The Johnny Barlow Theatre Company.
Creating work that raises awareness, reduces stigma and provides solutions to health and social challenges of our times.
The Johnny Barlow Theatre Company has been going for nearly 30 years. It was started by the late Johnny Barlow back in the early 90s, when ‘Friends’ was launched in the US, Tamagotchis became the pet everyone wanted and ‘The Macarena’ became a movement!
Safe to say, Johnny Barlow was well ahead of his time, using drama and music in a therapeutic way to help people recover from mental health illness.
The ethos of group has remained the same in all that time. However, the group have now added social change into the mix. Yes, the group use music and drama to improve their wellbeing, but they are also creating edgy, often hard hitting, always uplifting, original music theatre that brings people together to make a difference.
The work created by The Johnny Barlow Theatre Company gives people with lived experience an opportunity to shape the future of public services. It also gives socially engaged organisations the opportunity to invest in communities wellbeing while gaining much needed insights from ‘real’ people.
The group have also turned their skills and enthusiasm to creating podcasts throughout the pandemic. They have coproduced new pieces of work and online events in collaboration with some amazing artists and socially engaged organisations – take a look at our Hidden page to find out more.
