Our Story...

Sky Blue Theatre Co. was founded in 2007 with a simple but ambitious belief: that Shakespeare belongs to every child, not just those fortunate enough to see a professional production.

Our director, John Mitton, comes from a theatrical family, with both his grandmother and mother having worked on the stage. Inspired by their enthusiasm for theatre, John trained at East 15 Acting School before establishing Sky Blue Theatre Co. as a company dedicated to bringing Shakespeare into schools.

From the outset, Sky Blue was built around a group of young professional actors going into primary and secondary schools to foster a genuine love of theatre and, in particular, to inspire students with the joy of Shakespeare's plays. What began as a handful of workshops has grown into one of the UK's most trusted Shakespeare workshop providers — with over 300 schools visited and more than 50,000 students engaged across England.

In 2010 we also launched our script appraisal service, supporting emerging playwrights from around the world to develop and share their work. And from 2012 we ran the British Theatre Challenge, an international playwriting competition that ran for nine years, attracted entries from writers across five continents, and resulted in over 50 winning plays being offered publication.

Today, our flagship schools programme, Shakespeare Rewired, continues to grow, reaching new schools every term, earning five-star reviews from teachers across the country, and proving year after year that Shakespeare, performed live and interactively, is something every child can love.