Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at

Dean Clough Mill Dean Clough in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, is a group of large factory buildings built in the 1840s–60s for Francis Crossley, Crossley's Carpets, becoming one of the world's largest carpet facto ...

in Halifax,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was founded by Barrie Rutter, who was its artistic director until resigning in 2018, followed by Conrad Nelson who was interim for one year and then

Laurie Sansom Laurie Sansom (born 1972) is a British theatre director. He is currently the Artistic Director of Halifax-based theatre company Northern Broadsides. Early life and education Sansom grew up in East Peckham, near Tonbridge, Kent. He attended ...

. The company performs in Halifax and on tour, a mix of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, new writing and classic works all performed in a characteristic Northern Voice. Barrie Rutter described the company's style as "Northern voices, doing classical work in non-velvet spaces". In 2012 the ‘Northern Broadsides – 20 years' exhibition opened, celebrating the work of the company through the production photography of Nobby Clark who has worked with Northern Broadsides since its beginnings in 1992. The exhibition ran in Dean Clough's Crossley gallery from 26 May till 16 September.Northern Broadsides – 20 years – photography by Nobby Clark
In July 2017 Rutter announced that he would step down from the post of artistic director in April 2018 after frustration at what he saw as inadequate

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

funding for the company. His final production with the company was ''The Captive Queen'', an adaptation of

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

's '' Aureng-zebe'', at the

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of the Shakespeare's Globe complex, along with the recreated Globe Theatre on Bankside in Southwark, London. Built by making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor English theatre, ...

in February and March 2018; as well as directing, he played the part of the emperor. Conrad Nelson resigned as artistic director with effect from 31 March 2019, to be replaced by

. Kay Packwood then became the new executive director. The company's 2020 tour of

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

's '' Quality Street'' was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after performances at four venues including The Viaduct, Halifax, and

The Lowry Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex opened ...

, Salford. The production toured again, with a new cast, in 2023.

References

External links

Northern Broadsides website

Theatre companies in England Culture in Halifax, West Yorkshire {{UK-theat-stub