Paines Plough is a London-based British touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall[1] and director John Adams. They named the company after their favourite pub, the Plough, where they would drink pints of Paines.
The company specialises in developing and staging the work of contemporary playwrights. In 2005, Paines Plough launched Future Perfect in conjunction with Channel 4. The scheme is a year-long attachment for emerging playwrights. Writers who have taken part include Lizzie Nunnery[2], Tom Morton-Smith and Duncan Macmillan.[3]
Previous artistic directors include Anna Furse (1990-1994) and Vicky Featherstone (1997-2004). Sarah Kane was writer-in-residence in 1998, during which time the company staged her work Crave. Mark Ravenhill was also the literary director, and continues to work with Paines Plough as a writer.[4] The current artistic directors are James Grieve and George Perrin who took over from Roxanna Silbert in October 2009.[5]. Silbert had led the company since taking over from Vicky Featherstone in 2004. In October 2010, the company won a TMA award for special achievement in regional theatre.[6]