what we do & why we do it
Whats New for 2025!
TWT has the prospect of a very exciting 2025. In fact it has already started! You will find us revisiting some old favourites, and establishing some new projects with new clients.
On January 27th, we were invited to take part in Coventry City Councils commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day. We chose as our subject matter the Liberation of Belsen as this year marks the 80th anniversary of British troops discovering the horrors of this Nazi Concentration Camp. In our 20 minute presentation we spoke the actual words of those who were present when the camp was liberated and their descriptions of what they found. It was a sobering and timely reminder of why we should never forget these terrible events.
In February we took our ” ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Create Your Own Adventure” to Brodsworth Hall for EH. An interactive, immersive family activity event, it really strikes a chord with visitors and is one of a number of themed activity events we run, based around famous books and authors, to encourage children and adults to engage with and reimagine classic works of literature.
We also provided the characters for a very successful Victorian ‘Murder Mystery’ style event at Fort Nelson, where visitors were invited to try to work out which of our collection of suspects was actually the guilty one. Great fun was had by all!
We also made a triumphant return to the Jorvik Viking Festival, to provide not one but two nights of our spectacular performance of “Tyrfing; The Cursed Sword”. This is our second year of creating the finale for this international festival celebrating York’s association with the Vikings. The weather was kind and we built on our experience from last year’s “ The Realms of Yggdrasil “ to produce a night time show with supernatural characters, bloodthirsty warriors, ambitious shield maidens, a giant ghost, vengeful sisters and, of course, a mystical sword. Once again Jonny Dyer provided a haunting and evocative soundscape.
On April 17th you will find us once again hunting for dragons at Pontefract Castle, where our intrepid dragon experts will be trying to explain the business of dragon hunting, how to do it, what to look for and how to behave should you be lucky enough to spot one. There’ll be opportunities to draw your own dragon and plenty of stories about famous dragons!
On April 23rd we will be presenting our new pageant version of the story of St George in Coventry. This will be a traditional retelling, but with a modern twist! Don’t worry, you’ll still get a saint, a damsel in distress and a dragon. But you might recognise the evil knight, Sir Donald, by his colours – orange!
May 6th we will be reprising our play “A Hell on Earth“, about the Liberation of Belsen concentration camp for the JW3 charity in London. We were delighted to be recommended to JW3 after our performance of this harrowing piece and are honoured to be asked to perform it again.
On May 8th we will be a part of Coventry’s celebrations of the 80th anniversary of VE day with a number of encounter characters telling stories of the end of WW2 and how people in war torn Coventry celebrated this greatest of days.
May 2nd – 4th. We have a number of events at Lincoln Castle this year. For the Lincoln festival of History we will be helping to populate the castle with a band of Victorian actors, commissioned by a local historian to create a play about the Battle of Lincoln. As ever things are not quite as they seem, the actors may need your help if they are to realise the spectacle they hope to perform! This will be both interactive and immersive!
From May 24th to June 1st, we return to Lincoln Castle where our Victorian amateur sleuths are looking to dig up some unknown stories about the history of Lincoln Castle and Prison. Are there any grisly stories to be discovered? If there aren’t, could any dreadful tales be made up? Perhaps you might have some ideas. After all “Crime Sells”, the more bloodthirsty, the better!
June 14th/15th.TWT have created several plays for King’s Lynn. On the history of this incredible port, on one of its famous sons, the Shakespearean actor, Robert Armin and we’ve created school projects and filmed the results. Now we have been invited to perform a new play as part of the Hansa Festival! Expect the usual heady brew of facts, fables and fun as we seek to navigate our way through the world of medieval international trading!
July 13th. Having previously worked with the National Archives on their exhibitions on Traitors, Victorian Patents and the 1921 Census, we were delighted and very excited to be asked to create characters for their fascinating new exhibition on Mi5 and espionage. Obviously we can’t tell you too much. We don’t know who might be listening, but if you want to find out about the history of spies and spying in the UK then come to the exhibition. Perhaps you might be approached by an operative to see if you would make a good agent?
Now in its 13th glorious year, our hit promenade version of Dracula returns to cast its shadow over the ruins of Whitby Abbey. Family friendly, immersive, entertaining but most of all fun, our Dracula remains true to the original story, whilst adding in a couple of humorous moments to lighten the darkness! Now running for four days from Saturday to Tuesday over the summer holidays.
TWT return to Stonehenge for “Kids Dig”, an opportunity for budding archeologists to see what they can find in our specially prepared sand pits and then learn about why these objects might be so close to one of the world’s most famous monuments. Again running every day of the summer holidays, this is a fun chance to find out what it would be like to be on a ‘dig’. You’re sure to find something you weren’t expecting!
Oct 23rd – Nov 1st We are back at Whitby Abbey to animate the ruins during “Illuminated Abbey” with a new tale of terror in the mould of Victorian Gothic! Doubtless some strange events at the Abbey will precipitate the onset of some dark, foreboding force which will wreak havoc on the unsuspecting visitors, forcing them to question their very sanity as they descend into a world of nightmares! Can the world be saved? Come and find out!
November 9th. Last year we performed a new play at Fort Nelson for Remembrance Sunday. “Our Little Fort” was based around two surviving accounts of two of the thousands of soldiers who passed through Fort Nelson during WW1 and the important role that Portsmouth played in that conflict. It was very well received and we are thrilled to be invited back to perform it again!
December 6/7th, 13/14th, 20/21st. Our Father Chrostmas returns to Brodsworth Hall to entertain you with Yuletide tales, with his helper who will be signing his performances on certain days. Check the EH Brodsworth website.
