COMMON WEALTH THEATRE LTD

What COMMON WEALTH THEATRE LTD does

Common Wealth Theatre Ltd (trading as Common/Wealth) is a non-profit site-specific political theatre company and Registered Charity (No. 1185967) founded in 2008 by Co-Artistic Directors Evie Manning and Rhiannon White, headquartered at Assembly Bradford, 20 North Parade, with a second base in Llanrumney, East Cardiff, established in 2018. The company produces participatory political theatre in non-traditional venues — car parks, youth centres, community halls, civic squares and outdoor sites — working with working-class communities that are underrepresented in mainstream theatre, particularly Muslim communities in Bradford and residents of East Cardiff (St Mellons, Llanrumney, Trowbridge). The product portfolio comprises touring productions (Peaceophobia, I Have Met The Enemy (and the enemy is us), No Guts No Heart No Glory, Our Glass House, Radical Acts, Payday Party), community art projects (the Us Here Now photographic exhibition; the We No Longer Talk film in Arabic, English, Somali and Welsh), downloadable tour packs licensed to other companies, the 2025 published book 'Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre' (Manchester University Press), plus workshops, podcasts, videos, a bilingual book club, and The Posh Club for older people.

The business model is a hybrid grant-plus-transaction structure anchored by multi-year, competitively awarded National Portfolio Organisation funding from Arts Council England and, since 2024, Arts Council Wales, supplemented by project grants from Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn, John Ellerman Foundation, and Llais y Lle. Transactional revenue comes from touring ticket sales, sales of the Manchester University Press book, and licence-style revenue from tour packs sold to other theatre companies via the commonwealththeatre.co.uk resources hub. Distribution is co-production-led via partnerships with established venues (Northern Stage, Chapter Arts, Southbank Centre), touring through site-specific outdoor and community spaces, and network touring via Moving Roots.

The company operates bilingually in English and Welsh, is governed as a Company Limited by Guarantee in England & Wales, runs a Sounding Board of community members to direct programming, and maintains a small 1–10 employee core team supplemented by freelance collaborators. Its strategic posture is one of consolidating a niche leadership position in working-class, politically engaged, community-co-created theatre across England and Wales, monetising its repertoire through both live touring and IP licensing.

Name

COMMON WEALTH THEATRE LTD

Legal name

Common/Wealth

Website

https://commonwealththeatre.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Common Wealth Theatre Ltd is a non-profit, site-specific political theatre company headquartered in Bradford with a Cardiff base, producing participatory theatre in non-traditional venues for working-class communities in England and Wales, funded largely by Arts Council England and Wales portfolio grants supplemented by foundation grants and touring revenue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political Theatre Productions

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

akta.pro primary industry

Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB), Regional & Repertory Theatre Companies (MPAGABAB)

Keywords

• Site-specific political theatre
• Participatory community theatre
• Theatre touring productions
• Community arts engagement
• Political theatre methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Bradford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Arts Council England NPO Funding: Regular funding as a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England
2. Arts Council Wales Portfolio Funding: In 2024, Common/Wealth was included for the first time in the national portfolio of arts council-funded institutions in Wales
3. Project Grants and Foundations: Funding from foundations including Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn, John Ellerman Foundation, and Llais y Lle for specific projects
4. Book Sales: Sales of 'Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre' published by Manchester University Press
5. Ticket Sales and Production Revenue: Revenue from touring productions and show tickets

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Common/Wealth creates site-specific political theatre productions, participatory community projects, workshops, and educational resources for working-class and marginalised communities in Bradford and Cardiff. The company develops and tours original staged productions to non-traditional venues, stages community exhibitions and film projects, publishes a methodology book documenting its practice, and runs outreach programmes including workshops, a book club, and community events for older people.

