Ones To Watch: Breach Theatre

In Ones To Watch, we talk to the theatre companies on the brink of something big – the companies you might not have heard of yet, but you will.

Breach Theatre, formed by three graduates of the University of Warwick, made waves last year with The Beanfield, a multimedia show exploring national heritage and state violence through a staged reconstruction of the Battle of the Beanfield. Described as “Theatrically ambitious and boldly political” by The Guardian, the company was awarded the Total Theatre Award for an Emerging Artist or Company at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe. The Beanfield was featured at the 2016 National Student Drama Festival, and has been published by Oberon Books.

TB: Is the UK Theatre Industry still London-centric? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being based in London?
BB: I think UK theatre is London-centric, to a degree. On the other hand, outside of London living costs are lower, networks tend to be smaller so opportunities easier to come by, and making work in areas of “low engagement” to quote the Arts Council-ese is a point in your favour when it comes to funding applications.

TB: What’s your advice for emerging theatremakers? Say if you were a graduate, with an idea for a show and potential collaborators – where next?
BB: I don’t think I’m in a great position to advise being very much “emerging” myself, but I think the most important thing is to watch as much theatre as you can – that’s half the job. Probably more than half. In terms of “where next?”, I think the work itself always has to come first – there’s no point going through the admin of registering a company, setting up a website, contacting venues and organisations, etc., until you have something to show.

There are occasionally opportunities to support work in development – Tank started out on a Developing Ideas Residency at the Lyric Hammersmith, although that was Ideastap-funded so it may have stopped now – but realistically I think graduates will make their first show for free, then try to get it seen and programmed.