Paines Plough announces plans to move to Coventry and new production

Leading touring company Paines Plough has announced it is relocating from London to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, as it celebrates 50 years of supporting new writing.

Joint artistic directors Katie Posner and Charlotte Bennett said the move has been prompted by rising costs, which have made the landscape for new writing “more challenging than it has ever been”.

They added: “In this context, we’re proud to even be here to talk about a 50th year, and to continue to be an advocate, a voice and a thriving platform for writers and the future of new writing around the country. Our 50th year will be about future-proofing our longstanding commitment to writers, who remain at the beating heart of everything we do.”

They also announced a new production, Kelly Jones’ My Mother’s Funeral: The Show, which explores “the experience of being a benefit class artist and different approaches towards trauma stories”. Directed by Bennett, the production will preview at the Belgrade from 25 to 27 July, before a run at Paines Plough’s pop-up theatre Roundabout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, ahead of a UK tour.

Meanwhile Posner’s production of Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play, which previewed at the Belgrade last year ahead of the Fringe and a subsequent UK tour, will transfer to the Soho Theatre from 22 May to 15 June.

Founded in 1974, Paines Plough has commissioned over 500 playwrights, including Zia Ahmed, Alice Birch, Mike Bartlett, Miriam Battye, Nathan Bryon, James Graham, Anna Jordan, Sarah Kane, Dennis Kelly, Duncan Macmillan, Chloë Moss, Vinay Patel, Nathan Queeley-Dennis, Simon Stephens and Kae Tempest.

Corey Campbell, creative director of Belgrade Theatre, said: “I’m very excited that our dear friends and collaborators at Paines Plough are coming to Coventry, both for the wider region, and the city and the theatre… I think their practice and our practice coming together is a force to be reckoned with. We look forward to welcoming them to Coventry.”

Further details about Paines Plough’s 2024 programme will be announced in due course.