Product overview

Common/Wealth Theatre Company is a site-specific political theatre company operating across Bradford and Cardiff. Their portfolio consists of touring theatre productions (including Peaceophobia, I Have Met The Enemy, No Guts No Heart No Glory, Our Glass House, Radical Acts, and Payday Party), community art projects (such as the Us Here Now photographic exhibition and We No Longer Talk film), educational resources (downloadable tour packs for their productions), publications (the book 'Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre'), and community programs (workshops, book club, and The Posh Club for older people). The company focuses on creating political theatre rooted in working-class communities, making work in non-traditional venues and with non-professional performers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Peaceophobia A site-specific theatre production about Islamophobia, performed by non-professional performers drawn from the Bradford Modified Car Club. Aimed at audiences engaging with political responses to rising Islamophobia in the UK.
• I Have Met The Enemy (and the enemy is us) A touring theatre production examining the UK arms trade and its global impact, performed by a Palestinian actor, a former British soldier, and a Yemeni artist. Aimed at audiences engaging with UK foreign policy and military intervention.
• No Guts, No Heart, No Glory A political play about female Muslim boxers. Aimed at audiences interested in representations of Muslim women in sport and contested cultural narratives.
• Our Glass House A site-specific theatre production about domestic abuse, created by taking over a house on a residential street and transforming it into a performance space. Aimed at audiences engaging with the social issue of domestic abuse in non-traditional theatrical settings.
• Radical Acts A touring theatre production from the company's repertoire, made available as a downloadable tour pack for other theatre companies to stage.
• Payday Party A touring theatre production from the company's repertoire, made available as a downloadable tour pack for other theatre companies to stage.
• Us Here Now A photographic exhibition celebrating people in East Cardiff, featuring larger-than-life-sized portraits of local residents. Originally staged outdoors near Tesco St Mellon's and later exhibited at the Futures Gallery at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. Aimed at celebrating East Cardiff residents and challenging negative media narratives about the area.
• We No Longer Talk A film project exploring relationships between language, place, and community, examining what it means to be Welsh and not speak the Welsh language. Uses Arabic, English, Somali, and Welsh to explore these themes. Aimed at audiences engaging with Welsh-language identity, class, and migration.
• Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre A book published by Manchester University Press in 2025, written by Co-Artistic Directors Evie Manning and Rhiannon White alongside Professor Jenny Hughes of the University of Manchester. A retrospective of the company's work sharing its DIY political theatre methodology, practical toolkit, and approaches to setting up and sustaining a theatre company. Designed for artists, activists, and community organisers.
• Tour Packs Downloadable touring pack resources for seven productions (Collaborate With Us, Payday Party, Peaceophobia, No Guts No Heart No Glory, Radical Acts, Our Glass House, and I Have Met The Enemy), allowing other theatre companies to obtain the rights and materials to stage the productions.
• Workshops Talks and workshops available for artists, activists, and community organisations on the methodology of making political theatre. Includes Collaborations and Talks & Workshops offerings.
• The Posh Club A community event project for older people featuring entertainment, tea, and cake.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 75 people participated in We No Longer Talk workshops
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Northern StagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production partner for 'I Have Met The Enemy (and the enemy is us)'. Northern Stage is a major theatre company in Newcastle.
• Chapter ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation partner for 'I Have Met The Enemy' production. Chapter Arts is a leading arts centre in Cardiff.
• Southbank CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation partner for 'I Have Met The Enemy' production. Southbank Centre is a major arts venue in London.
• Vaughan Gething MSminorOthersSponsored the Us Here Now exhibition at the Futures Gallery, Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay.
• Llanrumney Phoenix Boxing ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for Us Here Now project in East Cardiff.
• Llanrumney Hall Community TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for Us Here Now project. Venue for book club activities.
• St Mellon's Community GardenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for Us Here Now project in East Cardiff.
• Tesco St MellonsminorOthersHost venue for Us Here Now outdoor exhibition at their civic space in St Mellons.
• Moving Roots Touring NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork with Battersea Arts Centre, Restoke, Old Courts and Jumped Up, led by Rhiannon White from Cardiff base.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Freedom Studios: Bradford-based political theatre company working with working-class and underrepresented communities on co-created productions; the closest geographic and methodological peer to Common/Wealth in Northern England.
• Graeae Theatre Company: National touring theatre company led by disabled artists producing politically engaged work; comparable as a small charity producing challenging, mission-driven touring theatre in the UK.
• Slung Low: Leeds-based theatre company producing work in non-traditional venues with strong community engagement; directly comparable in Northern England touring and site-specific delivery.
• Mind the Gap: Bradford-based touring theatre company working with learning-disabled and non-disabled artists; shares the Bradford base, small-team charity model, and touring/community engagement profile.
• Cardboard Citizens: London-based touring theatre company using participatory and politically engaged methods with people affected by homelessness and social exclusion; comparable in mission and co-creation approach.
• Clean Break: Theatre company producing work with women affected by the criminal justice system; similar small-team charity structure, participatory methodology, and political/social justice focus.
• Third Angel: Sheffield-based small-scale touring theatre company producing politically and formally innovative work; comparable in scale, UK regional touring focus, and experimental ethos.

Broad incumbents

• Northern Stage: Newcastle-based regional producing theatre and confirmed co-production partner for Common/Wealth; broader-incumbent scale with shared Northern touring circuit and partnership history.
• Paines Plough: Larger touring new-writing theatre company with a national footprint and Roundabout programme; relevant as a more established touring-theatre comparator with overlapping UK venues.
• Chapter Arts: Cardiff multi-arts centre and confirmed association partner for Common/Wealth productions; relevant as a larger Cardiff arts institution with overlapping programming and audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/common_wealthhq
• Facebookfacebook.com/273718489317005
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/common-wealth-theatre-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 COMMON WEALTH THEATRE LTD