An Introduction to ThickSkin – If you’re an avid theatregoer, we’d like to introduce you to ThickSkin, a theatre company founded by Neil Bettles and Laura Mallows in 2010 that is reinventing theatre for the next generation telling extraordinary stories in unexpected ways.

Blackpool Grand is committed to presenting more stories for more people and together with ThickSkin we are reimagining what theatre can be. An award-winning company based in Wigan ThickSkin creates exciting work producing bold and ambitious performances using their distinctive physicality and cinematic style to reach and inspire new, young and diverse audiences.

Many of you may remember their recent production at Blackpool Grand, How Not To Drown by Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrati. This action-packed; highly visual production told the painful yet uplifting true story of an eleven-year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeker arriving in the UK. A story of endurance for a little kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world, performed by an ensemble cast starring Kastrati himself.

Join Us For Their New Work – DRIFTWOOD

ThickSkin will return this November to Blackpool Grand in the theatre’s STUDIO, with a new play DRIFTWOOD. Tickets are limited so book EARLY!

This new production is a partnership with Pentabus, a company The Daily Telegraph described as “One of the most important theatre companies in the country.”

The companies will be presenting an intoxicating and mystical new play by award-winning writer Tim Foley, directed by Ellie While and Neil Bettles (director of How Not To Drown) – described as ‘a distinctive physical and cinematic production’.

These are the shores of Vikings, Victorians, van drivers and visions. The tide is out but the chips are hot.

Two brothers go for walks along the beach at Seaton Carew. Their Dad is dying, and their town is crumbling. Family rifts and political divides try to pull them apart, and a figure made of driftwood stalks the shore at night… An inspiring, expansive story about hope, love, belonging and the tides within us.

Pentabus is the nation’s rural theatre company, the only professional theatre company in the UK whose vision is singularly rural. Touring new plays about the contemporary rural world to new audiences in village halls, fields, festivals and theatres, telling stories with local relevance, plus national and international impact. Pentabus, ThickSkin and Blackpool Grand believe that every person has a right to exceptional theatre.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW | £16.50 | 01 November, 7pm

PEAK STUFF – Coming February 2024

We are today delighted to announce that ThickSkin will return once again on 19 February 2024 with their award-winning Peak Stuff, a messed-up show for messed up times! by Billie Collins and Directed by Neil Bettles.

Alice is done with fast fashion. Ben can’t stop buying trainers. And Charlie just wants to sell out… one organ at a time. Peak Stuff presents three fast-paced, funny, f***ed-up stories, taking a deep-dive into consumer culture. In an age of thrifting, retail therapy, climate crisis and click and collect – how does ‘stuff’ define us? And do we know when to stop?

Peak Stuff is winner of the Writers Guild of Great Britain’s prestigious 2023 ‘New Play Commission Scheme’. This landmark scheme, created in partnership with HighTide Theatre, UK Theatre and the Independent Theatre Council, celebrates the best in new writing for the stage.

Tickets will go on sale in the next couple of weeks watch our social media channels for more information.

Blackpool Grand Theatre, ThickSkin and Pentabus are proud to be Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations 2023-26.

To find out more about the companies visit
blackpoolgrand.co.uk
thickskintheatre.co.uk
pentabus.co.uk
artscouncil.org.uk/NationalPortfolio23