Mikron Theatre Company

The Mikron Theatre Company is an English touring theatre company, founded in 1972, which is notable for its tours by canal boat during the summer months, and by road in the spring and autumn.[1][2] The company believes itself to be the only theatre company in the world which tours by narrowboat.[3]

History

The company had its origins in an Edinburgh Fringe show in 1963. The name "Mikron", as well as being a Greek word meaning "small", is derived from the names of the trio who went to Edinburgh in 1963: MIKe Lucas, Sarah CameRON and RON Legge.[2] In 1972 the company performed its first waterways-themed production, and in 1975 it acquired its narrowboat, Tyseley.[4]

Mikron's archives are held at Heritage Quay, the archive collection of the University of Huddersfield. When initially deposited in 2015 the archive comprised: "29 standard boxes, 13 plastic crates, 9 odd sized boxes, 9 backdrops, 8 carrier bags, 7 LP boxes, 5 boards, 2 portfolios, 1 sign".[5]

Activities

The company is based in the town of Marsden, in West Yorkshire, although it spends the summer touring throughout the UK canal network.[2][4][6] It claims to be "the UK's most prolific theatre company", performing in over 130 venues each year, and by the end of 2024 estimates that it will have boated for 35,686 hours and travelled 567,000 miles (912,000 km) by road.[2]

We have performed at allotments, care homes, community centres, dry docks, festivals, lifeboat stations, pubs, rallies, restaurants, village halls, Youth Hostels. We’ve even performed inside a tunnel, in the bows of a docked boat, for naturist audiences, in people’s very own front rooms and even the odd theatre.

— From Mikron's website in 2024[2]

The company is a registered charity and describes its activities as "Theatre anywhere for everyone by canal, river and road".

In 2017 the company offered 151 performances of its two commissioned plays, to a total audience of 14,668 made up of audience sizes from 14 to 250 but averaging 97, at 81% average occupancy and with 43 shows sold out, in 83 local authority areas.[7]

On 17 March 2020 the company announced that its 2020 tour, due to start on 18 April 2020,[8] was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.[9] They had started to rehearse Atalanta Forever but not A Dog's Tale.[10] Both productions were first performed in June 2021, out of doors, with a touring programme of outside venues booked for the rest of the season.[11]

Productions

In 2015 Mikron toured two shows: Raising Agents, written by Maeve Larkin and with music by O'Hooley & Tidow, which celebrated the centenary of the Women's Institute,[12] and One of Each written by Deborah McAndrew, about fish and chips and much else.[13]

Mikron's 2016 tour featured Canary Girls by Laurence Peacock, about 1914 munitions factory workers (who were known as Canary Girls because their skin turned yellow from working with toxic substances),[14][15] and PURE by Richard Vergette, about the chocolate industry now and in the past.[16]

In 2017 Mikron performed In At The Deep End about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) by Laurence Peacock (writer of Canary Girls)[17] and Best Foot Forward about the Youth Hostels Association, by Maeve Larkin (writer of Raising Agents).[18] Several performances took place in RNLI stations and YHA hostels respectively.

In 2018 Mikron performed Get Well Soon about the NHS in its 70th year, by Ged Cooper, and Revolting Women about suffrage to commemorate the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 by Vashti Maclachlan (writer of Revolting Women).[19][20] Maclachlan has previously acted in the company and directed their 2009 production Tales of the Thames, which was written by her husband Richard Povall.[21]

In 2019 the company presented Redcoats, a play about Butlin's holiday camps, by Nick Ahad and All Hands on Deck about the Wrens by Vashti MacLachlan.[22][23] Their 9 August performance of Redcoats at the Toad Gin Distillery supported by British Naturism and Naturism Oxford is believed to be "the first professional theatre performance for a naturist audience, ever, in the UK.[24][25] Their 31 August performance of All Hands on Deck took place in Liverpool's Western Approaches Museum, the setting for a scene in the play.

