From Doorstep to Desktop – New Era For Badapple Theatre Company
Badapple Theatre, based in Green Hammerton near York, is celebrating good news after receiving funding from Arts Council England. The emergency package will support the company’s new podcast series, created after the team had to cancel its spring tour. The Covid 19 pandemic making its mark once again.
Badapple Theatre were due to mark 21 years of success in 2020. They’d planned to be doing that by touring to rural venues across the UK with new production Elephant Rock. Their slogan ‘Theatre on Your Doorstep’ has now been reworked to ‘Theatre on Your Desktop’; and the team have already released series one Back to the Land Girls.
The funding will now be used to develop this further, and adapt a number of previous plays into podcasts. And it’ll also commission three new short plays that are upbeat and resonant for the company’s core rural audiences. Over £300 has also been raised in Friends Membership donations and will be used to support the new venture. All podcast episodes will be free to listen to.
“The heart of what we do”
Artistic Director Kate Bramley said “Our audiences are always at the heart of what we do. And we hope this will find new ways for us to connect with and support them and our partner creatives. We also recognise that the skills learned and outcomes of this ‘pilot’ could re-define the way we work more successfully over the coming decade. The project will provide work to a number of Yorkshire based freelance actors, writers and professionals and funding will also be used to provide virtual sessions to the company’s Youth Theatre groups.”
Prior to the Covid 19 outbreak the company toured over 90 professional performances annually as well as running a Youth Theatre, Youth Summer School, adult amateur performance and Arts & Sport partnerships from its rural base in North Yorkshire. Artistic Director and Writer Kate Bramley (formerly of Sir John Godber’s Hull Truck, Peter Schumann’s Bread & Puppet Theater) has a 20-year pedigree as a writer, director and rural touring innovator: Using music, puppetry, dance and even ‘live-baking’ to add to the theatrical experience. Jez Lowe (Music Director) is a SONY Radio Academy Award Winner for ‘The Radio Ballads’ (BBC Radio 2) Aria Award for ‘Alone on a Wide Wide Sea’ (by Michael Morpurgo). He has been an internationally acclaimed touring artist for 40 years, performed with the BBC Philharmonic for BBC Radio 2, has presented Radio 4 ‘Open Country’ and has also worked on R&D theatre projects at the National Theatre.
To listen to series one Back to the Land Girls head to badappletheatreonyourdesktop.podbean.com or to find out more visit badappletheatre.co.uk
Top image: Karl Andre
