Hull Truck Theatre

The Hull Truck Theatre Company was founded in 1971 by actor musician Mike Bradwell when he could not find work. He placed an advertisement in Time Out magazine which read, "Half-formed theatre company seeks other half". Its first production, Children of the Lost Planet played to meagre audiences, as did the next, Last of the Great Love Goddesses. The company began to devise plays for children.[2]

Touring out of its Coltman Street base in Hull, where company members lived and rehearsed,[3] Hull Truck started to receive acclaim for its children's work. It was at the same time devising shows that were being performed in working men's clubs and as late night cabaret. Bradwell, who insisted that all the actors play musical instruments, described the approach as "provocative and challenging, but above all, entertaining.” Music was at the heart of their work, along with an underlying sense of anarchy.[4]

In 1974 the company devised The Knowledge and, although over half the audience walked out at the play's premiere at the Forum Theatre in Manchester, the critical praise of Guardian reviewer Robin Thornber led to the Bush Theatre taking an interest and staging the production.[2][5]

Spring Street Theatre, Hull, 2009. This venue was the company's base for 26 years.

In April 1983 the Hull Truck Company made the Spring Street Theatre its home. Originally converted from St Stephen's church hall (the church itself had been bombed in the Second World War), this tiny 150-seat theatre space was known as The Hull Arts centre where Hull playwright Alan Plater co-founded the Humberside Theatre in 1970. The theatre had closed in 1981. From 1983 it was known as the Hull Truck Theatre.[6][7]

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 a new venue.[8][9]

In 2006 work had begun on a new 440-seat theatre in Ferensway, Hull, as part of the St. Stephen's development. Specially built for the Hull Truck Company, funded by the Arts Council, Kingston Upon Hull City Council and the European Regional Development Fund, the theatre was completed three years later at a cost of around £15 million.[10][9][11][12] The first production was John Godber's play Funny Turns which opened on 25 April 2009.[11]

Under the two-year tenure of artistic director Gareth Tudor Price, the Hull Truck Theatre hosted the launch of Hull's Larkin 25 Festival in June 2010, marking 25 years since the poet's death with 25 weeks of events. The launch included poetry from Mario Petrucci, a performance from the band All What Jazz (named after Philip Larkin's 1985 book[13]) and provided the setting for the annual Philip Larkin Society Distinguished Guest Lecture, given that year by actor and dramatist Barrie Rutter.[14]

The following month, following a review of Hull Truck's management structure, Paul Marshall became operations director and Andrew Smaje was appointed to fill the newly created role of chief executive to develop the theatre's programme and to entice new audiences. Smaje took up his role that October, moving on from a decade at the Theatre Royal, Bath.[15]

• Meyer- Dinkgrafe, Daniel. The Professions in Contemporary Drama. Bristol : Intellect Books, 2003.
• Kershaw, Baz. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre As Cultural 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hull Truck Theatre.

• Official website