About Us
Ensemble ’84 was founded in 2024 with a clear idea. Open access to theatre. Root it in place. Build it with people who live there. In a village shaped by the rise and fall of coal, we offer paid training and a real chance to perform.
Our early work has already marked us out as one of the most important new theatre projects in the North East of England. Our first production, Mother Courage and Her Children, adapted by Lee Hall, brought together local performers and artists from Isango Ensemble who are usually based in South Africa. The result was urgent, musical, and direct. It drew strong reviews and full houses, and went on to win three honours at the North East Culture Awards in November 2025. A later run at Live Theatre in Newcastle confirmed that this was not a one-off moment, but the start of something with reach.
The follow-up, Pits, People and Players, turned inward. Built from local voices, it traced Horden’s history through coal and community. It showed us growing in confidence. More than that, it showed how culture can emerge from within a place, and doesn't have to be brought in from outside.
At the centre of this work is Mark Dornford-May. Born in Yorkshire and the grandson of a miner, he has a connection to Horden that is not abstract. His career spans decades of work in the UK and South Africa, often focused on ensemble practice and music-led storytelling. As the founder of Isango Ensemble in Cape Town, he developed a model of theatre rooted in community and collaboration. His film U-Carmen eKhayelitsha won the Golden Bear, providing international recognition. Yet the work in Horden feels less like a new departure and more like a continuation of a long-held belief. That world-class theatre can be made anywhere.
The wider ambition is clear. To build a sustainable company. To create jobs and pathways into the arts. To shift how places like Horden are seen, both from within and beyond the region.
There is also a wider cultural context. Too often, high-quality theatre is tied to major cities. Audiences travel to it. Talent leaves to find it. Ensemble ’84 challenges that pattern. It places serious work in a place often described as “left behind” and asks audiences, critics, and the industry to look again.
What is emerging is not just a theatre company, but a model. One where opportunity is made local. Where stories are shaped by the people who live them. Where ambition is not limited by postcode.
Press releases
Horden's Story Returns To The Stage As Pits, People And Players Comes...
A powerful community production, created from the voices, memories, and experiences of local people, is returning to Horden this month. Pits,... read more
03.06.2026 • By Ensemble '84
Ensemble ’84 Is Reimagining Theatre in County Durham
In Horden, a former mining village on the County Durham coast, a building once left standing empty is now full of life again. This month, local... read more
27.05.2026 • By Ensemble '84
County Durham’s Ensemble ‘84 presents Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a rarely...
A County Durham theatre company brings an urgent new staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy, providing a fresh perspective on the familiar story.... read more
07.05.2026 • By Ensemble '84
