Honouring the legacy of Mike Bradwell

Mike Bradwell in 2022, outside 71 Coltman Street in Hull, a squat in which he and a group of fellow actors formed Hull Truck Theatre in 1971. The blue plaque marks the event

Hull Truck Theatre has launched the Mike Bradwell New Work Fund to honour the theatre’s pioneering founder, who died in April. The fund will invest in the next generation of plays and writers, in particular local talent.

Mike Bradwell founded Hull Truck Theatre in 1971, when he and a group of fellow actors toured out of the back of a truck, performing a form of theatre that put real stories centre-stage and staging “great plays with enough jokes”.

Janthi Mills-Ward, executive director at Hull Truck, said: “Over 50 years ago Mike laid the foundations for a theatre company that flouted convention and had the determination to follow its own path.

"His legacy lives on not just in the plays he championed, but in the generations of writers and audiences he inspired.”

The press night at Hull Truck of Richard Bean's critically-acclaimed comedy drama To Have and to Hold saw Bean (the writer of One Man, Two Guvnors) ask for a final round of applause in memory of his friend and peer.

Richard said: "Theatre new writing is the lifeblood of not just theatre but also TV and film - most film and TV writers learned storytelling in the theatre."

Mark Babych, artistic director at the theatre, said: “Hull is a place that champions creativity with new work and new voices. The fund is a fitting tribute that will enable us to celebrate the spirit of our founding artistic director and help us sustain our ambition, to continue to take risks in a climate often challenging and risk-averse.”

You can donate to the fund here