George Devine Award-winning writer and actor Daniel Ward speaks with artistic director Paul Smith about the nuts and bolts of writing and performing your own work. 

Middle Child produced and premiered Daniel Ward's script The Canary and the Crow in 2019. It went on to sell out performances at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the Paines Plough Roundabout, before transferring to London's Arcola Theatre in 2020. 

Daniel has since won a Writers' Guild Award for Best Play for Young Audiences and the George Devine Award for most promising playwright.

Make Theatre Podcast #1 - Daniel Ward

Danielle Harris joins Middle Child artistic director, Paul Smith, to talk about the ins and outs of deputy stage management.

Make Theatre Podcast #2 - Danielle Harris

In a special episode, recorded at Queen's Gardens in Hull, James Frewer speaks with guest presenter, Jenni Harrison, about working as composer and musical director on 'we used to be closer than this'. 

'we used to be closer than this' was a summer cabaret, written by Natasha Brown, Angelo Irving, Tabby Lamb, Jay Mitra, RashDash, Leo Skilbeck, Kobby Taylor and Tom Wells and performed at Absolutely Cultured's Creative Hull festival, from 16-18 July 2021.

Make Theatre Podcast #3 - James Frewer

In a special episode, recorded at Queen's Gardens in Hull, Belle Streeton speaks with guest presenter, Jenni Harrison, about her Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme (RTYDS) placement as assistant director on 'we used to be closer than this'.

'we used to be closer than this' was a summer cabaret, written by Natasha Brown, Angelo Irving, Tabby Lamb, Jay Mitra, RashDash, Leo Skilbeck, Kobby Taylor and Tom Wells and performed at Absolutely Cultured's Creative Hull festival, from 16-18 July 2021.

Make Theatre Podcast #4 - Belle Streeton

An audio flyer for Baby, He Loves You by Maureen Lennon. A new production coming to Stage@TheDock in Hull, from 19-28 April 2024.

Audio Flyer - Baby, He Loves You

An interview with playwright Prince Kundai, one of six writers commissioned for Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival 2024.

Prince's play, Senzeni Na? is an African coming of age story following a young girl and the dynamics between her and her small family, and the world around them. 

How do you raise a child when the community that she’s growing up in would sooner see her die than succeed? How do you become the woman you wish to be if your family are the ones holding you back?

Interview by Jodie Langford, from the Warren Youth Project.

Fresh Ink 2024: Prince Kundai

An interview with playwright Grace Waga Glevey, one of six writers commissioned for Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival 2024.

Grace's play, Jack & Gill, follows the conversations of an unexpected friendship between two octogenarians from different walks of life who find themselves in the same crumbling Yorkshire care home. 

It’s a play about quiet changes, how different cultures treat ageing, and the traditions we risk losing with our elders.

Interview by Jodie Langford, from the Warren Youth Project.

Fresh Ink 2024: Grace Waga Glevey

An interview with playwright Rosie Race, one of six writers commissioned for Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival 2024.

Rosie's play, No Woman Is an Island, is a perversely funny, absurd and moving portrayal of a pregnant woman on the brink of insanity.

Driven to despair by the state of everything, Ophelia systematically dismantles the world around herself in search of a utopia where she and her baby can live in peace.

Interview by Jodie Langford, from the Warren Youth Project.

Fresh Ink 2024: Rosie Race

An interview with playwright Andrew Houghton, one of six writers commissioned for Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival 2024.

Andrew's play, Phobia, explores identity, family and the gentleness and humour in conversations you’re forced to have when you’re 100ft off the ground. 

Alex and Dad embark on their annual trip to Hull Fair, a beloved tradition despite the increasing distance between them.

When a ride malfunction leaves the pair stranded high in the air, a very panicked Dad requires constant conversation to keep his nerves under control.

Interview by Jodie Langford, from the Warren Youth Project.

Fresh Ink 2024: Andrew Houghton

An interview with playwright Marc Graham, one of six writers commissioned for Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival 2024.

In Marc's play, Isabelle, the festive season is in its death throes, but for the first time in ten years, everyone’s agreed to spend an evening with Mum. 

The table is laid and the Christmas decorations are wilting but when the children return to the place they called home, they bring back their past too.

It's a pressure cooker family drama exploring the intricacies of family life, Isabelle seeks to ask what world we’re leaving our children and whether it’s too late to do anything at all.

Interview by Jodie Langford, from the Warren Youth Project.

Fresh Ink 2024: Marc Graham

Audio flyer for the 2024 Middle Child pantomime, Treasure Island. See it at Social on Humber Street in Hull, from 19-29 December. Read by Josie Morley.

Audio Flyer - Treasure Island

Audio flyer for Biting Point, a new play written by Sid Sagar and produced by Middle Child. See it in Hull on the top floor of the Fruit Market car park, from 10-18 May 2025.

Flyer read by Alice Beaumont.

Audio Flyer - Biting Point (Hull)

Mercury Fur writer, Philip Ridley, joins Middle Child's artistic director, Paul Smith, for a post-show Q&A in Hull on Thursday 15 October 2015. 

Mercury Fur - Philip Ridley Talkback

Ten Storey Love Song soundtrack, created by James Orvis (2016)

Sweets Are My Drug

Your Face Is Melting

Sex Is A Two Way Thing

Fucked (And Full of Fox Shit)

We are a Hull-based company creating theatre that brings people together for a good night out with big ideas.

We are an Arts Council England national portfolio organisation and associate company of Paines Plough, supported by Hull City Council.

Popular tracks by Middle Child