our projects
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upcoming live shows
mother of the revolution
Mother of the Revolution is a new folk musical celebration of the life of a forgotten Yorkshire legend – industrialist Betty Beecroft; unearthing her untold story and those of the working communities that came after her. This will be a show about what we share with our neighbours, what we learn from our past, what brings us together and tears us apart.
Mother of the Revolution is an archipelago arts collective production in association with Leeds Industrial Museum and Interplay Theatre; supported by Arts Council England, CEG, Leeds Playhouse and Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society.
Original concept and directed by Beth Knight
Written by Rosie MacPherson
Music, Lyrics, Sound Design and Musical Direction by Sean Ryan
Access Direction by Kirsty Pennycook
Movement and Associate Direction by Lizzy Whynes
Set and Costume Design by Emma Williams
Video Design by Matt Powell
Associate Producing by Joseph Clowser
Film Making by Pishdaad Modaressi Chahardehi
BSL Consultancy by Adam Bassett
Audio Description Consultancy by Ben Wilson
Production Management by Isabel Potter
Technical Management by Justin Wetherill
Stage Management by Calum Clark
Performers
digital projects
A call to care
A Call to Care is a creative documentary-style film exploring nurses’ experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and their hopes for the future. Co-created by artist collective archipelago and nurses from the Royal College of Nursing. Made over 8 weeks through creative conversations with nurses across the UK, the film asks us to stop and consider all that has happened in the past 18 months, the toll it has taken on those at the frontline, and what comes next.
Writer: Zia Ahmed
Filmmaker: Pishdaad Modaressi Chahardehi
Dancer and Choreographer: Zoe Katsilerou
Voice Performer: Shreya Patel
Directors: Beth Knight and Laurence Young
Composer: Sean Ryan
Producer: Grace Dickson
Nursing Historian Consultant: Christine Hallett
A Call to Care is a HOME Homemakers commission, with additional support from Camden People’s Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre and The Civic, Barnsley
An Act of Care (in response to right now)
Released to celebrate the 72nd birthday of our wonderful NHS, An Act of Care (in response to right now) recognises all that those working in the NHS and on the frontline have done to keep us safe. It didn’t have to be like this, but given how events in the coronavirus pandemic have unfolded, we think it’s vital to speak out for those wonderful people, most importantly those that have lost their lives to protect ours. Now more than ever, the NHS needs us to stand up and fight for it, otherwise it won’t be there next time. The first line of the NHS constitution reads: the NHS belongs to the people. So what are we going to do to fight for it?
Animation by Edie Morris
Music and Sound Design by Sean Ryan
Words by Laurence Young
Performed by Tomi Ogbaro, Robyn Sinclair, Seren Vickers, Sophie Wilkinson and Alex Wilson
Collaborators:
Beth Knight and Rosie MacPherson
An Act of Care (in response to right now), is a Sanctuary Broadcast Commission supported by SBC Theatre.
previous projects
SANTA MUST DIE (2021 & 23)
“Please sir, can I have the night off?”
Nadia and Abed might just be the next big thing. They’re in The North’s greatest Punk band this side of the Seventies and for one night only they’re playing their local. It’s just it’s Xmas eve and Santa is a bad boss.
Unending queues of demanding, entitled customers, minimum wage, no time off, unpaid overtime, zero hours contract. It’s about time the elves staged a riot.
Santa Must Die! is a raucous new gig theatre show for the gig economy at the most difficult time of the year! A different kind of Christmas story about it being really sh*t when Xmas is all work and no play, about finding joy in unexpected places, and fighting against that which is meant to keep you down.
Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle | December 2021
Red Ladder local Tour, Leeds Playhouse and The Lowry Community Tour | December 2023
Written by Rosie MacPherson
Composed by Sean Ryan
Lyrics by Sean Ryan, Laurence Young and Robin Ravi
Directed by Beth Knight and Laurence Young (2021)
Remount Directed by Matt Powell
Dramaturgy by Beth Knight
Musical Director: Sean Ryan
Lighting Designer: Louise Gregory
Set and Costume Designer: Anna Robinson
Video Designer: Matt Powell
Rhian Liu (2021) and Verity Bajoria (2023) as Nadia
Robin Ravi as Abed
An Act of Care (2020)
1948: The creation of the NHS and the welfare state; a time of joy, optimism, and belief that things were going to get better.
2020: A health service at the point of breaking; demoralised and fighting for survival. What changed? And what happens next?
An Act of Care is a new punk gig theatre piece about Aneurin Bevan, and the National Health Service. From the South Wales coalfield, to American infiltrations in the boardrooms, join us on an epic journey through the past, present, and future of the NHS, as we shout from the rooftops to save what is ours.
Written by Rosie MacPherson
Music by Sean Ryan
Lyrics by Laurence Young
Director: Laurence Young
Associate Director: Beth Knight
Producer: Grace Dickson
Cast: Tomi Ogbaro, Seren Vickers, Sophie Wilkinson, Alex Wilson
An Act of Care was first performed at HOME, as part of PUSH Festival in January 2020.
Limited (In)vulnerability Project (2021)
Limited (In)vulnerability is a project to explore (in)vulnerability with young people through the medium of video games. Made by a young collective of 12 makers aged 16-21 in Greater Manchester and Lancaster/Morecambe, the games are a short anthology exploring the theme of (in)vulnerability. Limited (in)vulnerability project explores why games so often reward players for being invulnerable, and why that might not always be a good thing for those who play games. The games explore how we are conditioned to avoid those moments of vulnerability, and how that impacts on our ability to form meaningful relationships, particularly through the lens of being a young person today; how the world makes us vulnerable, and how we work to embrace or reject that.
Directed by Laurence Young
Game Designer: Nick Murray
Producer: Ali Wilson
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archipelago arts collective ltd.
Registered Company Number: 12273963