6. Creating Companies, and Keeping Focus by Associate Artist Laura Turner

Creating Companies and Keeping Focus

I thought this month I would share a bit about my experience of setting up a theatre company. I think the process of starting companies is a much larger part of the current theatrical and creative landscape in the UK now than it perhaps used to be, so hopefully this is useful. From what I’ve seen, a lot more freelancers, who come from various different practice backgrounds, are turning to creating their own companies as a way to have more agency in the work by self-producing.

A Changing Industry

Arguably, in the last ten years, there’s been a distinct change in the way theatres and companies commission new work, with more financial challenges all round. It’s led to a need for a lot of us to find our own ways of making work – work that is true to our voices as writers, directors, actors and so on.

When I came to the decision to set up my own company in 2020, I had noticed over the last years of the 2010s that the landscape of getting work commissioned was completely changing and moving away from what now feels like an almost old fashioned model of it being feasible to develop a working relationship with a theatre or a company, to then get a seed commission which you might develop into a full length play – which would then be commissioned for production. It felt like that was changing a lot. It was becoming harder to access those pots of money (which in themselves were a lot more scarce given the financial constraints and budget changes that venues and producing companies were facing).

Collaboration is key

I was faced with the same economic dilemma that a lot of playwrights were (and are) being faced with. But I was also starting to crave the chance to take more responsibility for the stories I was telling, and the ways those stories were being told. I think, as you develop in your creative practice – whatever that looks like – you get to a point where you feel more secure within your voice and therefore you know the work you want to create and what you want to say. You also want to ensure that you’re collaborating with others who share similar viewpoints to you. The thing about setting up your own company is that essentially, you are setting up a collective of people you want to work with. You feel secure in the knowledge that their ethos and priorities around storytelling and performance are akin to yours, and that you’re going to develop exciting work together. That was a really big part of my decision to set up Fury Theatre.

Companies in Covid

I decided to start Fury Theatre in Spring 2020. We had our first performance dates lined up for summer 2020 which was going to be at The Space, Isle of Dogs, presenting a modern day beatbox inspired version of Electra, retold as a one-woman show featuring music, beatboxing and spoken word. It was a really exciting project for me, and one that was a tricky proposition to get commissioned, given the variety of elements involved. I really believed in it, and I wanted to make it happen in a climate where it was becoming increasingly difficult to see your work get made.

Of course, Covid then hit, and put a slight spanner in the works on our (and lots of people’s) plans. We were fortunate enough to then receive ACE funding through The Space to create a lockdown version of the story, where the character of Lexi experienced a Covid lockdown and turned to using the internet as a means of telling her story as a young woman in the music industry. So it ended up being a nice way of blending fact and fiction whilst enabling us to still explore that story, and with funding, we could pay all our contributors and move towards a more sustainable working model.

Fury, fire and focus

I think it’s fair to say that for any company starting today, the biggest challenge is the financial one as the crush on public funding continues alongside more competition for that funding and performance opportunities. When I reflect on setting up Fury during Covid, what was actually positive was that it gave me a lot of time to think. To develop what the company was and why it existed. That’s probably the main part of my experience setting up a company that I would share, is to really take the time to give clear focus to the stories your company is going to tell.

Setting up your own company is not only about knowing yourself and deciding who you want to collaborate with, but giving yourself a clear lens through which that company will explore stories. I still have a lot of projects that I am very excited about that I don’t develop through Fury. I set Fury up with the very explicit manifesto of exploring “female stories told with fire”. “Female stories” absolutely defines all my creative practice across the board. However, the thing that makes Fury’s work defined is that there has to be “fire” behind it.

Inspiration and anger

I have always been inspired by Greek drama. The emotions are so visceral and so close to the surface, so everything feels very emotionally-charged. I wanted Fury Theatre (as the name may well suggest) to allude to the Furies of Greek mythology, and to the fire of anger. I believe that rage, passion – fury – have fuelled great works of art throughout time. So if I am creating a story that doesn’t in some way have anger at its heart, I know instinctively it’s not going to be a Fury project. It will still be my project – and I hope that everything I do will always have the integrity of my voice, what I am passionate about and what I care about within it. But anger is what I’m exploring in Fury’s work, so that becomes the defining characteristic. When you take the time to explore what it is that’s important to you – and what’s specific about the themes or motifs that crop up in your work – it gives you a tool to make sure all your work is authentic to you and your creative priorities.

The other thing to say about setting up a company is that it’s a lot of fun – a lot of extra paperwork and responsibility – but it is a lot of fun. You get to have a say in so many elements of the creative process that you might otherwise not get to experience, and I believe that’s the crux of what makes you better at what you do. The more you understand about the many ways theatre works, the better you grow to be at your job. And if nothing else, sometimes it’s really nice to be the person who says yes to making something happen – whether that’s your own idea, or someone else’s.

Fury Theatre are presenting our new play BODY OR SOUL at Amplify Festival on Wednesday 23rd October in the Neville Studio at 8.20pm – it would be lovely to see you there!

You can find out more information and book tickets for BODY OR SOUL here