For 2020 the company commissioned A Dog's Tale by Poppy Holman about pedigree dogs and Crufts,[26] and Atalanta Forever by Amanda Whittington about women's football and the short-lived Huddersfield Atalanta Ladies' Football Club,[27][28][29] but the tour was cancelled.[9] Both shows were performed in 2021, at outdoor venues only, with appropriate precautions to protect audience and cast from COVID-19.[11][30]

In 2022 the company revived the 2015 show, Raising Agents,[31] and commissioned a new play, Red Sky at Night, written by Lindsay Rodden, about weather forecasting.[32][33]

The company's 2023 productions were Twitchers by Poppy Holman (writer of A Dog's Tale), about the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB),[34] and A Force to be Reckoned With by Amanda Whittington (writer of Atalanta Forever), about women police officers.[35] The two playwrights wrote Mikron's 2020 productions.[36]

The shows for 2024 were Common Ground by Poppy Holman (writer of A Dog's Tale and Twitchers), about rights of access to land, including the Mass trespass of Kinder Scout,[37][38] and Jennie Lee by Lindsay Rodden (writer of Red Sky at Night), about the politician Jennnie Lee.[39][40]

For 2025, Mikron have commissioned Operation Beach Hut by Harvey Badger, featuring a "Best beach hut competition" in the fictional resort of Fiddling-On-Sea[41] and Hush Hush! by Lucie Raine, about World War II intelligence work at Bletchley Park.[42]

Narrowboat Tyseley

The company's narrowboat Tyseley was built in 1936 for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company. She was built at Northwich by W.J.Yarwood & Sons Ltd. She is 71 ft 10 in (21.89 metres) long and 6 ft 11 in (2.11 metres) wide. She is registered with National Historic Ships UK.[3][43]

Tyseley is a district of Birmingham near the Grand Union Canal.

References

  1. ^ Conway, Robert (1988). British Alternative Theatre Directory. J. Offord. p. 76. ISBN 9780951228319. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Who What Where". Mikron Theatre. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Tyseley". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b "History". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. ^ McNamara, Marianne; Toon, Pete, eds. (2022). 50 Years of Mikron. Mikron Theatre Company.
  6. ^ "Contact Us". Mikron Theatre Company. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. ^ Mikron Theatre Company. 2018 Programme. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Spring Tour Brochure 2020" (PDF). Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Public Statement – Coronavirus". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  10. ^ Gardner, Lynn (22 May 2020). "The Empty Space: What should have opened this week – A Dog's Tale on tour with Mikron Theatre". The Stage. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Tour Dates". mikron.org.uk. Mikron Theatre Company. 2021. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Raising Agents". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  13. ^ Brennan, Clare (17 May 2015). "One of Each review – the joys of fish and chips explored". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Canary Girls". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Review: Canary Girls, Mikron Theatre Company, Clements Hall, York, and on tour until October 22". The Press, York. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  16. ^ "PURE". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. ^ "In At The Deep End". Mikron Theatre Co. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Best Foot Forward". Mikron Theatre Co. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  19. ^ 2017 Programme. Mikron Theatre Company. pp. 5, 16.
  20. ^ "Shows". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Tales of the Thames: Mikron Theatre Company". The Oxford Times. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  22. ^ 2018 Programme. Mikron Theatre Company. p. 5.
  23. ^ "Our shows". Mikron Theatre Company. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Want to watch a play naked? UK first as Mikron Theatre begins Oxford run at Toad Distillery in South Park". Ox in a Box. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  25. ^ "Redcoats - Toad Gin Distillery - British Naturism Event". Mikron. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  26. ^ "A Dog's Tale". Shows. Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Atalanta Forever". Shows. Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  28. ^ 2019 Programme. Mikron Theatre Company. p. 16.
  29. ^ Brennan, Patrick. "Huddersfield Atalanta Ladies'FC". Donmouth. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  30. ^ Bridge, Gemma (7 June 2021). "A Dog's Tale – Mikron Theatre Company". Leeds Living. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  31. ^ "Raising Agents". www.mikron.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Red Sky at Night". www.mikron.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  33. ^ "Shows". Mikron Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  34. ^ "Twitchers". Mikron. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  35. ^ "A Force to be Reckoned With". Mikron. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  36. ^ "2023 Shows". Friends of Mikron Newsletter. Winter 2022.
  37. ^ "Common Ground". Mikron Theatre. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  38. ^ Pattison, Julia (21 May 2024). "Common Ground". Yorkshire Times. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  39. ^ "Jennie Lee". Mikron Theatre. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  40. ^ Clapp, Susannah (18 August 2024). "The week in theatre: Jennie Lee; Fiddler on the Roof; Antony and Cleopatra – review". The Observer. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  41. ^ "Operation Beach Hut". Mikron Theatre. 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  42. ^ "Hush Hush!". Mikron Theatre. 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  43. ^ "Tyseley". National Register of Historic Ships. National Historic Ships. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2015.

Further reading