Ardent Theatre Company has unveiled a powerful 10-Year Manifesto for Change, setting out a bold vision to dismantle class inequality across the UK theatre industry.
Founded by Mark Sands and Andrew Muir, Ardent Theatre Company draws on the lived experiences of its founders, both of whom grew up in working-class families and faced significant barriers to entering the arts.
“Without urgent action, working-class actors, writers, and audiences will continue to disappear from the industry,” said Sands and Muir. “Plays will go unwritten, performances unseen, and theatres themselves will grow increasingly disconnected from the diverse society they are meant to serve. The cost of inaction is a hollowed-out, elitist sector – and a loss of the powerful, authentic stories only working-class creatives can tell.”
The manifesto sets a clear target: by 2035, at least 50% of theatre creatives and audiences should identify as, or have been raised, working class.
The company highlights the systemic challenges facing working-class creatives, from financial constraints and regional isolation to unpaid development pathways and cultural exclusion.
“For working-class actors, financial constraints, regional isolation, and the overwhelming dominance of London-based opportunities create near-insurmountable barriers,” the manifesto states. “Those who don’t attend elite drama schools or who lack personal connections often face an impossible choice: abandon their dreams or accept exploitative, unpaid work they can’t afford.”
The same barriers extend to playwrights and audiences, with Ardent warning that “high ticket prices, inaccessible programming, cultural intimidation, and post-pandemic shifts towards at-home entertainment mean live theatre feels increasingly remote.”
“At Ardent Theatre Company, we’re done waiting. Our 10-Year Manifesto is a bold call to action: to tear down the class ceiling and rebuild a theatre industry where everyone belongs.”
The company’s strategic aims include:
- Creating opportunities for working-class creatives to connect with employers
- Bridging the gap between university actor training and drama school
- Increasing paid opportunities for working-class actors
- Influencing the sector to improve employability for working-class creatives
- Removing barriers that prevent working-class audiences from attending theatre
In 2026, Ardent Theatre Company will produce Our Country Now, a major new project featuring four 70-minute plays by Florence Espeut-Nickless, Shahid Iqbal Khan, Kelly Jones and Diana Nneka Atuona. Each play will be developed in a different UK region before a five-week London run at Southwark Playhouse and a three-week regional tour.
“The next ten years are not just a strategic roadmap – they are a manifesto for transformation,” said the founders. “At Ardent Theatre Company, we refuse to accept a future where class determines creative worth, access or opportunity.”
More information can be found here.
