Paines Plough is a 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 1974 by writer David PownallDavid Pownall website
/ref> and director John Adams. The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft. Over the past four decades, Paines Plough has established itself as a leading new writing company producing work by a wide range of playwrights across the UK and abroad. Collaboration with other theatre organisations is a vital feature of the company’s work as since 2010 the company has co-produced every show they've worked on with either a venue or a touring partner. In 2005, Paines Plough launched Future Perfect in conjunction with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. The scheme is a year-long attachment for emerging playwrights. Writers who have taken part include Lizzie Nunnery, Tom Morton-Smith and Duncan Macmillan. In October 2010, the company won a TMA award for special achievement in regional theatre.

History

Paines Plough was formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub by playwright David Pownall and director John Adams. For over 40 years the company has commissioned, produced and toured new plays all over Britain and internationally.

Artistic directors

Roundabout

Roundabout is Paines Plough's touring in-the-round auditorium. Roundabout was designed by Lucy Osborne and Emma Chapman in collaboration with Charcoalblue and Howard Eaton. It was built and developed by Factory Settings. In 2010, Roundabout was commissioned, with a prototype built in 2011 with

Sheffield Theatres Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It comprises three theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse. These theatres make up the largest regional theatre complex outside the ...

. The opening season of Roundabout consisted of three new plays performed in

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

One Day When We Were Young by Nick Payne, Lungs by Duncan Macmillan and The Sound of Heavy Rain by Penelope Skinner. In 2014, Roundabout was re-imagined to allow for touring. As part of Paines Plough's 40th anniversary celebrations a new season was commissioned for Roundabout. The plays debuted at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Summerhall: Our Teacher's A Troll by Dennis Kelly, The Initiate by Alexandra Wood and Lungs and Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan. After the run in Edinburgh Roundabout toured nationally to:

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

, Margate Theatre Royal, Hackney Showroom and

The Civic in Barnsley ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Roundabout won the Theatre Building of the Year award at The Stage Awards. In 2015, Roundabout toured with the same programme but added one new play to the repertory The Human Ear by Alexandra Wood. The auditorium once again took up residency at Summerhall for Edinburgh Festival Fringe before touring nationally to:

, Margate Theatre Royal, Southbank Centre,

The Lowry The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex ope ...

, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal and Appetite in Stoke. At the end of 2015, Paines Plough were granted money as part of Arts Council England's Strategic Touring Fund to tour Roundabout from 2016 to 2018 with seven nationwide partner venues: The Civic in Barnsley, Margate Theatre Royal, RevoLuton,

Hall For Cornwall Hall for Cornwall, known as Truro City Hall until 1997, is an events venue in Boscawen Street in Truro, Cornwall, England. The building, which was previously the headquarters of Truro City Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History The f ...

, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal and Appetite in Stoke. They will each receive a repertory of three new plays commissioned and produced by Paines Plough and partners. The Roundabout plays for 2016 are ''Love, Lies and Taxidermy'' by Alan Harris, ''Growth'' by Luke Norris and ''I Got Superpowers for My Birthday'' by Katie Douglas.

Productions

2016

* ''With a Little Bit of Luck'' by

Sabrina Mahfouz Sabrina Mahfouz is a British-Egyptian poet, playwright, performer and writer from South London, England. Her published work includes poetry, plays and contributions to several anthologies. Education Mahfouz earned a BA in English Literature a ...

, directed by Stef O'Driscoll and co-produced with Latitude Festival * ''Broken Biscuits'' by Tom Wells, directed by James Grieve and co-produced with Live Theatre * ''Ten Weeks'' by Elinor Cook, directed by Kate Wasserberg and co-produced with

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

* ''Growth'' by Luke Norris, directed by George Perrin * ''Love, Lies and Taxidermy'' by Alan Harris, directed by George Perrin and co-produced by

Sherman Cymru The Sherman Theatre ( cy, Theatr y Sherman) is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from Cardiff University. Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Theatre between 2 ...

and

Theatr Clwyd Theatr Clwyd () is a regional arts centre and producing theatre from Mold, Flintshire, in North East Wales. It opened as Theatr Clwyd in 1976, but was known between 1998 and 2015 as Clwyd Theatr Cymru, before reverting to its original name. His ...

* ''I Got Superpowers'' for My Birthday by Katie Douglas, directed by George Perrin and co-produced with Halfmoon Theatre * ''Bilal's Birthday'' by Nathan Bryon, directed by Liz Carlson and co-produced by

Naked Angels ''Naked Angels'' is a 1969 American outlaw biker film directed by Bruce D. Clark. Starring Michael Greene (actor), Michael Greene as Mother, Jennifer Gan as Marlene, and Richard Rust as Fingers, it provides an insider's perspective at the lifesty ...

* ''322 Days'' by Lucy Gillespie, directed by Sean Linnen and co-produced by Naked Angels * ''Come To Where I'm From''

References

External links

* {{authority control 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom Theatre companies in the United Kingdom