Show of Strength Theatre Company
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Show of Strength logo
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| Formation | 1986 |
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| Type | Theatre Company |
| Purpose | New writing, lost plays |
| Headquarters | 74 Chessel Street, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 3DN |
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Region served
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Bristol, South West England |
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Official language
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English |
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Artistic Director
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Sheila Hannon |
| Website | Show of Strength |
Show of Strength Theatre Company is a Bristol based theatre company which has produced new and forgotten works since 1986 in a range of venues in Bristol and the South West. The company is funded by Arts Council England and Bristol City Council but also relies on individual and corporate sponsorship. They have produced over 60 plays and established several new performance venues including the Showboat pub (Horfield), the Hen and Chicken pub (Bedminster), Quakers Friars (Broadmead), the Tobacco Factory (Southville) and Paintworks (Arnos Vale). The company has received many awards for its work, including the London Weekend Television Plays on Stage award and the Guinness/Royal National Theatre Pub Theatre Award. As well as plays Show of Strength have produced numerous play readings and writing workshops. Although based in Bristol the work of the company has received regular attention from the UK national press.
Coordinates: 51°26′17″N 2°36′34″W / 51.43819°N 2.60932°W
Sheila Hannon and Nick Thomas co-founded the company in Bristol in 1986, and it began as a two-handed company performing in small touring venues. In 1989 the company moved into an upstairs reception room above the Hen and Chicken pub in Bedminster. In the succeeding years they produced five seasons of work building regular and loyal audiences. Their work received growing attention, which was rewarded in 1993 with the LWT Plays on Stage award for the premiere production of A Busy Day, a lost play by the Georgian writer Fanny Burney, which later transferred to the West End. In 1994 they lost the use of that venue, but found a new home in part of the grade I listed building Quakers Friars in Broadmead where in the succeeding three years they produced new and lost work by writers ranging from Peter Nichols (Blue Murder) to Dion Boucicault (How She Loves Him). In 1996 they co-produced The Substance of Fire (Jon Robin Baitz) with the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. In 1997 they lost the use of Quakers Friars and co-produced four plays with Bristol Old Vic, which were also performed at the The Talbot Inn, Mells in Somerset. The European premiere of Australian playwright Nick Enright's Good Works won the Guinness/Royal National Theatre Pub Theatre Award.
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