York couple set up Hedgepig Theatre (From York Press)

Andy Curry and Gemma Sharp set up Hedgepig Theatre

9:50am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Theatre By Charles Hutchinson

YORK actors and freshly bonded husband-and-wife team Andy Curry and Gemma Sharp are setting up a new independent theatre company, Hedgepig Theatre.

“After working together so many times – not to mention getting married in December! – Gem and myself have long been hatching a plan to put our own theatre company together, and we’re finally in a position to make it public,” says Andy.

“As a company we have reasonably straightforward aims: we want to tell stories. We want to entertain; we want to create worlds that can be performed anywhere – be it in a lavish theatre, a pub upstairs room or a street corner. We want our audiences to come with us, and if they find something that excites, that inspires or that informs along the way, then we’re happy.”

Hedgepig will produce existing and original work for performance in York and further afield.

“Our first planned production is April De Angelis’s Playhouse Creatures, which we’ll perform in York at Upstage Centre’s theatre at 41 Monkgate from July 10 to 14, with other Yorkshire dates to be confirmed,” says Andy, who will direct the show.

Playhouse Creatures is set in 1670 when, for the first time, actresses are allowed to perform on the English stage. Amid the bear pits of the theatres, five actresses struggle to push themselves to the forefront, fighting against the prejudice of the industry, the preconceptions of the public and the bitter rivalries they share.

“It’s a world in which they are seen as little more than whores, ogled and abused by their audience, underpaid by their bosses and where ageing brings only unemployment,” says Gemma.

“April de Angelis’s brash, thought-provoking play brings to the stage some of the historical actresses of the day – Nell Gwyn, Rebecca Marshall and Mrs Betterton – in a glimpse backstage at the camaraderie, rivalry and the extreme lengths these ‘Creatures’ will go to for success in this dark new world.” Hedgepig Theatre is not Andy and Gemma’s first venture together in the spotlight (and no, that is not a reference to their nuptials).

“Over the past few years, we’ve played brother and sister, lovers and last time we shared a stage it was as father and son, so working together to produce theatre seemed the next logical step,” says Gemma.

“We’ll be releasing more information about upcoming casting and more details on the Playhouse Creatures production itself in the next few months – but for now this our hello!”

Andy is keen to point out that Hedgepig “isn’t any kind of splinter from Mooted Theatre Co or any other group”.

“I’m still very much involved in Mooted, as Gem is with Six Lips Theatre and the various other groups she’s previously worked with,” he says.

“We hope to be working with them and other theatre and arts groups as we develop; this is just a vessel for us to develop our own projects alongside.”

And finally, how did the wedding celebrations go, Andy? “It was a lovely December day with lots of York and Yorkshire thesps and musicians in attendance,” he says.

• More details on Hedgepig Theatre can be found at hedgepigtheatre.com