Grimm

Aim

Grimm is a site specific play about the forgotten Grimsby fishing industry seeking to unite intergenerational audiences in shared history.

I’m a Grimsby based playwright and actor with the vision to bring a piece of site specific and immersive theatre about and for the local and largely forgotten fishing community. 

The money raised will enable me to bring two theatre performances staged at the Grimsby Docks, taking place in September of this year. One performance will be BSL captioned and one audio described. Should we exceed our target, I will also be able to deliver workshops and paid shadowing opportunities to our younger audiences. 

The docks is a place that many fishermen identify as being ‘like home’ to them, thus removing the barriers that come when staging work in traditional theatre spaces that could potentially alienate our primary audience. These men risked their lives to provide us with fish and chips, and still, to this day, are 115 times more likely to suffer injury at sea than any other profession. As Suesan Brown, Port Missioner at The Fishermen’s Mission stated, “A loss of a fisherman, is a loss of thousands of stories’. When the fishing industry collapsed in on itself in the 70’s, the men and their families received very little for all of their years of service, whilst the trawler owners received millions in compensation by the government. These men deserve to be seen, heard and understood. 

I’ve been fortunate to receive ACE funding in order to develop an R&D of the work with previews being held at Docks Beer and The Barge. I’ve also been fortunate to be supported through this process by 12 + partners including Hull based journalist & fishing expert. Brian Lavery, Grimsby based theatre company, Lowercase Theatre, Lincs Inspire and Sparks Grimsby. However, in order to develop the R&D into a full scale production to be taken to the docks, where the work can be seen by many more people, I will need to raise significantly more funds. 

Your kind donation will allow us to employ a team of Grimsby based creatives paid at full equity rates of pay. It will also allow us to make the space as accessible as possible i.e. introduction of BSL captioned and audio described performances, making the working port safe to receive performances, introduction of security etc… Fishermen are plagued with physical disabilities from the severe conditions they were exposed to for so many years and as such it’s incredibly important that we make our show as accessible as possible. Your kind donation will also allow us to increase the scale of what can be achieved with this play and who can receive it. 

As part of my mission, I very much want to unite a younger and older generation, making this a true celebration of the fishing community that is historically very closed in nature. I want a younger generation to understand their heritage and take pride in being from Grimsby. Should we exceed our target, I will be able to continue to partner with Lowercase Theatre (a company dedicated to empowering young people to make work in the local area) to deliver workshops on a much bigger scale, to many more young people than have been reached in the initial R&D stage. I will also look to open up the rehearsal room and provide paid mentoring and shadowing opportunities to young people, as well as providing free tickets to the show where lack of money could be a barrier. All of this will hopefully demonstrate the various pathways into the arts whilst encouraging young people to make their own work, tell their own Grimsby stories and give back to their hometown. 

In short, I hope my project, ‘Grimm’ will resurrect forgotten yet vital stories, in a cultural landmark and historic Grimsby place. I hope it will also celebrate Grimsby and its community and raise the bar for what can be achieved creatively in a small yet mighty town like ours. 

This project successfully funded on 14th March 2023