about

archipelago is a theatre collective that makes work about themes of epic proportions whilst looking at a local, community, personal level. Our work crosses genres, forms, and styles, but is united under the banner of live, daring, and generous work that brings people together. Made with communities, for communities. 

We have a vision for archipelago that is all about connecting people. We think it’s magic and worth celebrating our points of difference, whilst embracing that which also unites us. Our mission is to be part of the fabric of community that brings all these tiny islands of people together, to try and bring about a seachange in our society, both big and small. 

Every archipelago project is started by a period of listening. We think it’s vital that before we speak we have heard from others. This listening takes a variety of forms, but it’s all about us as artists, and as a company, engaging with people, and places, who have things they want to say and deserve to be heard. Our process is all about collaboration; we think it enriches everybody that takes part and makes genuinely thrilling work. 

mother of the revolution

Find out more about out new folk musical premiering in Leeds this Spring!

projects

If you’d like to know more about our work and find out about our upcoming performances and projects, click below!

about us

Beth is a director and facilitator with a passion for telling new and socially-engaged stories. She works across both professional and participatory work on a range of scales, in a generous, collaborative and responsive style – often as a deviser and constantly with young people. She makes theatre as a joyful and political act. 

She loves bad jokes, 90s hip-hop, biscuits and being an auntie. She hates marzipan, waking up early and horror films. Her love language is Jeff Goldblum gifs and she’s really good at pub quizzes.

Kirsty is a theatre maker and director, passionate about making applied theatre that addresses barriers and inequalities in the arts and beyond. Her delivery of community engagement programmes has learned from communities of endlessly creative people with learning disabilities, families living in kinship foster care, and lots of children from birth – 18. Her work aims to speak to people who are often left out of the conversation. 

Thanks to living in Glasgow, Kirsty is that friend who always suggests walking is easier than an Uber even when it’s not. She sings too loud in the shower, then makes pancakes to apologise. Just to confuse everyone, her spoken accent is Scottish, but Yorkshire in Sign Language.

Sean is a composer, musician and sound designer who makes new work with a focus on innovative approaches to how people experience music. He works across artistic disciplines including theatre, music, and film and his creative practice centres on collaboration, co-creation and reactivity to artists, participants, and audiences. 

Outside of work, you’ll find him spending too much money on clothes or walking in the Peak District. He’s a great advocate for not telling people how nice the north is in case they come and spoil it. He’s also always Greg Davies when playing the Taskmaster board game.

casting

We don’t run auditions for any of our projects. We think it’s a false economy that actors are the only creatives in our industry who have to constantly prove their skills in recruitment. Instead, we are much more interested in having conversations with artists across all disciplines about our projects as equal collaborators. 

We regularly put public casting calls for our projects here; but if you’d like to talk to us at any point about our work or working together please get in touch via our emails below.

contact us

We would love to hear from you!

To get in touch, you can email us directly on:

beth@archipelagoarts.co.uk
kirsty@archipelagoarts.co.uk
sean@archipelagoarts.co.uk 

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archipelago arts collective ltd.
Registered Company Number: 12273963