Paines Plough is the UK’s national theatre of new plays. We commission and produce the best playwrights and tour their plays far and wide. Whether you’re in Liverpool or Lyme Regis, Scarborough or Southampton, a Paines Plough show is coming to a theatre near you soon.
“The lifeblood of the UK’s theatre ecosystem” The Guardian
Paines Plough was formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub. Since then we’ve produced more than 130 new productions by world renowned playwrights like Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Dennis Kelly and Mike Bartlett. We’ve toured those plays to hundreds of places from Manchester to Moscow to Maidenhead.
We celebrate 40 years of Paines Plough in 2014 with our biggest, boldest, furthest-reaching programme of work ever. Programme 2014 sees 10 productions touring to 50 places around the UK, featuring the work of 100 playwrights.