GREEN CARNATION COMPANY, TELLING QUEER STORIES THROUGH QUALITY THEATRE.
Our Story
We are a Manchester-based theatre company dedicated to telling queer stories through quality theatre. We do this through productions, commissioning writers and creating digital work. We celebrate, challenge and explore queer experiences.
COVID-19 hit us. Hard. We were forced to close our first tour of Kevin Elyot's 'My Night with Reg' and were plunged into financial uncertainty. Yet we carried on and, thanks to funding from Arts Council England and National Lottery, we were able to commission and produce 4 new Queer All About It monologue films from new queer writers responding to LGBTQ+ issues.
However, the reality Is COVID really did affect us, and we lost almost all of our Income. We are desperate to keep on creating theatre and telling LGBTQ+ stories that deserve to be heard, but we need your support.
We have found the perfect production: 'Vincent River' a scorching psychological thriller by Philip Ridley, one of Britain's most renowned queer playwrights. We will be returning to Hope Mill Theatre, where our journey first began in 2018, turning the UK's hottest independent theatre Into a claustrophobic arena for an intense game of cat and mouse.
How Can You Help
Staging a show is expensive - from team wages to design costs; box office and license fees to marketing and rehearsals; it's not a cheap business and carries a huge financial risk. We run Green Carnation for love, not money, but we also believe in making sure we pay our team a fair wage and having the production values to do justice to the stories we tell.
Public funding for theatre Is getting harder and harder to receive, and there's a real risk that emerging theatrical talent Is getting crushed before it has the chance to flourish.
By donating to support us, you are helping us recover from a situation none of us could have predicted. You will be supporting emerging talent and ushering us back onto the stage to continue our journey to becoming one of the UK's brightest LGBTQ+ theatre companies. You will be championing a company committed to nurturing new LGBTQ+ writing talent. You will be investing in a new production of an electric thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat.
We have a big target: £3,000. And It's scary, we won't lie. But with your love and support, we believe we can get there.
Any donations received by you lovely, wonderful, generous, (may-we-say-beautiful?) people (are we overdoing it?!) will help to:
- Expand our budget to work with new creatives and designers and realise our creative vision and potential
- Market and promote the play so we can reach as wide an audience as possible
- Invest in future Green Carnation Company productions, projects and outreach.
- In addition to our ever-established commitment to pay our team a fair wage, both Dan Jarvis and I would love to be able to pay for *some* of our own time working on the production *digs out image of Puss in Boots with big eyes from Shrek 2*
So, with that in mind... let's talk about Vincent!
Vincent River
We are giddy to have secured the rights to produce Philip Ridley's gripping psychological thriller 'Vincent River' at the gorgeous and intimate Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester between 12-19 October 2022.
Ridley's powerhouse of a script, set at the turn of the millennium, explores the themes of grief, desire and family, as two connected individuals meet for the first time, with devastating consequences.
We don't want to give too much away in a synopsis, as this edge of your seat play is filled with mystery and revelations as the dusk turns to night in Anita's new high rise flat, an unexpected visitor turns up at her door.
Our production will be stylish, Intense, gripping and aesthetically stunning. You're In for a ride.
We are not eligible to gain Arts Council Funding for this project. As a result, we have set up this Crowdfunder in order to allow you to support Green Carnation Company and directors Dan Ellis and Dan Jarvis in bringing their vision to the Hope Mill stage later this year.
Our History
Green Carnation burst onto the scene in 2018 when we produced our debut play, 'The Pride', at Hope Mill Theatre. During this production, we both realised we lived and breathed our mission to tell queer stories through quality theatre.
In 2020 we took Kevin Elyot's 'My Night with Reg' on a fabulous tour, opening to sold-out crowds at The Lowry, Salford before taking off to Hull, Huddersfield, Durham and Coventry. Then Little Miss 'Rona reared her ugly head and sadly we didn't get to the finishing line…
However, from both of these productions, we have been overwhelmed with amazing audiences, brilliant feedback and stunning reviews:
'TENDER, FUNNY HEARTBREAKING, WITH A GREAT CAST' Russell T. Davies on 'My Night With Reg' 2020
‘A THOUGHTFUL, ATMOSPHERIC PRODUCTION WITH EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES’ British Theatre Guide on ‘The Pride’, 2018
★★★★ ‘REFRESHINGLY FRANK AND VERY HUMAN – A DELIGHT’ NorthWestEnd on ‘The Pride’, 2018
★★★★ ‘THE STAGING IS PERFECT AND PERFORMANCES ON THE WHOLE STELLAR’ Opening Night on ‘The Pride’, 2018
★★★★ 1/2 'FANTASTICALLY HUMAN. IMPECCABLE DELIVERY AND RAZOR-SHARP DIRECTION. A THEATRICAL CULINARY FEAST' The Reviews Hub on 'My Night With Reg' 2020
It is this standard of high-quality production we wish to match...improve upon even... and can do this with your help.
We think we can live up to these expectations… no… scratch that. WE CAN DO BETTER! (But only with your help!)
In Summary
Both Dan J and I are aware that times are hard at the moment, but any coppers or shillings donated to Green Carnation Company's production of Vincent River and the company's future as a teller of queer stories will be appreciated more than you can know.
Both of us will love you forever/give you the biggest hug when we next see you/leave you a lovely TripAdvisor review as a way of saying thank you!
The Dans
- Green Carnation Company