OTG Theatre have officially been named as the latest Resident Company at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre. Following many successful years of bringing new and exciting productions to the stage at Hope Street Theatre, this landmark partnership unites two of the city region’s dynamic companies to create a dedicated space for new writing, emerging artists and artistic development.
At the core of this new residency is a shared mission between OTG and Hope Street Theatre to champion new writing and elevate local artists. Off the Ground Theatre have been working since 1994 to bring access and opportunity in the arts to young people across Merseyside, whilst Hope Street Theatre have been bold proponents of new writing since their conception.
The residency’s commitment to fresh, regional voices takes centre stage immediately in the programming for 2026/2027 between both companies. Early November will see the premiere of Flying, a highly-anticipated new play by local writer, and OTG Youth Theatre graduate, Charlie Prothero. Charlie was recently a finalist at the Creative Corner Festival by Naughty Corner Productions. Flyingis a Liverpool tale about a man trying to put his life back together, with the help of his friend, Bella the Liver Bird.
Flying takes the inaugural Autumn date for an OTGxHST production, which will be a slot dedicated to new writing in the future. Building on this, the partnership are hosting the What Happens Next? Festival in January 2027. This is the latest iteration of the successful festival format, and the first which OTG Theatre have taken on production duties for. It’s a dedicated showcase for grassroots playwrights, with the winner seeing their production developed in full to a production at Hope Street Theatre in October 2027. Submissions to the festival are open now, with the deadline fast approaching, this Sunday 25th October.
Beyond new writing, the residency allows OTG and Hope Street Theatre to curate a vibrant, eclectic year-round offering. Audiences will see regular, monthly runs of Bardic Desperation, the interactive D&D adventure night, entirely improvised by a cast of four. Their next outing is November 15th. The season continues to put the spotlight on young and emerging talent with OTG Youth Theatre’s Young Company, who will bring their annual major performance project to Hope Street Theatre in April 2027. Following on from this, OTG’s company will be bringing a main stage production in June, ahead of returning with their summer touring production of Peter Pan in early August.
Dan Meigh, Co-Artistic Director of Off the Ground Theatre, said:
‘We are incredibly proud to be able to call Hope Street Theatre our new artistic home. We’ve worked together so well on so many productions over the years, this feels a natural evolution for two companies whose core value is the same: nurturing local talent. From Charlie’s brilliant new script to our Young Company’s devised performance in 2027, we can’t wait to get started.’
Sam Donovan, Artistic Director at Hope Street Theatre, said:
‘OTG Theatre’s energy and dedication to creating opportunities for young and emerging artists make them the perfect Resident Company for Hope Street Theatre. We are thrilled to be working even closer with them on a really exciting season of events that absolutely put fresh, local talent at centre stage.’