The Vauxy Theatre was formed in 1983 by a group of writers and actors at the Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council Centre in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool.
Stemming from ‘Scottie Road Writers ‘83′, The Vauxy was motivated by the desire of working class people to have complete production control over their creative output, ranging from poetry readings to full theatrical presentations. Pubs, social clubs, prisons and community centres were amongst the venues that welcomed The Vauxy Theatre in its formative years.
During this time the single most compelling and important cause espoused by the group was the national miners’ strike; The Vauxy travelled the country performing their deliberately partisan mixture of sketches, poems and songs in an attempt to raise funds for the striking miners and their families.
Throughout this period the productions blended pure agitprop with the more subtle texture of conventional theatre as experience was gained in relating to all manner of audience.
In 1985 The Vauxy Theatre took THE BOXING BEATLE, a view of the life of boxer Alan Rudkin, to the Edinburgh Festival. This was followed a year later by WEARING COLOURS which was an examination of the Heysel Stadium disaster. Both these productions represented life as lived by the subjects of the plays; intense and uncompromising without the restraint of established theatre’s conventions or filters the pieces gave The Vauxy Theatre its unique voice.
Other productions such as broad knockabout comedy like MURDER IN THE ALEHOUSE and THE WESTERN KIRKBY COWBOY along with more serious work as in DREAMS OF CHILDREN and, ZERO ZERO, have been performed throughout Liverpool.
The Vauxy Theatre has undergone personnel change since its inception but retains several of the original membership in its current incarnation. Despite the metamorphosis of ‘politics’ in the country, and the diminution of activism through art, since 1983 The Vauxy Theatre maintains the motivation that brought it into being – the desire to afford a platform for the communities who were expected to be merely the audience for theatre and not the producers. Although The Vauxy accepts that established theatre assists with education in the mechanics of conventional theatre (frequently unintentionally) there is still the need for an outside, alternative, yet complementary approach to this branch of the performing arts. The community that The Vauxy Theatre springs from, though never claiming to fully represent, tells its stories with a distinct and powerfully uncompromising voice. Conventional theatre, despite its attempts to integrate and encourage ‘new’ writing, still remains a no-go area for many people. Not put off by a sense of inferiority, but by failing to establish a relation with the output of most companies, many people are lost to theatre. The Vauxy realised this fact and attempted to offer material that might be more representative of the seemingly disenfranchised communities.
The growing economic constraints curtailed The Vauxy Theatre’s output in the first few years of the Millennium. However, 2009 saw two powerful new plays produced by the company. The darkly comic ‘Some People’ and ‘Aiming At Earth’. A powerful family drama set in 1960’s Scotland Road. 2010 brought 2 new productions beginning with ‘Rhyme Without Reason’ A one act comic conflict between father and son, which was performed at the Unity Theatre in March, and in May 2010 the story of ‘The Dick Kerr Ladies’ by Tom McClennan. An engaging and imaginative look at the rise and fall of one of the most successful women’s football teams of all.