The Stage references Headlong Theatre Company's capacity for ‘bold story telling’, something that has fuelled the organisation's work throughout the past five decades. Formed as a touring company in 1974 and known as the Oxford Stage Company until 2006, Headlong has been behind many memorable shows, including the recently revived People, Places and Things, Enron and 1984. The group is under the artistic direction of Holly Race Roughan.
Influences
Headlong's work is often informed by its frequent partnerships with new playwrights, theatres, directors and other companies that ‘bring fresh ideas and perspectives’. For instance, the 2024 production with Chichester Festival Theatre of Laura Lomas’ The House Party (pictured), a modern adaptation of Strindberg's Miss Julie, was also a collaboration with Frantic Assembly. The influence of multimedia in performance has also developed in recent years, such as in 1984 where large video projections created the omniscient surveillance of Big Brother.
Themes
The company frequently responds to the cultural, social and political landscape; playwrights Lucy Kirkwood and Duncan Macmillan have addressed issues like climate change, mental health and corruption. Many plays Headlong produce explore the complexities of human nature; Macmillan's People, Places and Things puts the spotlight on addiction and the protagonist's journey to recovery. Themes like corporate greed also commonly reoccur; Enron charts the eponymous company's collapse. It follows the CEO's escalation from visionary leader to manipulate executive as he engages in ever-growing fraudulent activities, illustrating the dangers of power when it goes unchecked.
Style
The company characterises its work as an ‘invitation: to come and see something in a new way’. There are traces of expressionism in Headlong's style: physical theatre is used to emphasise characters’ emotions and stories, alongside video projection and live feeds. Some productions have employed non-linear narratives, challenging audiences to actively participate in story construction, as in James Graham's This House, where the unconventional structure echoed the turbulence witnessed in 1970s UK parliament.
Exercises
Movement sequences
Headlong often uses movement to immerse the audience in characters’ experiences; in People Places and Things, choreographed sequences are a physical manifestation of the protagonist's hallucinations as symptoms of withdrawal from drugs and alcohol. To explore this, choose a scene from a play or an excerpt from a short story where there is a central character's perspective from which to tell the story. For example, the moment Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods by their father for the first time. Begin by asking students to create the setting with their bodies. In this instance, they could become the forest. Ask them to consider how Hansel and Gretel might feel. Next, get students to create a short sequence, using their physicalised setting as a starting point, where Hansel and Gretel walk along the path, lost. Once they have a short piece, get them to repeat it, using the feelings they have identified to help inform the movement, perhaps instruct them to try moving in contrasting ways, for example ‘calm’ and then ‘frightened’. Once they have tried a few options, try running it to a range of music. Finally, ask students to reflect on how the meaning altered dependent on the emotion and music driving the scene.
Classic text, contemporary context
As well as championing new writers, Headlong's mission to make theatre accessible for 21st-century audiences also includes reimagining classic texts. In Faustus: That Dammed Woman, a reworking of Marlowe's cautionary tale, Joanna Faustus ‘sells her soul to wrestle control of her own destiny’. For exam students who are preparing to write their own ‘classic text for a contemporary audience’, begin with a scene that could easily be transposed into contemporary society. For instance, in the opening few pages of Electra, the titular character is mourning the death of her father and is comforted by chorus (her friends) outside the palace. After reading through the extract, ask students to consider alternative locations that an audience might relate to. In the given example, this would be where female friends might gather to support each other (a bar, nightclub bathroom or afternoon tea all work as settings). Using the original text, get students to create scripted dialogue that removes the chorus speaking in unison, and gives individual characters lines. They could use existing dialogue or create their own and replicate it in a style, such as naturalism or absurdism to help with structure. Once students have a short script, encourage them to stage it and then reflect on what they have discovered, considering themes, perspectives or new voices that have emerged. Such ‘new voices, writing, ideas’ form a central part of Headlong's mission to ‘tell big stories’, making them an exciting and relevant option for teaching in classroom drama.
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