| Hull Truck Theatre | |
|---|---|
Hull Truck Theatre, Ferensway, Hull in 2009 |
|
| Address | Spring Street |
| City | Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Production | Visiting and own productions |
| www.hulltruck.co.uk | |
The Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in Kingston upon Hull, England which presents high quality drama productions.[1] It also tours its productions on a regular basis.
The theatre was founded in 1971 by actor Mike Bradwell when he could not find work. He placed an ad' in Time Out magazine saying, "Half-formed theatre company seeks other half". The first production, "The Children of the Lost Planet" was a success though, like many new companies, it had meagre audiences. This experience led the company to fall back on performing plays for children. They started to get a good reputation for children's theatre. However, in 1974, the play "Knowledge" was performed and, although over half the audience had walked out, the critical acclaim of Guardian reviewer Robin Thornber led to the Bush Theatre becoming interested and staging the production.[2]
John Godber 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 decided that the best way to improve sales and the success of the company was to write a play relevant to its audiences. He wrote "Up n’ Under" a play about the rugby league in Hull which proved to be a success.
One of Hull Truck's most performed and famous plays is John Godber's "Bouncers". This celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 and was the final play to be performed before moving to the new venue.[3][4]
From 1983 the company was based in its venue in Spring Street but a new 440 seat theatre has been built for the company, as part of the St. Stephen's development. This has cost £14.5 million and opened on 23 April 2009.[4][5][6] The opening production stated its run on 25 April 2009 and was the premier of the John Godber play Funny Turns.[5]
Hull Truck was the venue chosen to host the launch of Hull's Larkin 25 Festival in June 2010.[7]
Meyer- Dinkgrafe, Daniel. The Professions in Contemporary Drama. Bristol : Intellect Books, 2003.
Kershaw, Baz. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre As Culltural 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