Our Story
We’re Headlong.
We make theatre with the power to move.
Big, exhilarating productions that use the unexpected to connect everyone we reach, right across the nation.
Whether a work is old or new, there are always different questions we can ask. So our productions are an invitation: to come and see something in a new way. Join us.
Headlong is fifty.
Apparently, at fifty, we know ourselves. In a way, we do: we’re still driven by the same kind of big, challenging questions that fired us up back in 1974. But what’s truly shaped us are the things we don’t know - and could never have foreseen. Like:
Amazing things happen when people take chances.
Take our audiences. We’ve played to 100 people one night in a venue and 1000 the next. And that people keep coming, right across England, is something we’ll never take for granted.
And our actors. Denise Gough had planned to quit acting when she blew our minds in People, Places & Things. Tamsin Greig delivered a spectacular Labour of Love performance after just one week of rehearsals. And Lennie James collaborated with us from his bedroom in Texas, to deliver Unprecedented, co-starring…a dog. That talented people (and pets) will take a risk to work with us is an honour, always.
We take chances on people too: new voices, writing, ideas. Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play challenged people’s passive acceptance of the West End classic. Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica used the famous Tiananmen Square ‘tank man’ image to question the East/West cultural crossover. Talented partners help us make sense of massive things. Together, we create the classics of the future.
The biggest risks drive the most thrilling outcomes.
We’ve powered an entire show with bikes. Taken the Enron story to the stage as it was still playing out in the press. Added phone and television to the list of places we’d perform, during Covid. And worked the British Citizenship test into Henry V. We question. We stand up. And we tell big stories.
Connection informs and transforms everything.
One big thing drives us: creating a brilliant night out. Playfulness is at our heart. We invite collaborators from all walks of life because they bring fresh ideas and perspectives.
And because good theatre begins a dialogue, we take our work to the world. We love the train, know the best theatre ice cream in England and have served time in Premier Inn beds. Our audiences are our litmus paper – a brilliant night out isn’t the same everywhere.
Long may we learn. These past fifty years have been wonderful training for the next. See you there.
Artistic Director - Holly Race Roughan
Executive Director - Lisa Maguire