''I became the writer I am today because of a chance encounter with Raising the Wreck. I was 16 years old. I was alone. That night the whole world opened in front of me. I saw my future on that stage, I saw my ancestors, and understood my place in the lineage. It’s a pioneering piece of unapologetically women’s theatre, loud, vibrant, hilarious and somehow holy. It made the world seem possible xxx'' Joelle Taylor- poet, writer, performer and winner of The TS Eliot Award.
''Sue Frumin is one of the funniest women I've EVER met. She makes me spit other people's food out of my own nose'', Erika Lopez, actor writer and performer
If you would like to donate to our tour of Raising the Wreck- Revisited, please use the drop down menu. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
Raising the Wreck-Revisited!
5th- 7th November 2026
7.30pm
The Empty Space, Media City
£18/15
https://www.ticketsource.com/sea-change-theatre-company
12th November 2026
7.30pm
Unity Theatre, Liverpool
£15
https://unitytheatreliverpool.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173691887
21st November 2026 at 7.30pm and 22nd November at 2.30pm
Theatre Porto, Ellesmere Port
Ticket link to come!
''Their histories are beacons for the present and the future. By capturing the voices and the dreams that laid the foundations of the theatre today, the project will provide an invaluable resource for theatre artists, policy makers and scholars'', Jatinder Verma, director, and co-founder of Tara Arts.
“I remember Raising the Wreck as a ground-breaking drama bringing lesbian lives to the fore. It’s fitting that it should be reintroduced to a new audience forty years after it was first produced.” Bernardine Evaristo- writer, author, original cast member, and the first black woman to win The Booker Prize
Sea-Change Theatre are touring, Raising the Wreck-Revisited in November 2026! RTWR is an updated version of the Gay Sweatshop commissioned play, Raising the Wreck!
Here's how it all began..
In 1985, Gay Sweatshop ( https://unfinishedhistories.com/history/companies/gay-sweatshop/) commissioned Sue Frumin to write Raising the Wreck. https://unfinishedhistories.com/history/companies/gay-sweatshop/raising-the-wreck/
The performers were all female, and for the first time in the companies history the play had a multi-racial cast, which was very unusual for 1985! The original cast included Booker Prize winner, Bernardine Evaristo, who describes the play as ground-breaking (scroll down for photos).
The play is set in a sunken galleon where four fierce female pirates, long since dead, recount their stories to a woman who has fallen into a timeslip from 1980s London, while running a pirate radio station.
In 2017, extracts of this popular play were performed at The Arcola Theatre with The Arcola Queer Collective, and in 2023 the full play was resurrected by Paul Green for Bijou Stories (https://bijouhistory.com/2023/08/03/raising-the-wreck/). A rehearsed reading was produced by Susan Croft for Unfinished Histories (www.unfinishedhistories.com) at Newington Green Meeting House.
Raising the Wreck is moving, funny, insightful, and is based on the true stories of legendary women pirates including: Grace O'Malley, Mary Read and Ching Pan Twu. Cast and Crew for the reading, included: Runa Augdal (director), Charly Faye, Blair Heinz, Catherine Mieses, Cicely Halkes-Wellstead, Elise Xiaqi and Emma Louise-Price. Audience members said: ‘'The actresses were so good… Not only did they create such compelling characters but they had a great chemistry and a fast banter. The play was sparking with jokes and the ensemble got the timing exactly right for the audience to laugh.'’
A collection of photo contact sheets from the 1985 production (no internet back then!) Thanks to Bernardine Evaristo for these!
The original 1985 Gay Sweatshop cast and crew:
Writer: Sue Frumin
Director: Paddi Taylor
Cast: Bernadine Evaristo, Hazel Maycock, Sara Ridd, Denise Thompson, Marjolein de Vries
Designer: Kate Owen
The Creative Team
Photographer: Kate McDonald
Writer, Artistic Director and Producer
Sue Frumin
Photographer: Kate McDonald
Actor and Creative Producer
Hayley Cartwright
Photographer unknown
Director of Raising the Wreck- Revisited!
Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder
https://boxoftrickstheatre.co.uk/about-us/
https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Hannah-Tyrrell-Pinder/
https://www.centre42.sg/archive/profiles/24623/hannah-tyrrell-pinder/
https://www.theatrclwyd.com/event/handbagged
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/artists/hannah-tyrrell-pinder/
https://www.bigissuenorth.com/centre-stage/2019/09/blog-hannah-tyrrell-pinder/#close
Photographer Unknown
Company musician for Raising the Wreck-Revisited!
Holly Marland
Photographer unknown
Producer and co-ordinator for Raising the Wreck-Revisited!
Tonks Blom
Photographer unknown
Designer for Raising the Wreck
Lara Booth
Photographer: H K Cartwright
Associate for Raising the Wreck
Paul Green
With support from:
Judy Frumin
Executive Producer and Project fundraiser
We are proud to have Judy as a long term
supporter and ally of Sea-Change Theatre.
Lexi and Mickey
Our therapists!
