A youth theatre company whose home is the historic boat museum on Ellesmere Port’s waterfront is putting the town on the national stage.

Founded in 2010 and now teamed up with Chalice Productions just off the town’s high street, The Boaty Theatre Company is looking forward having been selected to take part in the National Theatre Connections Festival 2018.

A delighted artistic director Laura J Harris said: “Being selected to take part in the National Theatre Connections Festival is an incredible achievement and a massive honour that will bring great opportunities both directly to the young people involved and to the wider area of the town besides.

“It will place Ellesmere Port securely on the map in terms of the creative and performing arts industry at a national level.”

Ellesmere Port's Chalice artistic director Laura Harris enters into the spirit. Pic credit Terasa Newton.
Ellesmere Port's Chalice artistic director Laura Harris

The Boaty was originally established in 2010. Many of the young people who were among the founding members have since graduated to become part of the Chalice Productions repertory company appearing in numerous productions, seasons and live performance events in both traditional theatres and ‘some wild and wonderful spaces’ according to Laura.

She explains: “As an acknowledgement of our excellence of practice, our youth theatre company have been selected to work with the National Theatre as part of their nationwide Connections Festival 2018.

“National Theatre Connections is one of the UK’s largest celebrations of youth theatre. Plays are commissioned for and about young people from some of the best contemporary playwrights and are performed all over the UK and Ireland.

“The Boaty are delighted to be staging the brand new, original LGBT+ Youth stage play Dungeness by playwright Chris Thompson. But we need people’s help and support.”

During February next year the group, age 13 to 19, will be performing at a number of venues across Ellesmere Port and Chester including performances at the National Waterways Museum on South Pier Road on February 23 and 24.

The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port hosted its 40th annual Easter Gathering of colourful canal boats. Pic: David Norbury
The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port

In March they will transfer to The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield where they will perform alongside nine other companies, each presenting a different original youth play, to celebrate the Northern leg of the festival.

And that’s where people come in, says Laura. “We need to raise as much as we can to fund our production run and tour of Dungeness.

“We need to raise enough money to ensure that we are able to deliver the outstanding quality and level of production we have in mind.

“We really don’t want any member of our young cast and crew, or their families, to struggle financially during this exciting endeavour.

“Please help us to lift that burden from their shoulders, enabling all of us to deliver the greatest performance run tour of Dungeness possible in Ellesmere Port, Chester, Sheffield and hopefully the National Theatre in London.”

Costs will involve all aspects of production including costuming, equipment, the set, musical licensing, expenses for specialised performance and vocal tuition as well as physically moving the young cast to each venue and accommodation.

The group can be contacted on email at theboatytheatreco@gmail.com or by phone on 07397154490 and 0151 355 5017.