Women & Theatre is a charity that exists to create exciting drama projects about things that matter. We produce high quality new theatre of contemporary relevance reflecting the lives and experiences of ordinary people.

Over the past 5 years we have worked with a wide range of partners, funders and commissioners including different NHS organisations, Arts Council England, Time to Change, National Probation Service, Comic Relief, Children in Need, Birmingham City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund and numerous community organisations to bring the benefits of theatre and comedy to the widest audience possible.

We’ve created productions that have toured to residential care homes and community centres, developed professional productions with Looked After Young People, and established a successful community comedy course programme for diverse groups.

We have also worked with established and emerging theatre talent in the region to create new work for theatre venues. In recent years we have developed experimental, thought provoking and intelligent productions while partnering with venues such as The REP, Birmingham Hippodrome and mac Birmingham.

Women and Theatre have the knack of conveying an urgent social message…You’d think all this would be terribly grim, but these characters don’t invite pity and there’s a good deal of hilarity.

The Guardian

W&T is an inspirational company run by an inspirational woman which doggedly focuses on bringing the many communities of women’s voices that exist in the West Midlands to the fore. They are indispensable in their ability to engage with hard to reach communities and their work is full of heart and integrity as well as being highly entertaining.

Roxana Silbert 

former Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Women and Theatre are the stalwarts of community theatre in the West Midlands. Their ground-breaking work, which seeks to use creativity as a tool for discussion and exploration of contemporary issues, is so crucial to the creative landscape of Birmingham. W&T’s work is always deeply engaged with the subject matter and their passion and commitment for the people of this beautiful city is admirable.

Daniel Whitehouse

Next Generation Producer, Midlands Arts Centre

W&T offer young people the opportunity to express themselves in a variety of creative ways. The workshops they provide have presented many of our young people with the opportunity to enhance their learning experiences building upon their emotional, social, physical and cognitive development. The effect their work has had on our young people’s self-confidence and ability to work successfully within teams is profound. W&T embrace all levels of talent regardless of ability.

Robert Clarkson

Placement Support Worker, SWIIS Foster Care Ltd

If W&T were a stick of rock, they would have the word “integrity” printed all the way through them.  For over 30 years now they have used the alchemy of curiosity, theatre arts, humanity, compassion and humour to make work that changes lives. They are a hidden gem in Birmingham – with a national reputation combined with a brilliant track record. Their work has had an impact on the practice of applied theatre which is possibly unappreciated in their home town.

Helga Henry

Director, Creative Shift

We have worked with Women & Theatre to produce workshops for staff about communication between staff and caregivers and also a performance highlighting the use of Life Story work.  W&T have a sensitive yet thorough approach to these issues enabling audiences to participate in discussion and explore the thoughts and feelings that the performances provoke. It has been a pleasure to work with Janice and the team in such a collaborative way and we hope to extend this work to cover other issues relevant to our service users, families and staff.

Clare Cook

Consultant Occupational Therapist, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

W&T have an excellent reputation for producing high quality, innovative work that is deeply rooted in the communities they serve. For more than 30 years they have combined commitment, theatre form and humour in a variety of interesting and exciting ways.

Dr Steve Ball

Director of Birmingham Arts School