About
Frequency Theatre produces audio drama, and is committed to delivering each and every piece to you for free. All our plays are new writing, and with most no more than around 20 minutes in length, they are perfect for a short, theatrical escape from your normal day.
Audio theatre has been part of the dramatic landscape since the invention of the radio, and it has experienced an ever growing revival through the availability of digital media.
A wide variety of plays can be downloaded or played directly on our website, or you can subscribe to our podcast feed via iTunes and have your plays delivered to you upon release.
Frequency plays can be listened to anywhere, anytime, and for absolutely free. We hope that each play you hear will immerse you in new worlds, stories and people.
Frequency Theatre is run by Creative Producer, Bethany Sharp, who you can read more about here.
Playwrights
Our focus is towards discovering and developing new pieces of dramatic writing.
Aside from commissioning new audio plays, we always welcome and encourage unsolicited scripts.
Radio drama has sometimes had a bit of a reputation for playing safe with the content it covers; we encourage playwrights from all backgrounds to come forward and submit their work to Frequency.
Pushing the Form
Radio theatre is an established art form; in the US, and increasingly in the UK, serial podcast plays are becoming increasingly popular.
Frequency is interested in finding exciting writing for audio which explores the audio form, and takes audio drama in new directions.
We also have a policy of no censorship; we select plays due to their quality as opposed to their content or language.
Free Theatre for Everyone
One of the best things about internet audio theatre is that it opens up drama to all.
Live theatre is a fantastic experience, but for reasons of cost, mobility, or simply people not being in the habit of ‘theatre-going’, it’s an experience many miss out on. Audio theatre can offer an alternative.
We believe in making theatre with as few barriers to entry as possible. For this reason, all our plays can be accessed on our website for free.
Frequency Theatre History
Frequency Theatre started in 2012, and has produced over eighty five audio plays since. In our first year we produced a play a week! Since then we have concentrated on working with other artistic organisations to produce work, and on exploring new methods to create our regular plays. Frequency was founded by Bethany Sharp, the current Creative Producer, and playwright and producer, Rich Chilver.
The Lakeside Theatre
Frequency Theatre are proud to have been Associate Artists of the Lakeside Theatre from 2013 – 2016, where we held many of our recordings. Aside from our regular productions, we made audio theatre with the students of Essex University through our Operation Lakeside project LINK, providing them with skills and experience of working with audio media.
A little about the Lakeside Theatre:
Just on the edge of Colchester and not too far away there is a country estate called Wivenhoe Park. Within the lush green grounds of Wivenhoe Park lies an urban jungle of adventure, a place of learning, curiosity and discovery. This place is the University of Essex and within its labyrinthine walls, next to a beautiful lake, there is an underground delight that has been described as Colchester’s best kept secret. This place is Lakeside Theatre.
At Lakeside Theatre we always try to create a warm and welcoming place where people are free to discover a world of creativity, theatre, dance, music and comedy. We want to encourage everyone who visits us to be curious, to explore and to take a chance, in the hope that what they find will add a little something extra to their day.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you are invited to the party and we hope that when you leave, whether walking on air, sobbing your heart out, or completely confused, you will feel invigorated by the magic of live theatre.
Find out more here: www.lakesidetheatre.org.uk
Grass Roots Beginnings
Frequency would not have begun without the generous help of arts project Slack Space in Colchester which used empty shops and offices as space for arts projects.
We would also like to thanks the following people for their generous help which got Frequency up and running: Tom Hardy, John Howarth, Karl Hollinshead, Ruth Chilver, Robert Chilver, and all the many creatives who gave time and advice to the project.