Likely Story

What Likely Story does

Likely Story is a privately held, founder-owned physical theatre company based in Cardiff, Wales, founded in 2006 by co-directors Hazel Anderson and Ellen Groves (collectively known as 'The Likely Ladies'). The company creates and tours live theatrical productions primarily for families and children aged approximately 7 and older, with a distinctive artistic signature built on the imaginative transformation of everyday objects — puppetry, live music, multimedia, and physical performance — into theatrical storytelling. Its catalog includes 15+ productions spanning 2006-2022, such as Lost Christmas, RED, The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body, Once Upon A Time, Sea Town Ladies, and Pea, with Lost Christmas being the most recent touring title.

The company's business model is event-driven rural touring rather than fixed-venue operation. Productions are taken directly to rural and community venues across Wales and the broader UK, with a particularly entrenched recurring relationship with the Night Out scheme (an Arts Council Wales-funded rural touring programme) under which promoters across Wales present the company's Christmas shows annually. Revenue is generated primarily from ticket sales (pricing set per-venue and not publicly disclosed) supplemented by project grants from Arts Council Wales and partnership support from arts venues such as Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, where co-founder Ellen Groves holds an artist-in-residence position. The company has no external institutional investment, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed financial figures; its operating team is anchored by the two co-founders working with a rotating roster of associated actors, designers, and makers.

Go-to-market is concentrated through social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram) and the company's Wix-hosted website, used to promote tour dates and drive ticket sales at venues. Distribution is direct-to-venue via the rural touring network rather than through intermediaries or a self-operated box office. The customer base is structurally bifurcated: end consumers are families and under-served rural communities, while the upstream economic counterparties are Arts Council Wales (as primary funder) and the Night Out scheme promoters (as recurring distribution partners), creating a concentration profile that is characteristic of grant-dependent small arts organizations in the UK.

Name

Likely Story

Legal name

Likely Story

Website

https://likelystory.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Likely Story is a Cardiff-based, founder-owned physical theatre company that creates and tours object-driven, puppetry-and-music theatrical productions for families and children across rural Wales and the UK, supported by Arts Council Wales grants and the Night Out rural touring scheme.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts / Theatre for Young Audiences

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC), Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB)

Keywords

• Physical theatre
• Family theatre productions
• Rural touring theatre
• Theatre for young audiences
• Object puppetry performance

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Theatre Performance Revenue: Revenue generated from ticket sales for live theatre performances. The company tours productions to various venues across Wales and beyond, with performances at rural venues and community settings.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Likely Story is a Cardiff-based physical theatre company that creates, produces, and tours live family theatre productions for young audiences and rural communities across Wales and the UK. Each show is built around the company's signature style of object transformation — using everyday objects, puppetry, live music, and multimedia to deliver imaginative storytelling. Productions are sold to audiences as ticketed live performances and to community promoters and arts venues as touring shows, supported by Arts Council Wales funding.

Product overview

Likely Story is a physical theatre company co-founded in 2006 that creates live theatrical productions for families and young audiences. The company produces individual shows rather than a software platform, with productions spanning original works and adaptations including Lost Christmas (current), The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body, Once Upon A Time, Pea, Sea Town Ladies, Goats 3, Almost Always Muddy, and others dating back to 2006. Their work emphasizes visual storytelling, puppetry, original music, and magical theatrical effects using everyday objects transformed through imaginative staging.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lost Christmas Current festive touring production about the Holly Queen and Oak Queen battling for the seasons, featuring twins Blodwyn and Gordon in the Archive of Lost and Forgotten who must help the Holly Queen find her lost crown. A family adventure combining storytelling, original music, and visual theatre.
• RED Theatrical production listed as part of Likely Story's 2006-2022 body of work and highlighted on the company website.
• Giant With No Heart In His Body
• Once Upon A Time Family theatrical production featuring characters Agi and Dot who catch stories on the wind, with original music, puppetry, and magical elements.
• Pea
• Sea Town Ladies
• Goats 3 Theatrical production listed as part of Likely Story's 2006-2022 body of work.
• Little Pigs 3
• A Christmas Adventure
• Almost Always Muddy
• The Locked Door
• 5pm, No Particular Afternoon

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Chapter Arts CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff for artist-in-residence programme. Ellen Groves serves as Theatr Iolo's artist in residence, developing comedy work for young audiences and building relationships with younger audiences.
• Night Out SchemecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArts Council Wales funding scheme that supports touring professional theatre across Wales. Likely Story has a longstanding relationship with Night Out, with promoters across Wales presenting their Christmas shows annually.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Tangled Feet: UK touring physical and devised theatre company creating work for family and young audiences. Shares Likely Story's emphasis on physical storytelling, ensemble performance, and touring to non-traditional venues.
• Oily Cart: London-based UK touring theatre company specializing in work for very young audiences and audiences with complex needs. Like Likely Story, Oily Cart tours to non-traditional venues and relies on Arts Council funding, making it a directly comparable UK TYA touring operator.
• Hijinx Theatre: Cardiff-based inclusive theatre company that produces touring work for young audiences and adults with learning disabilities. Ellen Groves regularly works with Hijinx, placing both companies in overlapping Welsh touring networks serving similar community-focused audiences.
• Frozen Light: UK touring theatre company creating original work specifically for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities, operating on a small-team touring model similar to Likely Story's rural touring structure across community venues.
• Theatr Iolo: Cardiff-based Welsh theatre company creating work for children and young people. Likely Story's co-director Ellen Groves serves as Theatr Iolo's artist-in-residence at Chapter Arts Centre, and both companies share the Welsh TYA touring ecosystem funded by Arts Council Wales.
• Little Angel Theatre: London-based puppetry theatre for children with a long touring history and strong TYA brand. Its focus on puppetry and visual storytelling directly mirrors Likely Story's object-transformation physical theatre approach for family audiences.
• Theatre Centre: London-based TYA company with a strong national touring programme for secondary school audiences. Directly comparable in that it tours devised, issue-based work to schools and community venues across the UK on a similar small-team model.

Broad incumbents

• Pilot Theatre: York-based touring theatre producing work for young audiences with national reach. Operates at a larger scale but shares the UK TYA touring category and the same Arts Council funding ecosystem as Likely Story.
• Polka Theatre: Established children's theatre in south-west London producing and touring TYA productions. Operates at a larger scale than Likely Story but addresses the same family and young-audience market with similar artistic sensibilities.
• Unicorn Theatre: London's leading children's theatre, presenting work by TYA companies including Likely Story (via the Emerge programme). Larger fixed-venue operator in the same TYA category that curates and showcases emerging touring companies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/_likelystory_
• Facebookfacebook.com/LikelyStoryTheatre
• Instagraminstagram.com/likelystoryuk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Likely Story