HighTide

Who we are

About HighTide

Launched in 2007, HighTide has produced and toured over 60 productions and supported hundreds of artists, showcasing the very best of British new writing talent. Our productions are political, diverse and joyful and allow our writers the space to ask questions about the world around them and articulate their dreams, fears and passions.

Our alumni include the playwrights Jack Thorne, Vinay Patel, Ella Hickson and Theresa Ikoko; and directors including Chinonyerem Odimba, Michael Longhurst, Kate Wasserberg and Roy Alexander Weise. Our co-producing partners have included the National Theatre, the Royal Court and Manchester Royal Exchange.  

An Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, the company is also supported by major arts funders including the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

With the appointment of new Artistic Director/CEO Clare Slater in October 2022, and alongside 

Arts Council England’s new 10-year strategy Let’s Create, we have refined our artistic mission and vision and are excited to tell you about it here.

Our artistic mission

HighTide is a writer-centred theatre company, touring new plays by East of England playwrights across our home region, nationally and internationally.  We run creative writing programmes in our communities to support young people to find their voice, and a writer development programme that creates the space for East of England playwrights to thrive. 

We are committed to ensuring everyone, from all backgrounds, can encounter the joy and power of theatre.

HighTide holds the climate crisis in its name; a daily reminder of our responsibility to act now - with imagination and creativity.   We see climate and social justice as inextricably linked and are restless in our belief that theatre can help rehearse a better future for us all.

On everything we do, we work in partnership, locally and nationally.  We believe that collaboration makes better theatre, as well as more lasting, positive social change.  

Our 2030 vision

For our playwrights:  

By 2030, the East of England will be a celebrated seedbed of exceptional, diverse and thriving playwriting talent.

For our communities:  

By 2030, targeted storytelling and creative writing skills will have reduced educational deprivation and increased well-being in our home region.

For our industry:  

By 2030, HighTide will have proved that it is not only possible, but creatively exhilarating, to become a net-carbon-positive company.

Our values

• Kind 

• Candid

• Ambitious 

• Collaborative

• Dedicated to writers and the East of England