Supported Artists
We are celebrating and nurturing new talent to develop 360° artists of the future. Our Supported Artists Programme has been created to increase opportunities for artists who are based or regularly working in the North West, to receive support and resources that will enable their projects to flourish.
Our first wave of supported artists are from within our network and have been working with ThickSkin as Assistants, Associates, Performers or have been part of our wider network. They are each looking to explore new ideas, push their process and discover new collaborations.
ThickSkin is proud to support their work through a financial contribution to their projects and bespoke in-kind support from ThickSkin’s team. This might include mentoring, being a critical friend or outside eye, providing skills development, helping expand networks, offering technical resource and space to create work, or hands-on producing and fundraising support.
“Our supported artist programme is something that we are keen to develop over the coming years. Support can come in lots of forms, and Laura and I know first hand what a small amount of support in the early stages of a new project can do to help push it forwards. We were lucky to be supported by great people when we built ThickSkin and this is our way of paying forward that ethos. The programme varies based on the needs of the individuals and we are really buzzing to see what can grow out of this support.”
— Neil Bettles, Artistic Director
Close To Home (Resident Company)
Close to Home Productions are a female-led, North West theatre company who tell stories full of humour, heart and a hint of cheekiness. We work in collaboration with communities and artists to create theatre that informs and supports audiences, bringing subjects that are hard to talk about to people that need to hear them.
We work with, nurture and connect Northern, female and non-binary artists in order to open the door in the North and make room for new stories that belong to people like us.
Identities, our 5 star debut play, toured nationally and performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We are Associate Artists at Culture Warrington, working with them on their Place Partnership Fund. We are currently developing a new show, Climax, commissioned by Warrington Arts Festival which will premiere this year.
As long term admirers, we are chuffed to bits to be supported by ThickSkin, in their new home in Wigan! We can’t wait to learn from them and develop our approach to multidisciplinary theatre making and touring, as well as getting to know more audiences from our region.
Ransack
Ransack Theatre, an award-winning, Manchester-based company formed in 2014 by friends who graduated together. They make theatre that is story-led, physically dynamic, and curious about space, working in close collaboration with a rotating team of creatives to originate artistically bold and technically inventive theatre, treading the line between art and entertainment. Ransack is led by Piers Black and Alastair Michael.
Their most recent production Catching Comets was created whilst we were Supported Artists at the Royal Exchange and went on to tour nationally in 2022. Before that they produced MOTH by Declan Greene at Hope Mill Theatre, for which they won the Manchester Theatre Award for Best Fringe Production.
Max Emmerson (he/him)
Max Emmerson is an independent Producer from Manchester who specialises in the development of new writing, project management and touring and is supported by Stage One (Autumn Bursary 2023 & Stage One x Columbia University Exchange 2024).
Alongside independent producing, Max is Executive Producer for Max Emmerson Productions and Emmerson & Ward Productions. Max has previously worked as Producer for Birmingham Rep, Secret Cinema and Leeds Playhouse.
Max’s Producing credits include: RUM by Joe Mallalieu (UK Tour & Edinburgh Fringe), A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story by Mark Gatiss (Birmingham Rep), Love It If We Beat Them by Rob Ward (Live Theatre Newcastle & UK Tour), BI-TOPIA by Sam Danson (UK Tour), Saffie by Daneka Etchells (development), 365 Days Remembered by Nessah Muthy (development), Wishmas (Secret Cinema), A Passionate Woman by Kay Mellor (Leeds Playhouse), Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck (Leeds Playhouse & UK Tour), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Leeds Playhouse & UK Tour), Nine Night by Natasha Gordon (Leeds Playhouse & Nottingham Playhouse), The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me by Rob Ward (UK Tour), Conversations by Rob Ward (Curve Online), Walk This Play®. by ThickSkin Theatre (App).
Alice Christina Corrigan (she/her)
Alice is a visually impaired actor, writer and creative access director based in Manchester. Her work is focused on advancing the technological landscape of creative access to elevate storytelling for underrepresented communities. And through her new company, LALA Arts, Alice is seeking nationwide changes in creating a sustainable workforce practice for disabled artists across all areas of theatre production. Alice’s previous work includes PAST LIFE, FADE and her third play 90 + 5 has just begun production. Alice has been supported by The Lowry, ThickSkin Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Theatre Deli, CRIPtic Arts, Extant and Graeae.
Danielle Henry (she/her)
Danielle is a performer and writer from North Manchester. As an actor Danielle’s CV varies from regular roles in television soaps, to being part of the cast and crew of the show that reopened the National Theatre after the pandemic. She has worked on numerous projects with ThickSkin, developing new work and performing voiceover roles. Alongside her extensive acting career, Danielle is exploring her work as a playwright and drawing on her experience as a mixed race woman from a working class community. She is passionate about encouraging other people from working class backgrounds into the industry.
Danielle said “I feel excited to explore my journey as a writer with the support of ThickSkin. I am a huge admirer of their work, having collaborated with them on various projects. I think they bring something very special to the North West. My first full length play, FULL, is set in a dystopian future and is an investigation into mixed race identity.”
Joseph Walsh (he/him)
Joseph is an alumni of The RTYDS. He is a Wigan-based, working class director, writer and performer. He first worked with ThickSkin as Assistant Director for Blood Harmony and later Associate Director of This Is Where We Begin. Most recently, Joseph has been announced as one of the inaugural Directors of ThickSkin’s Generator performance company. Joseph’s recent work includes writer and director of Frozen Peas In An Old Tin Can (The Way Theatre), and Assistant Director of The Social (Not Too Tame). He also wrote Like Dad, Like Duck (Winner of Oldham Coliseum Off Out Competition) and a number of other plays. He is currently developing new work, exploring men’s mental health with support from ThickSkin.
Hetty Hodgson (she/they) – Director
Hetty is a director who works collaboratively to tell stories which are both political and playful. She is the Artistic Director of multi-award winning Pigfoot, telling stories about the climate crisis with the least carbon impact possible. Hetty is the current Bryan Forbes Assistant Director with the National Youth Theatre.
Hetty worked with ThickSkin as Associate Director on Peak Stuff (UK tour) & Love Will Tear Us Apart (LIPA). They have directed work across a range of mediums including, Hot In Here (Gate Theatre & UK Tour), Bothered (short film), How To Save A Rock (English Touring Theatre Trailer Story & Battersea Arts Centre ‘Lets Do London’). Hetty is currently presenting I Really Do Think This Will Change Your Life at the Edinburgh Fringe and on tour with support from ThickSkin.
Hetty said “It would be no exaggeration to say that ThickSkin have totally changed my life. The skills, learning and opportunities they’ve given me to develop as a multi-faceted, collaborative, 360° artist are unlike any other experience I’ve had. Their confidence in and support of my work and ambition is extraordinary.”