Theatre helped me rebuild my life

More than 20 years ago, Mike came to Oxford to study. Life didn’t exactly go to plan, but he is delighted now to return to the city of his youth. This is how his life in theatre began.

Actor - Maverick Theatre company (1999)

At 18, I was offered a role in Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, performed in a room above The Billesley pub in Birmingham. Aside from my Saturday job selling school uniform, this was my first paid gig. 
 
The company marketed Beautiful Thing - a romance between two teenage boys - as simply ‘a comedy about love’. The mixed audience, which included regular drinkers from downstairs, were largely unprepared for a gay play… and they loved it. 

I’d only started acting two years earlier, so being part of this powerful show - directed by the brilliant Dani Parr – was huge; not least because it helped me understand my own sexuality.

Student / drop-out - University of Oxford (1999 – 2003)

My time at Oxford was very difficult. My dad had died when I was 13, and then my mum died after my first term. I dropped out of my degree for nine months, but stayed in the city to continue acting. 

Student theatre - and the community it offered - was a lifeline. And Oxford Playhouse, whose two stages provide a regular and supportive home for student productions, was central to this.

Press Assistant - Sadler’s Wells (2003-04)

Every morning I would measure and record the column inches of our daily newspaper coverage - with a ruler. In the evenings I watched artists who exploded my understanding of what performance could be. 

After seeing Wim Vandekeybus’s company Ultima Vez, I was too excited to get the tube so I ran home instead. Working at Sadler’s Wells fuelled my curiosity about physical performance and led to my decision to train at the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris.

Co-founder/Director - Out of Chaos (2006-16)

After Lecoq, I formed a touring company with people I’d met in Oxford and Paris. Coming from five countries, we toured multilingual, playful theatre to festivals across Europe, eventually securing Arts Council funding. 

Our show ‘Unmythable’ is still touring 12 years later and my co-founder, Paul O’Mahony, still leads the company.

Co-founder/Director - Birmingham European Festival (2010-15) 

Thanks to the gift of Open Space, it was possible to stand up at a performing arts conference in Birmingham and suggest the idea of a European theatre festival. The wonderful company Stan’s Cafe immediately got behind us with huge encouragement and support. We raised money, developed a community of volunteers and hosts, and invited 50 EU-wide artists to perform 20 shows during one week in July. 

Every day, artists, volunteers and audience members would eat together, attend workshops and sit in a huge circle for Feedback Cafe. It was a precious Europe-wide family, rooted in a local community; an embrace across borders that too easily separate us.

Artistic Director & CEO - Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol (2016-22)

This role was the hardest and most rewarding of my career so far. A highlight was returning to Beautiful Thing 20 years on, this time as its director. We brought together five professional actors and 50 community singers. The choir lifted the play to another level, with gorgeous arrangements of songs such as Smells Like Teen Spirit and Dream A Little Dream. 

Partnering with The Park community centre in South Bristol, we were able to include participants who’d not attended our theatre before. Choir members quickly became part of the TFT family and when the run finished, they wanted to keep singing together. So the weekly Factory Singers were born.
 
It was a bewildering and bruising challenge to steer the organisation through Covid. I was so grateful to my colleagues, who dreamt up new ideas and inspired me to think courageously about the future. Once we’d rebuilt the theatre’s programme and financial health, I felt it was time to step away and take stock.

Artistic Director & CEO - Oxford Playhouse (2023)

It’s special to be returning to a place where theatre helped me rebuild my life. In the Playhouse team, there’s a kind and collaborative culture which feels precious. 

Theatre is such a powerful tool for fostering community, and I’m excited to help achieve this. I want the Playhouse to offer a truly welcoming home to all, where people who are different from one another can feel connected through the adventures they share. 

Mike Tweddle is Artistic Director & CEO at Oxford Playhouse.
 oxfordplayhouse.com/
@OxfordPlayhouse | @mike_twed