As we step into Christmas, with only a few more sleeps until the Big Man visits, we’ve been reflecting on the year that was and looking ahead to the year to come…
Back in January, we returned to HOME Mcr with our PlayMakers Takeover 2024 for an all-day new play extravaganza: four rehearsed readings from our PlayBoxers, a PlayMakers Offstage workshop with Associate Sound Designer & Composer Lee Affen and a drop-in Culture Café for Northern creatives. Watch out for the 2025 incarnation at HOME Mcr on 25 January!
Throughout the year, our PlayMakers Network supported playwrights and theatremakers right across the North…
Our LIFT Mentorship for Movement Directors with Associate Artist Jenni Jackson supported three North West creatives through mentorship, one-on-one sessions and a bespoke workshop. Our Blood Beats LGBTQ+ Writers Group delivered events and workshops and launched its first programme – First Press: fortnightly sessions to produce our first ever zine! Get a taste at the Blood Beats Social at PlayMakers Takeover 2025. Our Accelerate programme has supported 12 writers aged 35+ through monthly workshops, events and sessions, developing new plays to be shared at our Accelerate Showcase next month.
We also launched a second season of our popular PlayMakers Podcast hosted by Karla Marie Sweet. Guests so far have included access-led theatremaker Alice Corrigan, award-winning actor and writer Adam Fenton, movement director Jenni Jackson and Corrie writer Ella Carmen Greenhill. More to come next year!
We delivered our Remix Project at Rose Bruford College in Wigan. Following the sell-out success of our Word:Play cycles, Remix reimagined seven short plays with third-year actors. Drawn from a back-catalogue of Box of Tricks’ hits, Remix was a night of fresh mixes of short plays for the next generation.
In the summer, we celebrated our anniversary with our 18th Birthday Party at The Yard Mcr for a night of electric new theatre, music and cabaret. Performances included specially-commissioned new one-page plays, a Blood Beats Cabaret, David Judge performing OK So: A Letter to my White Best Friend and live music from Nunnery Norheim. A huge thank you to everyone who donated to our 18th Birthday Appeal and helped us raise over £10,000.
“An engaging coming-of-age story that joyfully wears its heart on its sleeve… An excellent debut by an extremely talented writer who clearly has a bright future ahead of her… Exuberant, joyful and life affirming”
★★★★ Reviews Hub
Danesha by Stef Reynolds embarked on a successful 4-week tour to studio theatres and schools throughout October, touring to 11 venues across the North. Over half the audiences were young people aged 13-16 and we engaged over 320 participants in outreach activities. Working with Hear the Picture, every performance was accessible to visually-impaired audiences through pre-recorded audio description and pre-show touch tours.
Partnering with Singaporean company Centre 42, we launched our Pen Pals International in the Autumn, an exchange programme matching 6 pairs of playwrights from Singapore and the UK to connect, share ideas and develop their craft whilst developing a full-length play next year.
Looking ahead, we’ve got plenty on the horizon: our PlayMakers Takeover 2025 at HOME Mcr on 25 January, including our Accelerate Showcase, as well as more PlayMakers Podcast episodes, new in-person Masterclasses and the culmination of our Pen Pals International exchange. We hope that’s enough to help you stave off the January blues!
It’s been a tough year. We hope you’re surrounded by love, joy and celebration this Christmas – with time for recouperation and reflection – and start 2025 raring to go. Until then, Merry Tricksmas!
With festive love from the Tricksters,
Adam & Hannah x