Welcome to Worklight Theatre!
We create innovative new theatre which explores our rapidly changing world – shows where the personal meets the political, and heads and hearts collide.
Shows
IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!
Tour dates Based on a true story of a family caught up in the 90s recession, It’s the Economy, Stupid! reveals the heart, humour and humanity behind economics. Using paper…
FANBOY
Tour Dates Joe has always been a nerd. In his teens, he hid it. In his 20s, he owned it. Now, in his 30s, he’s started to sense something: a…
How To Start A Riot
“I wanted to know why people I’d never met were riotingin places I’d never been to…” Three performers use text, torchlight and crowd psychology to unpick the presumed causes of…
I Think I’m a Feminist
“If you all believe in equality between men and women, why aren’t you all feminists?” What is the male role in gender equality? And why are some men – who…
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
In November 2012, Worklight collaborated with Bristol’s Wardrobe Ensemble, sharing our devised theatre practices with an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Using storytelling and shadow puppetry,…
Labels
‘When I was five years old, my Dad was told our surname might be stopping him from getting a job. So we changed it. It worked.’ Labels is the third…
Monster
‘This is a story about a boy, and a girl. Some of the story is true. Some of it isn’t. And I’m not going to tell you which is which…’…
Fix
This a story about the bonds within brains. And the bonds between brains. Internationally acclaimed Worklight Theatre present a brand-new ensemble show about addiction. Based on research and interviews with…
About us
Our ensemble plays - How to Start a Riot, I Think I’m a Feminist and Fix - toured nationally, to critical acclaim. In 2015, we began creating solo shows, with devising and collaboration at their heart. Labels premiered at Pleasance, Edinburgh 2015, where it won a Fringe First, and went on to win several other theatre awards during its UK and international tours. Monster began its life at Pleasance, and toured the UK and Australia from 2016-2019. In 2022, Fanboy premiered at Pleasance, then transferred to Soho Theatre for a week-long run, amid its UK tour. In 2024, we premiered our first two-hander, It’s the Economy, Stupid! at Pleasance, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which then transferred to Soho Theatre and is still touring the UK.
Worklight is a collective run by its writer-performer Joe Sellman-Leava, working regularly with long-term collaborators: director and dramaturg Katharina Reinthaller, writer-director Yaz Al-Shaater, and designer-performer Dylan Howells. The company was founded in 2011 by Joe Sellman-Leava, Michael Woodman, Callum Elliott Archer and Sam Hollis Pack.