Belt Up Theatre was a British

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

based in the north of England. Company directors Dominic J Allen, Jethro Compton, James Wilkes and Alexander Wright met whilst attending the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

. The foursome set up the company in 2008 in the city of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The short-lived company entered protracted hiatus in January 2013.

Productions and major awards

*In April 2008, Belt Up Theatre premiered at the

National Student Drama Festival The UK based National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) was founded in 1956 with the purpose of creating new art, new artists and new communities. It also runs a charity aimed at empowering young artists. The NSDF is targeted towards people age ...

, presenting Kafka's ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

'', which attracted high acclaim and several awards. *Belt Up Theatre made the first of their many visits to the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in August 2008, with a production of "The Red Room". "Its ambition invited your respect - and the talent was there to cement it." Shows featured in "The Red Room" were ''The Tartuffe'', ''Volpone'', ''The Women of Troy'', ''The Park Keeper'' and others which collectively won the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

Award 2008 for the best work on the Fringe. It also won the

ThreeWeeks ''ThreeWeeks'' is a magazine that covers the Edinburgh Festivals in August. It has covered the Edinburgh Festival since 1996 . It also covered the Brighton Festival from 2006 to 2010, but withdrew due to lack of financial support. Education ...

Editor's Award 2008 *At the 2009 Edinburgh fringe, Belt Up Theatre staged a well-reviewed production of Kafka's ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and p ...

'' as well as re-staging 'The Tartuffe' in 'The Squat'. *The Southwark Playhouse in November 2009 staged a double bill of ''The Trial'' and James Wilkes' ''The Tartuffe''. *May 2010 saw a re-staging at the

York Theatre Royal York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offe ...

of ''The Tartuffe'', described by Charles Hutchinson as "young Monty Python does Moliere". *At the Edinburgh Festival fringe in August 2010, Belt Up staged a set of eight productions in the C Soco venue, all original compositions or adaptations, called collectively "The House Above". The plays were ''Metamorphosis'', Lorca is Dead, Odyssey, ''Atrium'', ''Antigone'', ''Quasimodo'', '' The Boy James'' and ''Octavia''. Three of the plays were transferred to the Southwark Playhouse the following November. *Following its debut in Edinburgh, '' The Boy James'' was revived in the Southwark Playhouse in January 2011, then again at The Goldsmith in Southwark from January to February 2012, and became the company's first production to tour internationally, at the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

in March 2012 alongside 'Outland'. *The old vault of

Clerkenwell Prison Clerkenwell (old) Prison, also known as the Clerkenwell House of Detention or Middlesex House of Detention was a prison in Clerkenwell, London, opened in 1847 and demolished in 1890. It held prisoners awaiting trial. It stood on Bowling Green ...

was the location for Belt Up Theatre's site specific production of Shakespeare's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' in April–May 2011.Londonist Review: Macbeth at Clerkenwell House of Detention
/ref> and again in 2012. *Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011 showed Belt Up Theatre's "The Penthouse" which featured a return of ''The Boy James'', ''Outland'', ''Twenty Minutes to Nine'

*Belt Up Theatre will present two showings of ''Outland'' in a University Women's Club in Mayfai

in July 2012. *Belt Up Theatre announced their Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012 season as the return of '' The Boy James'' and '' Outland (play), Outland'' as well as a world premiere of ''

A Little Princess ''A Little Princess'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905. It is an expanded version of the short story "Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's", which was serialized in ''St. Nicholas Ma ...

'', an adaptation of

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

's children's fiction novel. These will be showing at new location C nova.

Other awards

NSDF The UK based National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) was founded in 1956 with the purpose of creating new art, new artists and new communities. It also runs a charity aimed at empowering young artists. The NSDF is targeted towards people age ...

FestGoer's Award for ''

'' NSDF Buzz Goodbody Award for best Director for Alexander Wright for ''Metamorphosis'' NSDF Spotlight Award for Best Actor for James Wilkes as Gregor Samsa in ''Metamorphosis'' NSDF Judges' Award for Best Lighting Design for Jethro Compton for ''Metamorphosis'' NSDF Judges' Award for Best Ensemble for ''Metamorphosis''

Residency at York Theatre Royal

In autumn 2009, Belt Up Theatre were announced as a resident company at the

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in the United Kingdom