Sam Hodges, Lilli Geissendorfer and Moss Barclay, stage the first HighTide Festival as a festival of play readings at The Cut in Halesworth. Writers include the comedian Tom Basden.
Steven Atkinson joins HighTide, becoming Co-Artistic Director with Sam Hodges. The second HighTide Festival takes place, this time they include full productions including Adam Brace’s Stovepipe. HighTide also begins its long term relationship with corporate partner Lansons, through the support of Clare Parsons, who provide HighTide with in-kind office space and support.
Stovepipe transfers to London as a co-production with The National Theatre and the Bush Theatre. It is named by the Sunday Times as one of the 10 Best Productions of the decade.
The third HighTide Festival takes place at The Cut.
HighTide Festivals continue annually in Halesworth until 2015 producing the world premieres of productions including Boys by Ella Hickson, Bottleneck by Luke Barnes, Incognito by Nick Payne, Mudlarks by Vickie Donoghue, Ditch by Beth Steel, Neighbors by Branden Jacob-Jenkins, Lidless by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Alexander Masters’ Stuart: A Life Backwards by Jack Thorne and peddling by Harry Melling. Fringe First Winning Lidless (2010) saw the start of HighTide regularly producing plays at the Edinburgh Fringe. Then in 2014 peddling transferred to New York as part of 59E59’s Brits of Broadway season. In 2012, HighTide becomes an Arts Council England National Portfolio organisation, receiving funding from the East of England office.
Suba Das becomes HighTide’s new Artistic Director
HighTide responds quickly the global pandemic with the Lighthouse Programme, digitally supporting over 400 artists during the lockdowns with digital resources and support.
HighTide returns to live performance with the Inventing The Future Festival, a presentation of play readings including Kabul Goes Pop by Waleed Akhtar.
HighTide takes an office at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, creating a regular base in Suffolk.
HighTide presents its first full tour since the pandemic began, with When The Long Trick’s Over by Olivier award winner Morgan Lloyd Malcolm. A co-production with the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, it opens there before touring across the East of England to venues including the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh and The Cut Halesworth, where HighTide started its life 12 years before.
Kabul Goes Pop receives a full production and tour by Brixton House in association with HighTide and the Mercury Colchester.
Clare Slater becomes HighTide’s Artistic Director, redefining the company’s mission to focus on finding, nurturing, developing and producing playwrights from the East of England.
HighTide seeds and presents four brand new plays at HighTide Rising at Wingfield Barns near Diss, showcasing East of England writers Tassa Deparis, Guleraana Mir, Eloise Pennycott and Tom Ratcliffe. A bold new community song-cycle Herring Girls: greater than we are alone opens the mains stage of the First Light Festival on Lowestoft beach. Autumn sees the start of a new touring model for HighTide, with Ghost Stories by Candlelight visiting venues from an intimate pub in rural east anglia to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe. Multi authored, the piece sees a collaboration between playwrights Kelly Jones, Shamser Sinha and Nicola Werenowska; and folk musician Georgie Shackleton.
HighTide breaks new ground in January 2024 with the launch of Story Worlds, an intensive primary school programme which sees pupils write and stage their own original stories at the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft. A rehearsed reading of Make Me by Molly Naylor appears at the Norfolk and Norwich festival, Beach Hut, an immersive audio adaptation of Nicola Werenowska’s monologue from Ghost Stories by Candlelight is staged on Lowestoft seafront for the First Light Festival. HighTide presents Martha Loader’s award-winning Bindweed at the Arcola Theatre in a co-production with Mercury Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre. Autumn sees a new spooky tour of More…Ghost Stories by Candlelight written by Tassa Deparis, James McDermott, Eloise Pennycott and Aisha Zia .
Clare Slater steps down as Artistic Director to join the National Theatre. HighTide explores Climate Dramaturgy with Zoë Svendsen through a major collaboration with the National Trust’s Orford Ness. Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight written by Florence Espeut-Nickless, Simon Longman, Anne Odeke and Rosa Torr sees a new co-production with Pentabus and a sell-out tour spanning the East as well as London, and the West of England.
Dramaturg Titilola Dawudu is appointed Artistic Director/CEO of HighTide.
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