Hull Truck Theatre Annouce Grow Season 2023: Be Our Guest Residencies

05 May 2023 | Press Release

Jim Norris, Anastasiia Manina, Laura Elsworthy & Morgan Sproxton will each spend a week in residence at the theatre developing their work to later share with audiences in the Godber Studio on Friday 14 July.

Hull Truck Theatre received 30+ applications for the residency, which was open to local artists residing or originating from Hull or the East Riding of Yorkshire. The bursary was made available to artists who were specifically developing contemporary new work.

In addition to sharing their new work with audiences, the selected artists will have access to Hull Truck Theatre’s artistic, production, communications and technical departments for support and mentoring to help develop their knowledge across all areas.

Tom Saunders, Associate Director at Hull Truck Theatre said:

“We can’t wait to welcome these wonderful artists into our building and spend the week being part of their projects. Part of our artist development strategy going forward is to create more opportunities for audiences to see new work and to be part of each piece’s journey to the stage. Our Grow Artist Development programme has supported artists like Lydia Marchant to advance a show like ‘Mumsy’, from paper to the recent production seen on the main stage of Hull Truck Theatre. Would hope that our Be Our Guest residency will develop similar future successes.

“We want to create excitement for our audiences, giving them the ability to access and feedback to new work and experience the different stages of development. The sharing event at the end of this residency is going to be a brilliant mix of exciting new work – with main stage aspirations – and as a bonus, each ticket price includes a pint and a portion of chips. It’s set to be a lovely night.”

Jim Norris has lived and worked in Hull his whole life and uses his home city and the people he has met as inspiration to tell relatable stories with a local focus. He works in the public sector and wants to use this opportunity to keep learning and develop his writing practice. Jim recently worked on the Middle Child Writer’s Group and was mentored by playwright Tom Wells.

Jim will develop ‘No Scrap No Chips’ (working title), where brothers John and Colin are Rag and Bone men, collecting scrap using a horse and cart. All John wants is his brother by his side, the open road and maybe just maybe a grandfather clock. Colin wants out, a new world awaits. He just needs his brothers blessing, Grandfather clock optional. 

Jim Norris, said:

“This opportunity means so much to me, it will give me an amazing insight into how the theatre works, what drives it and what goes into making a play come to life. I hope to tell a story that opens a window for the audience into a traditional trade that fights on at its own pace in a world that gets faster and faster. Having the support of Hull Truck Theatre in developing this idea will be fundamental in taking this idea and bringing it life.”

Anastasiia Manina is a Ukrainian playwright. In 2016 she was a part of the Danish-Ukrainian project C: NTACT. Two of her plays were staged in Ukraine. One was shortlisted by Ukrainian Modern Drama Week. In 2022 Anastasiia became one of the first Ukrainians in the UK and gave an impactful speech at the Hull City Council. 

Anastasiia will develop ‘Ask Stepan’ (working title), a verbatim piece, comprising of stories from Ukrainian women who came to Hull in 2022. The story will follow One Ukrainian woman and her bicycle Stepan. The bicycle is named after a fighter for Ukrainian independence Stepan Bandera. 

Anastasiia Manina, said:

“I am excited about the opportunity of staging the play, as it can help me to proceed further with other stories no matter how emotionally hard it can be. Furthermore, I strongly believe that Ukrainian voices are to be heard worldwide, especially in the UK which gave Ukrainians such tremendous support. I want to share modern stories about how strong, brave, and simultaneously tender women can be.”

Laura Elsworthy is an actor from Hull who has worked in theatre, TV and film for the last 12 years. Her theatre work includes; RSC, Almeida, Royal Exchange Manchester, Liverpool Everyman and Hull Truck Theatre. She started pole dancing in July 2022.

Morgan Sproxton is a playwright from Hull. She has written for many different producing companies and theatres including Silent Uproar, Mind The Gap, Hull Truck Theatre and Birmingham Rep. She is particularly interested in writing about the authentic experience of working-class women. 

Laura and Morgan will develop ‘Good Girl’ (working title), an experimental piece of theatre created to challenge audiences’ perceptions of pole dancing and also invoke discussion about what makes a working-class woman and particularly, a good one.

Laura Elsworthy and Morgan Sproxton, said:

"Both our careers began, and have been nurtured, at Hull Truck Theatre. We are delighted to have been given this opportunity to grow our practice and try something very different in such a supportive environment."

Tickets for Be Our Guest sharing are now on sale for £10 and include exclusive access to the sharing, a pint and chips. Each performance is around 30 minutes long.