Producing

Our venues have established themselves over many years as some of the leading receiving theatres in the country, deemed by promoters and producers of touring work of all genres as ‘must visit’ tour dates. Whilst we remain very proud of this achievement and the wide-ranging portfolio of work that regularly tours to Norwich Theatre’s venues, over recent years we have begun an exciting journey of developing our artistic strategy in a way that sees us fill a profound gap in our county’s cultural ecology by playing a new and very proactive role in the origination and co-origination of performing arts work.

Norwich is unique in being one of the few cities in the country without either a producing theatre or subsidised venues at the mid or large-scale. However, we know that our city provides a unique environment where creativity flourishes, future talent is developed and audiences are willing to take risks on new work made locally.

As we move forward, our commitment to origination and co-origination remains fervent. Over the coming years we will work to develop a sustainable mixed model of received and presented work at all scales, supporting Norwich’s identity as a creative force and developing a healthier and more sustainable theatre-making ecology which sees creative talent developed, retained and attracted to our city and county by the opportunities we create.

Recent creative projects have included the sell-out tour of Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana (UK Tour), Peter Brook’s Tragédie de Carmen (Buxton International Festival); The Land of Might Have Been (Buxton International Festival); Carlos Acosta’s On Before (International Tour); High Performance Live (UK tour); Spy Movie: The Play! (UK Tour); Joe Tracini Needs Help (which grew into the award-winning documentary Me & the Voice in my Head); in addition to our annual self-produced pantomime, one of only a handful of independently produced large-scale pantos in the UK, reaching audiences of more than 50,000 each year. We also co-commissioned Laura Horton’s Lynn Faces alongside Theatre Royal Plymouth and New Diorama Theatre. Current and future plans include a 2025/26 tour of Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana; Spy Movie: The Play! at Edinburgh Fringe and on tour; Joe Tracini: Ten Things I Hate About Me at Edinburgh Fringe; Trouble in Tahiti and La voix humaine with Buxton International Festival; and The Nimmo Twins.

Over recent years, Norwich Theatre has established itself nationally as an important supporter and developer of new musicals at the mid-scale through a commitment to early stage investment in bold new work that both amplifies different voices and pushes the boundaries of the art form. This began with our supporting the world premiere of SIX at Norwich Playhouse in 2018, which has subsequently become an international phenomenon, and the burgeoning list of new musicals we have since supported and platformed includes Drew Gasparini’s We Aren’t Kids Anymore; Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist; Police Cops The Musical; My Son’s a Queer (But what can you do?); The Highway Man; Come Dine with Me The Musical; I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical; Silence! The Musical. We are a member of REWRITES, a partnership programme led by The Lowry, Birmingham Hippodrome, MAST Mayflower Studios and Norwich Theatre, which showcases new musicals at the start of their journey to the stage.