What's on at Workie Ticket Theatre Company

THIS IS NOT A POLITE HISTORY LESSON – Deeds, Words, and Danger is a bold, funny, and powerful new play inspired by 800 years of North Shields women: from medieval lay sisters and suffragettes to wartime heroines, boxers, carers and teenagers growing up today. 

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At the heart of the play is an unexpected relationship between Ruby, a sharp-witted 15-year-old wannabe boxer facing exclusion from school, and her mentor Mina – a retired history teacher with her own wounds and a fire for justice. Together, they journey across North Shields, uncovering women who refused to stay quiet and the risks they took by speaking out – from Mary Ann Macham to Norah Balls.

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Created with women and girls from North Shields, this performance confronts misogyny and racism, connects past to present, and celebrates resistance, resilience, and belonging.

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When? Sunday 8th March 2026 – International Women’s Day 2026

Where? The Exchange 1856 - The Loft, North Shields, NE30 1SE

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With thanks to: North Shields 800 and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for making this possible.

Workie Ticket Theatre has received funding from Sunderland City Council's Test, Learn and Grow Fund to deliver a new project: Theatre of the Survivor.

This is all about using participatory theatre to explore healthy relationships, respect, and equality – working with young people and survivors to co-create an audio play and podcast series.

The funding enables us to test and develop new creative approaches that support prevention, amplify lived experience, and leave a lasting community resource.  

Theatre of the Survivor builds on international learning from JoJo Kirtley’s Churchill Fellowship, bringing global feminist theatre practice back into our local work in Sunderland to strengthen survivor-led, preventative approaches.