The Hope Street Theatre opened in 2018, but its story began in 2001, when Sam Donovan and Nick Rogers established Performers Theatre School.
For over twenty years, Performers supplied young performers and adult supernumeraries to major touring productions, many of them for the late Bill Kenwright. Today, the school continues under the direction of Sam, Nick and Jenna Rushton.
In 2008, Sam and Nick founded Merseyside Academy of Drama (MAD), offering acting training for adults, from complete beginners to aspiring professionals. Their own experience spans West End, international and touring productions, theatre education and new writing, including longstanding involvement as directors and trustees of the Olivier Award-winning Papatango theatre company.
Hope Street Studios followed in 2015, and The Hope Street Theatre three years later.
A place to make theatre
Inspired by Liverpool’s independent fringe theatre tradition, Hope Street was created as an accessible, professionally equipped 85-seat venue where emerging artists and established companies alike could develop and present their work.
We’ve since supported numerous local creatives through rehearsal space, subsidised facilities and artistic development.
Our first Resident Company, Barewater Productions, joined in 2019. In 2023, we launched What Happens Next?, a new-writing competition developed with Tip Tray Theatre. Its inaugural winner, I Am Steven Gerrard, subsequently transferred to the Royal Court Studio and Epstein Theatre, while other winning works have become full productions.
In 2026, Off the Ground Theatre became our latest Resident Company, helping shape the competition’s next chapter.
Developing the next generation
Beyond performances, Hope Street is home to Rare Studio Liverpool’s Acting Department and Liverpool’s LAMDA Public Examination Centre. We’ve also hosted National Theatre Connections and West End Calling events.
Together with MAD and Performers, we provide opportunities to learn, rehearse, create and perform.
For some, theatre becomes a career. For others, it brings confidence, friendships or the chance to discover something new. We believe there’s room for both.
What Happens Next?
It’s the name of our new-writing competition, but also a question at the heart of everything we do.
What follows a child’s first performance, an adult’s first acting class or a writer’s first play?
For 25 years, we’ve helped people discover the answer.
What happens next? Perhaps that’s where you come in.