Live Theatre

Live Theatre is one of the UK's leading new writing theatres, deeply rooted in Newcastle and committed to telling new stories about the North.

Northumbria University and Live Theatre share a long-standing relationship, and our current partnership brings together two institutions with a shared belief in the power of performance, storytelling, and culture to make a real difference to people and communities. 

The partnership spans teaching and learning, research, and student opportunity — and reaches across the University, from Theatre and Performance and Creative Writing to Business and Human Resource Management. 

What the partnership covers: 

• Teaching and learning: Live Theatre staff deliver directly into Northumbria programmes, bringing professional expertise and real-world creative practice into the curriculum across multiple subject areas. 
• Research collaboration: An interdisciplinary Research Working Group brings colleagues from both organisations together to develop collaborative bids, outputs, and impact case studies. Research themes include identity, health and wellbeing; audience development and storytelling; virtual performance and digital writing; the impact of work with young people; and social mobility and cultural sector resilience. 
• Student access and employability: Students benefit from placement and work experience opportunities at Live Theatre, as well as access to rehearsals, connecting arts-focused students with professional theatre-making first-hand. 
• Public events and conferences: The partnership supports a series of public lectures and a collaborative academic conference, raising the profile of both organisations and strengthening Northumbria's role as an anchor institution in the cultural sector. 

Live Theatre’s academic lead: Dr. Matt Hargrave