Cheap Seats

Cheap Seats are an acclaimed and award-winning theatre company based in Manchester, established in 2007 by Alistair McDowall, Lucy Oliver-Harrison and Clive Judd. We place our audiences at the heart of everything we do. Cheap Seats is a new writing company, constantly searching for new, strong stories and characters to bring to our audiences, and new means by which to tell these stories. To develop this process, we have worked in a wide range of spaces, with a wide range of fellow artists and practitioners, to draw a wide range of different audiences to our shows. As a northern theatre company, it's important to us to keep working to attract people who wouldn't normally come to the theatre, and make sure they come again. We are constantly exploring the links between audience and performer, and creating new stories to explore the relationship between the inhibited observer watching the unihibited performer. We are always searching for new audiences, and new ways to engage with them, and so strive to stage shows in all kinds of venues, from traditional theatre spaces to your garage (if you'll have us). We pride ourselves on being approachable and open to our audiences, who are our most important collaborators. We have produced work at The Royal Exchange Theatre, The Contact Theatre, Library Theatre (Manchester), as well as The Young Vic in London, The English Theatre of Bruges, and several theatre festivals.