Dan is a carpenter.  A Geordie through and through.  Just on the mend after a heart attack. 

Katie has just arrived from London. Finally got a council house for her and the kids.  A fresh start. 

I, Daniel Blake is one of the most important stories of a generation.  A glimpse behind the headlines and the stark reality of what happens when the political system is stacked against you.  With 14.5 million* people living in poverty in the UK, this is not fiction.  It is reality. 

A touching and vital story of how people come together in the face of adversity and how sometimes creating a family to support you just isn’t enough.  The show is adapted for stage by Dave Johns who played Daniel Blake in the award winning 2016 film. 

*Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2022 Poverty Report. 

Age Guidance 14+

The show contains strong language, death and potentially triggering references to foodbanks, sex work and the benefits system.

A tiny dragon Productions and ETT co-production in association with Northern Stage, originally co-produced with Birmingham Rep and Oldham Coliseum

2021 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award-winner, Denzel Westley-Sanderson breathes fresh new life into Wilde’s sharpest and wittiest comedy: The Importance of Being Earnest.

This is a classic satire, vibrantly retold about dysfunctional families, class, gender and sexuality.

Accompanying the tour is The Black Chronicles Exhibition in a Box, a pop-up photography display, showcasing studio portraits depicting sitters of African, Caribbean and South Asian descent during the Victorian era in Britain. The display is part of Black Chronicles – The Missing Chapter, an ongoing curatorial research programme led by Autograph, focused on unearthing nineteenth century photographs of black presences in Britain’s archives.
Find out more about Autograph and The Black Chronicles

An old starship travels through space, almost at the speed of light, searching for a home billions of miles from earth.

Like their ancestors before them, the crew were born on this ship, this voyage is all they’ve ever known. And then—

A planet is spotted

In a habitable zone!

Imagine what we could do with the place

It’s a miracle

But not everyone wants to see it.

Captain Ramesh is adamant that they can’t leave— but the downdeckers are getting restless—something has to change. Will they leap into a new future, or stay stuck on this journey forever?

Vinay Patel reimagines Chekhov’s bittersweet play for 2022 and beyond, in a world premiere production directed by James Macdonald.

Strap in and if you hear “brace” then brace.

…

BRACE!

A Yard Theatre, ETT and HOME co-production, co-commissioned by The Yard Theatre and ETT

Mugabe, My Dad & Me charts the rise and fall of one of the most controversial politicians of the 20^th century through the personal story of Tonderai’s family and his relationship with his father.

Interspersing storytelling, live music from a Gwenyambira (a female mbira player) and some of Mugabe’s most unapologetic speeches, this high-voltage one man show is a blistering exploration of familial love, identity and what it means to return ‘home’.

Shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Award 2019

Winner, Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2022

Trailer Story is a travelling outdoor performance space that celebrates local creativity and forges national connections. In partnership with Northern Stage and Theatre by the Lake, Trailer Story will present weekend-long programmes of events, performances and community happenings across the UK, beginning with a residency in Newcastle city centre, with support from NE1 Ltd, and Crow Park in Keswick, with support from the National Trust. Performances will be housed in a touring truck, usually used to tour production sets around the country, but reimagined as a space for artists and audiences to meet and built with sustainability at it’s core.

Inspired by ETT’s origins as Century Theatre, who toured the UK in a pop-up space, Trailer Story performances will be housed in a truck, usually used to tour production sets around the country, but reimagined as a space for artists and audiences to meet. Designed by Jon Bausor with Tina Torbey, and Lighting Design by Natasha Chivers. Trailer Story opens in Newcastle, 30 July – 1 August, before visiting Keswick 5 – 8 August 2021, in partnership with Northern Stage and Theatre by the Lake.

The touring programme includes theatre with Nouveau Riche’s dance-theatre piece, Resonate, written and performed by Ntonga Mwanza; Lung Theatre’s Who Cares by Matt Woodhead which explores the experience of young carers; the bike-powered family comedy, How to Save a Rock, written by Conky Kampfner, Alex Rugman and Pigfoot; and Tim Crouch’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the point of view of its most notoriously abused steward in I, Malvolio.

There is comedy with the country’s best comics performing for an audience of children and their families in Comedy Club 4 Kids.

Figs in Wigs host cosmic game show, Astrology Bingo; and there is A Rain Walk, a self-guided tour accompanied recorded voices of children from across the UK and Ireland.

With music and beatboxing from Grace Savage who performs her award-winning beatbox routines and distinguished back catalogue of songs; and Testament also brings his spoken word, rap and beatbox show.

In addition, the programme offers a platform for local artists in each area to take over the space, including The BonBons Cabaret, Mam Tackles The Climate Crisis, BRASH’s Raising Shame and A case in point by What’s That Dance in Newcastle. Keswick’s local programming to be announced.

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director, and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer of ETT today said, “This programme curated by the team at ETT and our partners at Northern Stage and Theatre by the Lake offers audiences a rich selection of entertainment for all ages, from theatre and dance to comedy and spoken word. In this, its inaugural year, we hope that our touring truck will provide the opportunity for artists and audiences to reconnect and celebrate the communal act of theatre-making. We, and all the artists involved, are so excited to be back making work, touring and meeting audiences in their local community again.”