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History of Action Transport Theatre
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Founded in 1986 by Karen Simpson, Action Transport existed for many years as a successful Theatre-In-Education company. In 2001 a new team, led by Artistic Director Joe Sumsion, brought a new focus to the company, expanding the range of creative work undertaken.

The new company has committed itself to reflecting the ideas and experiences of children and young people, creating theatre which amazes, enriches and sometimes changes young lives. The company has achieved some remarkable successes, including:

• Creating a unique approach to encouraging young people to write for theatre, resulting in full scale professional productions of plays written by young people
• Commissioning excellent new plays from professional writers
• Developing a ground-breaking partnership with Vulavulani Theatre Company, Soweto , South Africa , resulting in original productions touring both countries
• Devising innovative film, carnival and writing projects for disadvantaged young people in collaboration with the Big Lottery
• Developing two excellent youth theatre groups and a range of training opportunities for young people and young theatre professionals.

The consistent feature throughout this work has been a commitment to exploring the gap between theatre for young people and theatre by young people. This artistic success has gone hand-in-hand with strategic and organisational development. Between 2001 and 2005:

• The company’s turnover tripled
• The core staff team rose from 3 to 7
• The Board has been strengthened, the governance of the company now being recognised as a model of good practice
• The company signed a twenty-five year lease on its Whitby Hall base, which now includes workshop, sound studio, offices and a fully accessible studio theatre.

Action Transport has become widely respected. The company was short-listed for an Art04 Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts and represented our sector at the Theatre 2005 conference. We are advocated as a model of good practice by, amongst others, the Independent Theatre Council, UK Trade and Investment and Arts Council England.