Natural Theatre Company

Natural Theatre Company is an interactive performance, walkabout theatre and corporate team building company, performing across the globe for 45 years.

Bath Arts Workshop was founded in 1969 as a group of community projects.  This included The Natural Theatre Company, which evolved in 1970.  The other projects went their separate ways, leaving The Natural Theatre Company as the trading name for Bath Arts Workshop Ltd.

By the 80s the company had started touring world-wide with its street theatre and indoor shows. The company became a Regularly Funded Organisation for the Arts Council.  In 2000 the company was at its largest when it was the resident street company at The Millennium Dome. 

In 2008 the financial crisis affected the work with corporate clients and in 2011, the company lost its Arts Council core funding. This forced the company to consider its future with reduced staffing and lower resources. In 2013 the long-time Artistic Director Ralph Oswick retired and the General manager moved on.

In Jan 2014 Andy Burden was appointed Executive & Artistic Director and introduced a new strategic future for the company without public subsidy. A new ethos and value system ushered in new creative developments and opportunities with the arrival of many new performers, creating better work and revitalising the Naturals’ reputation.  The reserves were rebuilt, resources brought back up to standard and deficits removed with a full order book.

In 2020 the COVID pandemic proved another significant challenge for the Company.  A survival plan was enacted and the company survived through successful support funding, a quick return to work (especially at The Roman Baths) and some necessary redundancies. The admin team kept actors buoyant with online workshops, information support and virtual “socials”.

As the world emerged from lockdown we invested in a grant funded “off the blocks” programme of training, showcase performances and new outreach work. This gave an income to our performing team and gave us great visibility with all our potential clients. The financial year 2022-3 was a year of taking as much work as possible.  From this, we have assessed where the markets are growing, what proves artistically stimulating and what we have the capacity to deliver with high quality.