Bent Architect…
…is the brainchild of Mick Martin & Jude Wright. The name is intended to reflect the very 3 dimensional element of our aspirations and the idea of a very modern sense of design and build culture in the 21st century, but from a very particular and skewed perspective.
It exists to create fresh, engaging, entertaining work that tells stories that address the issues and underlying questions of being alive now in a way that is highly visual, verbally and physically poetic, surreal yet immediate, tragic but very funny. We are passionate about the spoken word in theatre, the rhythm and cadences of language, the very absurd nature of everyday speech and conversation.
Mick Martin was formerly writer in residence with Major Road Theatre Co, He also co-created three productions with Mind the Gap in the mid-nineties. As a writer he has a string of theatre, radio and television credits ranging from ‘The Life And Times Of Young Bob Scallion’, ‘The Immigrant Song’, ‘A Weekend In England,’ ‘Once Upon A Time In Wigan’, ‘Son Rise’ and ‘Worlds Apart’ which have all been produced at major theatre venues across the country and Ballykissangel, Dream Team, Born & Bred and Crossroads on TV. He has written a film script of Once Upon A Time In Wigan and remains optimistic it might yet see a multiplex near somebody.
Jude Wright started her career with Northern Broadsides touring to venues across the country for three years. She project managed and directed a number of devised pieces such as ‘Spitting Feathers’, ‘The Kind Of Folks We Are’ and ‘Hijacked Dreams’, all drawn from classical sources but moved to a very contemporary setting.
Since then, Jude has worked for a number of different organisations, establishing and running new community arts-based projects and directing various productions at Bradford College, Theatre in the Mill, Square Chapel and Oldham Coliseum. Since 2004 she has worked with Wakefield Theatres, taking professional theatre and practice to new audiences across the district and programming and developing Wakefield Arts Centre as a space for new and innovative work.
We originally began the thinking for the company in 2003 and the Arts Council very generously supported us in an early R&D process, which for a variety of reason took nearly 3 years to evolve into a finished show called Frog Man. We have really only begun Bent Architect properly in 2007 however, with the successful regional tour of Frog Man on the back of an equally successful run at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006.
We now have the time, space and support from not just the Arts Council but also Wakefield Council to pursue our vision and practice fully.
