke-on-Trent-based Claybody Theatre Company, and a visiti ...

, about

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

and much else. Mikron's 2016 tour featured ''Canary Girls'' by Laurence Peacock, about 1914 munitions factory workers (who were known as Canary girls because their skin turned yellow from working with toxic substances), and ''PURE'' by Richard Vergette, about the

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

industry now and in the past. In 2017 Mikron performed ''In At The Deep End'' about the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

by Laurence Peacock and '' Best Foot Forward'' about the Youth Hostels Association, by Maeve Larkin. Several performances took place in RNLI stations and YHA hostels respectively. In 2018 Mikron performed ''Get Well Soon'' about the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in its 70th year, by Ged Cooper, and ''Revolting Women'' about suffrage to commemorate the centenary of the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

Vashti Maclachlan Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either ...

. Maclachlan has previously acted in the company and directed their 2009 production ''Tales of the Thames'', which was written by her husband Richard Povall. In 2019 the company presented ''Redcoats'', a play about

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...

holiday camps by Nick Ahad and ''All Hands on Deck'' about the

Wrens Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is comm ...

Vashti MacLachlan Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either ...

. Their 9 August performance at the Toad Gin Distillery supported by

British Naturism British Naturism (until 2009, Central Council for British Naturism) is a members organisation with both individual and organisation members. It promotes naturism in the United Kingdom, and it is recognised by the International Naturist Fed ...

and Naturism Oxford is believed to be "the first professional theatre performance for a

naturist Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

audience, ever, in the UK. Their 31 August performance of ''All Hands on Deck'' took place in Liverpool's

Western Approaches Museum The Western Approaches Museum in Liverpool, England, is a museum chronicling the work of Western Approaches Command around Atlantic convoys, combating the U-boat menace and the Battle of the Atlantic. Set in the restored former Second World War ...

, the setting for a scene in the play. For 2020 the company commissioned ''A Dog's Tale'' by Poppy Holman about pedigree dogs and

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, first held in 1891. Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is centred on a championship conformation show for do ...

, and ''Atalanta Forever'' by

Amanda Whittington Amanda Whittington (born 1968 in Nottingham) is an English dramatist who has written over 30 plays for theatre and radio. Her work is widely performed by companies across the UK, with recent productions at Hull Truck, Oldham Coliseum, New Vic Th ...

about women's football and the short-lived Huddersfield Atalanta Ladies' Football Club, but the tour was cancelled. Both shows were performed in 2021. In 2022 the company revived the 2015 show, ''Raising Agents'', and commissioned a new play, ''Red Sky at Night'', written by Lindsay Rodden, about

weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia a ...

. The company's 2023 productions will be ''Twitchers'' by Poppy Holman, about the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

(RSPB), and ''A Force to be Reckoned With'' by

, about

women police officers A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

. The two playwrights wrote Mikron's 2020 productions.

Narrowboat ''Tyseley''

The company's narrowboat ''Tyseley'' was built in 1936 for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company. She was built at

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

by W.J.Yarwood & Sons Ltd. She is long and wide. She is registered with

National Historic Ships National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships.

Tyseley Tyseley is a district in the southern half of the city of Birmingham, England, near the Coventry Road and the districts of Acocks Green, Small Heath and Yardley. It is located near the Grand Union Canal. Etymology Tyseley means "Tyssa's clearin ...

is a district of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

near the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

References

External links