Third Angel and Company Longevity: Contemporary Theatre-making and practices of Collaboration, Collecting and Remembering

The demands placed on makers of small-scale theatre in the UK are overwhelming: contemporary theatre makers must negotiate first, the challenge of company survival in a climate marked by a reliance on government subsidy and shifting socioeconomics; second, the impermanence of their medium: haunted by its ever-imminent 'disappearance'. This research examines when and how longevity in collaborative arts practice is achievable and the challenges, risks and values attached to extended participation in, and contribution to, the sector. These challenges, especially for smaller companies, demand the application of practices of resilience.
Sheffield-based theatre company Third Angel (1995-) exemplify longevity in the sector, among a proportionately small number of ‘quadranscentennial’ UK companies surpassing 25 years in action. Third Angel are a small company that consistently work with external collaborators, extending their reach and impact beyond their apparent size. Their work reveals an ethos of collection and reuse that echoes their collaborative tendencies, creating networks with people, objects and stories.

Where the artistic medium is inherently ephemeral, recording practices are central to preservation of a company’s legacy. Through engagement with Third Angel’s archive, the study examines the conflicts between the ephemerality of performance practice and the documents that uphold a company’s legacy; this research argues that the risk of 'disappearance' can be subversively appropriated as a positive resource towards longevity. The archive provides insight into watershed moments in the lifetime of the company. Together with original interviews, observation of the company in action, and close readings of performances from Third Angel’s repertoire, the archive makes evident collecting and remembering as central to compositional methods, artistic oeuvre and approaches to longevity and legacy. Through examining the interplay between Third Angel’s specific practices of collaboration, collecting and remembering this doctorate presents case study research towards potential strategies for longevity in small-scale UK theatre practice.