With the leaves starting to fall outside and the winter coat making a return from the back of the wardrobe we thought we’d reflect on what has so far been a challenging, but rewarding year for troublehouse.

The start of the year saw us work in partnership with ‘The Octagon Theatre’ and ‘Bolton At Home’ social housing to deliver a production in collaboration with ‘The Children’s Society’ and ‘Missing People’ charities on the subject of child disappearances and grooming. We moved into a derelict council house in Bolton and for 2 months that was our home whilst we rehearsed the debut production of ‘Remains’ by Alison Carr. With extra dates added due to demand and a sell out run to finish talks are now under way with further venues about the possibility of a tour.

The start of summer had Rick back in Lancashire working with The Preston Young Actors once more as they toured Arthur Miller’s classic drama ‘The Crucible’ to Penwortham, Clitheroe and Leyland. The success of the company’s debut production ‘Jane Eyre’ in 2016 and an increased company from 12 to 18 cast members meant that Rick definitely had his hands full working the students of Runshaw College! The show received a fantastic reception along the tour with questions now being asked as to what next summer will bring…

2017 has also seen Heather begun to stretch her legs as a director. Earlier in the year she was invited by ADP to work on a new script by local author Ian Winterton. With only 48hrs to work on Ian’s new piece of writing, the cast and creative team received great praise from the audience and has since led to Heather becoming an associated director with Manchester ADP. This week also sees Heather’s latest production: ‘Purge’ by Hannah Ellis from ‘Play With Fire’ productions open at 53two theatre.

With a couple of production ideas being discussed and funding applications in the pipeline, the rest of 2017 will likely see us wrapped up indoors in front of laptops and cups of tea! Thank you to everyone that has supported us throughout a really progressive year for troublehouse, we’re looking forward to announcing what we have in store next!