Blackout Theatre Company was set up in 1998 by David Baxter and Kathy Frost as a small-scale, touring company specialising in producing plays which could be hired in by charities as an alternative fund-raising source other than sponsored walks, jumble sales etc. First shows were Jim Cartwright's 'Two' which toured various locations in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire and John Godber's 'September in the Rain'. Both shows were also toured on behalf of MENCAP in Lanzarote in the early 2000s. 'Two' was the first show in The Place in Bedford, featuring on the opening gala night.

 

Following an extensive sabbatical in the mid 2000s, Blackout returned in February 2010 with John Clancy's 'The Event' featuring Bob Paisley from the Central Standard Theatre in Kansas City after a collaboration started at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009. We then did the return visit, performing Pinter's 'The Dumb Waiter' in Kansas City in December 2010 as part of The British Invasion, with Guy Masterson and Rebecca Vaughan.

 

This regular exchange has brought a wonderful production of 'Driving Miss Daisy' from CST in Kansas City to Bedford and another contribution to the British Invasion in 2011 of 'A Chip in the Sugar' and 'September in the Rain', again with Guy, Rebecca and Richard Fry, producing ten days of top-quality British theatre for American audiences

 

The Americans returned in 2012 with a revival of 'The Event' and 'The Zoo Story', with a return trip to the US in December for us with Jim Cartwright's 'Two' and John Mortimer's 'The Dock Brief', along with a wonderful selection of shows from Theatre Tours International, Belt-Up Theatre, Pip Utton, Gavin Robertson and Dyad Productions.

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Productions of Her Big Chance and Contractions followed in 2013, followed by Frank Spackman's one-man triumph in 2014 with Woodbine Willie, commemorating the centenary of the First World War.

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Since then, we have been regular performers at the Reading Fringe and Bedfringe Festivals with 'Contractions',  'Her Big Chance', 'Bull' and this year we return to Bedfringe with two shows, 'Just So Stories' and 'Kin' (see the Shows page for details).

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