Friday 18 January 2013

The Future of Belt Up Theatre


Belt Up Theatre has always been about three things, the shows, the audience and the people.  We have loved creating the shows; we’ve loved performing to the audience and loved working with the people we’ve had the chance to work with. The audiences have been incredibly loyal and supportive – without this support we would not have been able to do what we’ve done. For that, we can only say thank you.
Running a theatre company comes with many challenges. Financial ones. Artistic ones. Personal ones. It’s been an absolute delight and occasionally an absolute nightmare. It has given us the chance to create the shows we want to make, to meet wonderful people and, more recently, to see some incredible parts of the world.


In late 2012 we met to discuss the future of the company, something that has been uncertain for some time. We’ve never planned ahead – we’ve always focused on the work we are making and the work we want to do next. What we’ve decided is that there is still a lot more that we want to do but we aren’t certain when we’ll do these things. Essentially we have decided that there will be a future for Belt Up but it will be exactly that, a future. For the time being we’re going to be very quiet. There are no on-going shows and no shows in the pipeline. You won’t see Belt Up in Edinburgh, York, London or anywhere around the world in the near future. But we will return when the time is right.

So many people have worked with us through the highs and lows of the last five years. We won’t try and list them here but they know who they are and we hope they know how grateful we are for their help in making Belt Up what it has become. Thank you all.
We’re obviously still going to be around as individuals, making our shows and developing our own projects. We’ll keep you up to date on Twitter and Facebook of what we’re all up to. Here’s how to follow us as individuals:

Dominic Allen
Twitter: @domjallen
Email: dominic@beltuptheatre.com

Jethro Compton
Twitter: @JethroCompton
Email: jethro@jethrocomptonltd.co.uk

Jamie Wilkes
Twitter: @JamesWilkes
Email: james@beltuptheatre.com

Alex Wright
Twitter: @AlexanderGerald
Email: alexander@theflanagancollective.co.uk

Also, here’s Joe Hufton (@JoeHufton) our Associate Artist and Serena Manteghi (@SerenaManteghi) who’s our longest serving ensemble member. Do look out for them as they’ll have plenty of great projects over the next few months that will be well worth watching.

We are, as ever and always, so very grateful for the times we have had and the work we have made. Our genuine thanks to all who have made the last five years quite so special. We looking forward to keeping in touch and seeing where the future leads.

Much Love,

Dom, Jethro, Jamie & Alex