Tighten Our Belts

Honest, powerful and tender, Tighten Our Belts was the first show we made. Working in partnership with the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) and the Brighton Dome for 18 months from June 2015 – November 2016, we co-created a show about the cost of austerity to people in the city.

We worked with over 40 people from the BUCFP in the research and development of the show and formed a company of 10 who devised and performed the show with input from a range of artists. The artists who worked on this show were Naomi Alexander (Writer and Director), Kate Lodge (Director), Tanushka Marah (Director), Gary Clarke (Movement Director), The Hiccup Project (Movement Director), Kirsty Martin (Composer), Ben Pacey (Design) and Faith Dodkins (Producer). The project was supported by Ellie Moulton from the BUCFP and the Brigthton Dome provided technical and marketing support.

We sold tickets for Tighten Our Belts on a Pay What You Decide basis and the show sold out within two weeks without us having to do ANY marketing. The Dome offered us another slot and this show also sold out within weeks. We took £2,200 on the door. Both shows received standing ovations and received 4 and 5* reviews in the press.