Pulling strings to bring theatre to a younger generation
THEATRE MAKER Dan Mallaghan strongly believes the arts should be accessible to all, especially children. He is keen that barriers which make theatre inaccessible should be banished where possible.
To prove his point, his latest work
will premiere in small community centres in Dewsbury and Batley during half term, before going on tour nationally next year.
Dan, 38, is the director of a group of artists, performers and musicians from West Yorkshire called 154 Collective. With an office in the Live Art Bistro in Leeds, they are a theatre company and so much more. He says the way in which
was created reflects precisely how they like to work and develop ideas and literally tell good stories, the oldest form of entertainment on Earth. “It is certainly important to us to bring professional theatre into the heart of communities. We try to make work that is co-authored with people who hopefully will then come to see the finished work, recognise their contribution and take pride in that – regardless if it is shown in a real theatre or community space,” says father-ofthree Dan. “We create all of our projects in collaboration with other artists, with venues and arts organisations, and most crucially with audiences as well.”
This is fitting, as the inspiration for the play was the idea of an eight-yearold girl attending a library workshop in Dewsbury. From there, the concept of a dad and daughter telling stories around the campfire emerged.
The 154 Collective make extraordinary theatre, often performing in non-traditional places, and working with artists from around the world as part of their team. This time, they are bringing a traditional form of puppetry bang up to date in their latest production, with a beautiful hand-carved Marionette puppet, who is Rabbit Girl.
Adopted Yorkshireman Dan hails originally from Bristol, but came to university here 20 years ago and now lives in Saltaire with wife Lisa, who works as a producer with Mind the Gap Theatre. The 154 Collective have recently teamed up with Creative Scene, an Arts Council England funded project which works to bring culture to the Dewsbury, Batley and Spen areas, which are classed as areas where people have a low uptake in the arts.
“Creative Scene have spent considerable time cultivating and successfully building theatre audiences in non-traditional theatre spaces throughout Kirklees,” says Dan. “I have taken my own family to a number of their shows in spaces as varied as a rugby club social room, a community centre and a library. They also do plays in pubs and reach people who might not normally see theatre. We wanted to make a new show that focused on traditional fables and folklore from around the world, celebrating the richness of these tales and how stories were, and still are used to explain the world around us.”
is 154 Collective’s third family production and Dan says: “We had never worked with a Marionette puppet before, and the idea actually came about by chance. We had already devised the concept for the show and knew we wanted a puppet, but couldn’t really work out how best to do it. I was at Shipley Arts Festival with my family and we saw a Marionette show called
“It was utterly mesmerising and a form of puppetry that had slipped from my mind completely. Instantly I knew this was perfect. String puppetry generally is not seen so much nowadays, but the skill of the puppeteers and working with strings is incredible. Our new show will make you laugh, and smile and hopefully want to hug your loved ones too.”
is on this week until Saturday. More details from: www. creativescene.org.uk