Looking Back - Looking Forward
How is it nearly July already! The past six months have been full...
Not in the breathless, head-down way that can sometimes characterise a busy season but full in a way that has felt meaningful, connected and, at moments, genuinely moving.
We wanted to take a moment to gather it all together:
What’s Been Happening
Future Cargo
Future Cargo reached its conclusion. After months of international travel, REQUARDT&ROSENBERG's extraordinary outdoor piece completed its concept tour across Europe, culminating in Bulgaria. Staged in parks, town squares and places where communities rarely encounter this kind of work, it demonstrated something we believe in deeply: that ambitious performance belongs everywhere, not just in dedicated venues. There has been enormous learning on all sides artistically, logistically and collaboratively, and we're already thinking about what this model opens up next.
Ensemble 84
Ensemble 84 opened its home. In Horden, a former Catholic church became The Playhouse a permanent space for making and sharing work in the heart of a community that has had too much taken from it over the years. Sir Ian McKellen joined us to open it. Hamlet sold out its premiere. And Pits, People and Players rooted in the mining heritage and lived experience of the people there has now taken to the stage. Two years ago, Ensemble 84 was an idea within a City of Culture bid. The Guardian now calls them one of the most exciting theatre companies in the UK.
Fields of Tender
Fields of Tender completed its UK journey. Dalija Aćin Thelander's immersive work for babies and young children one of the most thoughtful and distinctive pieces in early years performance travelled from Bath to London to Ashford, reaching new families and carers at each stop. We're proud to have produced the first UK tour of this work and to champion international exchange at a time when it is increasingly under pressure.
A residency at Great Ormond Street. One of the quieter moments of the season, but one that stayed with us. Bringing artists and health practitioners together to explore how movement can create connection and care in clinical settings — with early years patients and their families felt like a reminder of why this work matters beyond stages and festivals.
Kochi Biennale and Caravan Assembly
We were in India, for the Kochi Biennale and then Brighton for Caravan Assembly reconnecting with artists, programmers and international festivals, and having some of the most honest conversations we've had in a while about the state of touring, creative risk and what the future of the sector might hold.
And through it all: strategy work, placemaking conversations, sector publications, City of Culture bids, and the ongoing, unglamorous but vital work of building relationships that hold things together over time.
It has been a good season. We're proud of it.
More soon on what the next 6 months brings….
Sud, Lia and Giulia x
Third Version Creative
