Arden Theatre Company

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The Arden Theatre Company is a leading regional theatre company located in Stockton-on-Tees, England. Founded in 2002 by Robert Icke and Daniel Hill, the theatre has grown quickly to become one of the premier theatre companies in the region. Based at Stockton-on-Tees' multi-million pound theatre, Arc, the company began as a youth-only company but now seems to have grown out of its 'no adults' labels. The first production was Julius Caesar in 2003 and a further five productions all sold out, proving against the odds that there is a keen audience in Stockton-on-Tees for serious theatre.

The company will this year complete their productions through a major funding award from Arts Council England, which funded all of last year's work.

...they have made the transition from being a youth theatre (albeit an unusual one) to a company whose work demands that they be considered alongside the other smaller companies we review here. What entitles a company to this - and it could be a dubious privilege, for the criteria we apply to a youth theatre production are less stringent - is an imaginative approach to the piece, quality of performance and high production values. Arden's An Inspector Calls qualifies on all three counts - and it is interesting that the theatre, too, no longer advertises them as a youth theatre but just as a theatre company... An Inspector Calls marks the real coming of age of Arden, which crosses the boundary which separates a high quality youth theatre from a thoroughly professional company. Peter Lathan British Theatre Guide, July 2006

Off the back of many positive reviews (Peter Lathan, the British Theatre Guide's Chief Editor, is a huge fan of their work, returning, it seems, to every production) the company's website has announced their new education programme, going into schools and colleges and inspiring young people to get excited about Shakespeare and theatre.