Little Earthquake

21/05/2025

Team Quake is celebrating a milestone birthday today… It’s been exactly 20 years since we presented our very first show, (Gogol’s) Madman, by hiring the teeny tiny Hexagon Theatre at Midlands Arts Centre - MAC. Two decades and more than 30 productions later, we’re still here and still going, and in this increasingly challenging climate, that feels like a bit of an achievement.

We might be spending more of our time on solo projects and other collaborations nowadays than we used to, but we’ll be launching a new digital piece later in the year, and we’re already busy lining up some Quake activities for 2026, so there’s still plenty for us (and you) to keep looking forward to.

We want to say an enormous thank you to everyone who’s supported us to get this far — the collaborators who are too many to mention individually, but who have each helped to make our weird, wonderful and wide-ranging body of work what it is — the programmers and partners and funders who’ve been kind/brave/visionary enough to say yes to us — and most important of all, the audiences who’ve come along for the ride, wherever we decided to take them next.

From recreations of Victorian seances in heritage properties to a cheeky autobiographical show about growing up in a haunted house in Derby — from the Apollo 11 mission reframed as an eight-course dining experience to a musical version of Kafka’s Metamorphosis co-produced with 100 Black Country primary schoolchildren — we really have been on some truly amazing adventures.

“Thou Shalt Not Bore” is the commandment we’ve always lived by. So here’s to the next 20 years of not-boring experiences. We’ll look forward to sharing them with you soon.

04/06/2024

With only a month to go until , we're back with a brand new year-long project. We want to hear from people across all ten constituencies about your hopes and concerns for the future of Birmingham. For info on how to get involved >>> https://little-earthquake.com

09/12/2022

May 2022 marked the 17th anniversary of Little Earthquake’s first performance in the tiny Hexagon Theatre at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. Seventeen years later, it seems fitting that we returned to MAC in October to create The Dog With Two Dads, one of the flagship commissions for their 60th anniversary season.

In that time, we’ve created theatre performances and curated festivals; we’ve toured nationally to arts centres and village halls; we’ve taught and directed at universities and drama schools; we’ve branched out to make cross-artform work including exhibitions, installations and digital series; we’ve won awards, run mentoring schemes and artist development programmes, and built a Midlands-wide sector development network. It has been an incredibly rewarding, exhilarating and exhausting ride.

We both feel like now is the right moment to step back for a while — and so for the foreseeable future, we will be taking a break from Little Earthquake. Collectively, we’ve invested so much of our energy into running the company that this will be our first opportunity in many years to take stock, spend time on other projects, develop new skills and dream up new plans.

You can keep up-to-date with any future announcements by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and by subscribing to the mailing list. Those channels will be going quieter for a while, but when we have anything to share, we’ll do so there.

During this time, Gareth will continue as Chair of the Independent Theatre Council, and Phil will continue as Chair of the John Feeney Charitable Trust.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported Little Earthquake getting to this point. Special thanks go to: all of our Board members, both past and present, who have pushed us to be more ambitious whilst putting our wellbeing first; Zoë Roberts, our Producer for the last six years; the venues, promoters, institutions and schemes who have programmed and commissioned us over the years, especially Midlands Arts Centre who have cared for and nurtured us like no other; our regular donors; all of our collaborators who have always gone above and beyond to make the work as strong as it can be; and our theatre-making friends and peers who know how tough this gig can be and have been there to cheer us on in good times and bad.

Finally, the biggest thankyou of all goes to the participants and audience members who have taken part in and experienced Little Earthquake’s work over the last 17-and-a-half years. We’ve always said that audiences and participants are the most important ingredients in everything we do, and we’ve learned so much from their kindness, generosity, courage and sense of fun. It has been an utter joy making work for and with you!

Until the next adventure…

Gareth and Phil
Co-Directors - Little Earthquake

04/11/2022

Yet another for Team Quake. A huge thanks to everyone who supported us, especially our Board and everyone at Midlands Arts Centre - MAC. We’ll be taking some time to figure out what the future holds for the company. For now, congratulations to all who have had better news. Make it count!

21/10/2022

BBC Midlands Today gave The Dog With Two Dads even more coverage during the evening edition, including (spoiler alert!) Karen’s comeuppance and more screen time for everyone’s favourite pooch Bertie!

Book your tickets for the final four performances this weekend at Midlands Arts Centre - MAC >>> https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/the-dog-with-two-dads

21/10/2022

The Dog With Two Dads on BBC Midlands Today!

Book your tickets for the final four performances this weekend at Midlands Arts Centre - MAC >>> https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/the-dog-with-two-dads

19/10/2022

Our new show The Dog With Two Dads is in final technical rehearsals before opening Mac Birmingham this Friday! Book your tickets here >>> https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/the-dog-with-two-dads

08/10/2022

As a special treat, everyone at today’s Pooch Party can get a 10% discount on The Dog With Two Dads tickets when booked today! We’re here from 11am-1pm at Midlands Arts Centre

07/10/2022

❤️💙💚🧡💛💜 Here is Hassan Hussain's first Hot Take on The Dog With Two Dads! Check it out on our Rumblings Blog >>> https://little-earthquake.com/hassans-hot-takes-first-glance


Midlands Arts Centre - MAC

During September - November 2022, we're excited to be working with the iconic Hassan Hussain, who's joining the Team Quake family thanks to a Birmingham City Council-supported LGBTQ+ Arts & Cultural Leadership placement. Starting this week, he'll be sharing his hot takes on life, work

03/10/2022

Hot off the press! It's our latest Rumblings Newsletter >>>

Hello Friends and Supporters of Little Earthquake! This is a really special moment for us, as we’re now halfway through rehearsals for The Dog With Two Dads, our brand-new show for 3-to-7-year-olds (and their adults)! It’s a hugely important project for us, both as a company and as a couple — ...

03/10/2022

We're thrilled to introduce you to the iconic Hassan Hussain who's working with us thanks to a Birmingham City Council-supported LGBTQ+ Arts & Cultural Leadership placement. Starting this week, he'll be sharing his hot takes on life, work and over on our Rumblings blog. Image: Hayley Salter.