Buglight Theatre focus on untold stories and those from often overlooked communities

There are of course myriad companies that contribute to the whole system and I find myself in recent weeks arriving at the stories of the companies that, while smaller in size, are mighty in ambition.

Companies like Buglight Theatre which, I discovered, has literally in the past couple of weeks submitted a bid to carry out R&D for a first children’s play tackling the issues of mental health. The play will be aimed at five to seven year olds. Taking on a challenge like that, in the midst of a pandemic is the kind of ambition that can only be admired.

The Yorkshire company was set up by co-artistic directors Keeley Lane and Richard Galloway in 2015. Lane is a Doncaster-based actress and Galloway an actor who trained at Bretton Hall.

“We are exploratory, bold, playful and compassionate. We work with the conviction that everybody has the right to access the arts and a commitment to overcoming barriers to engagement,” says Lane.

“We tell stories from communities that would otherwise be unheard, from survivors of trafficking to Northern Irish families affected by conflict. We collaborate with partners in and outside the arts sector to present real stories in accessible, engaging and imaginative ways.”

A declaration of interest. I have a history with pretty much every company and building I’ve written about and the same goes with Buglight. I’ve known Galloway and Lane for a number of years and fully understood why two young actors starting out on their career would make the choice to create a company and with it, create their own work. What’s impressive is that the integrity of Lane and Galloway has led to the creation of a company with a real moral compass guiding it.

“We set up the company to essentially generate work for ourselves and other freelancers,” admits Lane. “We love telling stories and wanted to tackle some of the issues in the industry we – and many others – have faced with inaccessibility.

“Some of the things we are starting to do to help tackle these issues include parent-friendly rehearsal and audition processes. We send audition pieces way ahead of time to give those who have to take other jobs plenty of time to work on a script.

"Although everyone is doing this at the moment, before the pandemic we offered initial auditions online to save on costs. We have audio description integrated into our shows, pay what you feel performances, and performances in non-traditional spaces.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and there’s a bit of trial and error, but we are committed to making our work and projects as accessible as we can.”

Any actor knows the difficulty of being called to a far flung destination with a script to learn and 24 hours’ notice. The Buglight artistic directors certainly do, hence their getting out in front of the issue.

Where did the name come from? “Bugs are attracted to light. Glow worms, fireflies, they light up a night sky. Buglight brings audiences a brand of theatre that shines light in the darkness: we often shine a light on society, the unseen, unheard and under-represented. We explore untold stories, or well known stories told from a unique perspective,” says Lane.

Like many of the companies that have been featured in this series, Buglight and its founders are proud of and to some extent defined by their place in the region. “We’re passionate about regional theatre and about creating opportunities for local artists. We are striving to become an inclusive company able to support parents, working class artists and those who don’t feel represented or supported.”

I always ask the question of theatre makers at the minute how they feel the industry will be different when we eventually emerge from these dark days. Lane didn’t feel like she was in a place to be able to answer the question, concentrating on simply taking each day as it comes. A lot of people, not just in the theatre industry, will relate to this.

Instead, we look back on the successes already enjoyed by Buglight. “We’re still quite fresh and don’t have a tonne of productions behind us, yet,” she says.

“Our first production, The House Behind the Lines was special as it was our first piece. It was about female sex workers on the frontline in France in the First World War. It was a wonderful piece to work on and marked the first time we worked with director Ruth Carney.

"Last year we worked on an online interactive panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, on Zoom, which was another great challenge and really fun to do. It was a first for us and a first collaboration with another company, Cre:8 Theatre in Belfast.

“We loved it for lots of reasons, not least because we had performers in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Belfast and audiences across the country, in Australia and in China.”

And that is reason for optimism. Of course Buglight is experiencing a tough time. But to create an international pantomime in the time of pandemic is no mean feat and continues to provide optimism. A light in the dark. A buglight, if you will.

www.buglight-theatre.com