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Wildcard Theatre Company was a multi-award-winning touring theatre company based in Central London. It was formed in October 2015 by a number of graduates from The Oxford School of Drama.

Wildcard’s aim was to vitalise theatre to engage new audiences and provide a home for emerging artists. They achieved this through their productions; their heavily subsidised rehearsal studios that operated out of the heart of Westminster; and through their artist development/educational programmes which operate both locally and nationally.

Overview

Wildcard Collective Ltd registered with companies house October 2015. It was formed by a number of graduates from The Oxford School of Drama. In 2016, to drive the company forward, Joey Dawson was appointed CEO and James Meteyard was appointed Artistic Director. Later that year, Wildcard Collect Ltd was granted charitable status through the Charity Commission. Wildcard also became Pleasance Associate Artistes. In 2021, Tom Ratcliffe and Jenna Fincken took over as Executive Directors.

Wildcard’s productions often were based on finding, developing and producing stories that promote positive social change through productions that embrace and champion the liveness of theatre. Their productions were performed across London, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and many theatres across the UK. Wildcard won multiple awards for their work such as, Mental Health Fringe Award 2018 (Electrolyte) and LET Award 2018 (Electrolyte). Nominations include WhatsOnStage Nomination for Best Off-West End Production (Ruckus) and two Off West End Awards Nomination for Sound Design (Tempest) and Lead Performance in a Play (Ruckus). Wildcard also worked with established industry artists such as Rula Lenska in their production of Evelyn at the Mercury Theatre and Southwark Playhouse in 2022.

Westminster specifically for emerging companies & artists in need of heavily subsidised rehearsal rooms. After initially expecting to run the studios for 6 months, they were able to run the heavily subsidised rehearsal studios for over 3 years in the heart of London’s West End. In this time, Wildcard were able to work with 1,199 individual companies / artists, taking over 4,000 bookings in this period in spite of the pandemic. Daring Hare Productions commented, “This is a very rare company. One which doesn’t just provide the only affordable rehearsal space in London, but bends over backwards to ensure new creatives are supported and fully nurtured.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Wildcard received support through Arts Council England’s Culture Recovery Fund. This meant Wildcard adapted their programme to go online, launching FULL HOUSE. Wildcard engaged with 7,232 people from March – September 2020 through this programme of work which contained:

• 10 free online workshops with industry leaders such as Tanika Gupta, James Graham, Anna Jordan, and Simon Stephens.
• Pay-What-You-Can Weekly Acting Workouts
• 4 paid online play readings for winning scripts selected from an open call-out.
• An online sharing of ELECTROLYTE as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts festival.
• A 12 episode Podcast series covering a range of topics including: financial support for artists, an insight into how regional venues are adapting to survive & a Musical Theatre series.

Wildcard launched EMPOWERMENT, their education and outreach department, in Spring 2021. Their series of workshops TRAINING GROUND launch with great success, offering 68 workshops to over 600 unique customers in the first year. Wildcard also partnered with Bounce Theatre to launch their first free summer school in the borough of Westminster.

Alongside the Watermill Theatre, Wildcard announced 4 emerging companies as the participants of their Artist Development scheme LAUNCHPAD. These companies received:

• £2,000 cash contribution.
• A weeks worth of space for an R&D of their new work.
• A year long mentorship exploring organisational structure.

The companies that received this were Flawbored, Chuchu Nwagu Productions, Power Play and Produced Moon.

Wildcard announced the closure of Wildcard Studios November 2022 after being rejected for Arts Council England’s 2023/26 NPO portfolio. After trying to remodel the business, the Trustee and Founding Member board agreed to close the company.

Productions

Production	Written by	Directed by	Produced by	Venue	Tour	Year	Awards
A Midsummer Night's Dream	William Shakespeare	James Meteyard	Joey Dawson	Broadway Theatre & Brockley Jack Studio Theatre	N/A	2015	N/A
After Party	James Meteyard	Cat Robey	Joey Dawson	Pleasance Theatre	N/A	2017
The Cat’s Mother	Erica Murary	Jackie Fisher	Joey Dawson	The Vaults Festival, London & Edinburgh Festival	N/A	2018	Highly Commended Award - Vault Festival 2018
17	Frankie Meredith	Balisha Karra & Finley-Rose Townsend	Joey Dawson	The Vaults Festival, London	N/A	2018
Electrolyte	Writer: James Meteyard Lyrics & Music: Maimuna Memon	Donnacadh O’Briain	Joey Dawson	Edinburgh Festival Fringe		2018
Electrolyte	Writer: James Meteyard Lyrics & Music: Maimuna Memon	Donnacadh O’Briain	Joey Dawson	Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Pleasance Theatre, Latitude Festival, Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, Unity Theatre, HOME Manchester, Tobacco Factory, New Diorama Theatre, Electric Theatre, Theatre Royal Winchester, New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, Theatre Severn, Nottingham Playhouse, Sherman Theatre, Norwich Playhouse, Carriageworks Theatre, Selby Town Hall, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Stephen Joseph Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival, Axis Theatre Dublin, Tron Theatre, Traverse Theatre, Theatr Clwyd, Loco Klub, Watermill Theatre, Marlowe Theatre and North Wall Arts Centre.	Yes	2019	LET Award 2018, Mental Health Fringe Award The Stepladder Award The Voice Mag Pick of The Fringe Award Pleasance Best Newcomer Award 2018
Four of a Kind	AGE HALL: THE IMMIGRANTS MUSICAL by Hassun El-Zafar THE SYSTEM by Kit Sinclair DOG HAIR/PEARL DOVE by Seventh Sense Theatre Company BULLRING TECHNO MAKEOUT JAMZ by Nathan Queeley-Dennis	N/A	Jenna Fincken	The Vaults Festival, London	N/A	2020	N/A
Signal Fires: State of the Arts	James Meteyard and Maimuna Memon	James Meteyard	N/A	Online Video	N/A	2020	N/A
Tempest	Adapted by James Meteyard	James Meteyard	Wildcard and Pleasance Theatre	Pleasance Theatre	N/A	2022	Off West End Awards nomination for Sound Design
Evelyn	Tom Ratcliffe	Madelaine Moore	Metal Rabbit Productions and Tom Ratcliffe	Southwark Playhouse	N/A	2022
Ruckus	Jenna Fincken	Georgia Green	Joey Dawson and Jenna Fincken	Edinburgh Festival FringeSouthwark Playhouse	N/A	2022	WhatsOnStage Nomination for Best Off-West End Production Popcorn Writing Award 1st Finalist 2022 Summerhall Lustrum Award Shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award

The Company

Founding Members & Associate Artists (2015 - 2023)

• Tom Ratcliffe | Co-Executive Director (2021-2023), Producer, Writer
• Jenna Fincken | Co-Executive Director (2021-2023), Producer, Writer
• Joey Dawson | CEO (2016-2021), Producer
• James Meteyard | Artistic Director (2016-2021), Producer, Director, Writer
• Megan Pemberton | Studio Manager (2021-2022)
• Emily Stott | Workshop & Course Co-ordinator (2020-2022)
• Tom Crowhurst | Educational Coordinator (2020-2021)
• Maimuna Memon | Resident Composer, Writer
• Paul Hilliar | Communications Advisor
• Josh Leese | Literary Supervisor
• Gabriella Margulies | Associate Artist
• Luke W. Robson | Resident Designer

Trustee’s

• 2016 - 2023 - Harriet O'Rourke, Sara Houghton and Ehsan Haque
• 2016 - 2019 - Andrew McBean