Who are Hoglets Theatre?

Hoglets Theatre is a not-for-profit children's theatre company.

We stage original theatrical productions and run interactive sessions for young primary and preschool-aged children.

We also provide child-centric consultation and content creation for museums, organisations, apps and publications.

Everything we do is centred around storytelling and the amazing impact stories, imagination and creativity can have on young minds.

Hoglets Theatre is a not-for-profit registered Community Interest Company (CIC) - #14330094.

A young woman and a man are performing a song on an outdoor stage under an orange umbrella. The woman is singing with a surprised expression and has headphones around her neck, while the man is playing a guitar and singing. The stage has a gray laundry basket, a guitar case, and blue boxes. An audience is seated in front watching the performance.

A little Hoglets history...

Hoglets was founded in 2013 by Gemma Sharp - an actress with over 15 years of experience working in theatre, film and television.

Following the birth of her first child, Gemma found herself using many acting methods when she was telling stories to her daughter. This inspired her to create classes applying these techniques to the telling of stories.

Hoglets - the name for a baby hedgehog - was born as the children's theatre wing of touring 'grown-up' company Hedgepig Theatre.

Weekly classes ran across Children's Centres across the city of York, developing and growing in scale. As we began to make a name for ourselves, new opportunities sprang up to spread the Hoglets love a little further - birthday parties, festivals, events, schools and nurseries and more.

A woman and two children at a storytelling event, with storytelling props and brochures on a table.

Taking to the stage...

In 2018, working with York Explore Libraries, we developed and toured our first play-for-children THE SLEEP PIRATES. The response was amazing, with sold-out shows across the run. Our second play SEA-STORM IN A TEACUP followed - again to outstanding reviews and sold-out performances.

We followed that in 2019 with our biggest shows yet - the Shakespeare themed riot A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S MISCHIEF and our subversive fairytale show FAIRIETOLD. Each time, the puppets got bigger, the songs got noisier and the responses from audiences just kept getting better!

Three women dressed as fairies or princesses with angel wings and paper crowns, performing in a colorful room with a green backdrop and decorative flowers.

Going online...

During the lockdowns of 2020 we suddenly found ourselves unable to do... well, pretty much anything we normally did. So, we quickly (and initially quite clumsily) began running free classes and performances online via Zoom. What began as a nice way to keep in touch with our regular class attendees quickly snowballed into something far bigger.

We were picked up by schools across the country (and then the world) as a useful resource for their home-schooling children. During the second lockdown of 2020 we were running classes to over 950 children at a time! All from our little house in York.

Woman with brown hair wearing a pink apron and black shirt making a playful expression with mouth open and hands raised in the air, standing in front of a sign for storytelling workshops.

Back into the real world...

2021 saw life creeping back to normality and we found ourselves happily back in 'the real world' touring our new productions of SEA-STORM IN A TEACUP, HARE IN THE MOON, THE SNOW BEAR and THE SLEEP PIRATES.

It was at this point we officially stopped running classes, focussing more on producing shows, content and specific workshops.

We also began working with some amazing organisations including York Museums's Trust, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Little Journey, consulting on and producing child-centric content.

A woman with a playful expression lying on a tree branch, wearing a brown knit hat and a light-colored shirt, surrounded by green foliage and a wooden fence.

The future...

As of 2022 Hoglets Theatre officially became a Community Interest Company, to better reflect our focus and goals.

In 2023 we were made the Associate Children’s Theatre Company of York Theatre Royal - an amazing honour and such a source of support and encouragement.

We've come a long way since our humble beginnings - and we've some very big plans and exciting projects in the works. We're so excited to see where the next few years take us!

A woman with a headscarf pointing at a globe showing Asia and Australia.

“I believe that the joy and escapism drama brings is unparalleled and so universal it can be enjoyed by anyone. Drama and storytelling use so many skills, that’s what makes them such a great educational tool for children."

Gemma Curry - Founder and Creative Director

Listen to an interview with Gemma.

There’s a lovely interview video with Gemma AKA Mama Hoglet on the York Creatives podcast.

In this episode we discuss how to tell better stories, about diving in and having an open approach to learning new skills, and about whether children get enough exposure to the arts.