This House is Your House
Storyhouse has unveiled plans to mark its 10th birthday in 2027, with a year-long programme of performances, events and activities celebrating the people who have made it what it is while looking ahead to its next decade.
The anniversary programme will include the return of Storyhouse Original Gangs of New York, which will open in Chester before touring; a brand-new play commissioned for Storyhouse Young Company; a special 10th anniversary edition of Storyhouse Women; a summer exhibition and open call for artists; and free events throughout the year.
Storyhouse will also partner with arts organisation Unlimited on a commission for a disabled artist to create new performance work for children, which will tour the North West before being performed at Storyhouse’s WayWord Festival in October 2027.
Open seven days a week, Storyhouse is a charity bringing together a theatre, cinema and library under one roof. It also co-curates a year-round programme of festivals, community activity and opportunities for people to take part. Income from tickets, memberships and donations is reinvested in its work supporting artists, developing new talent and working with young people and communities across the city.
More than 900,000 people visit Storyhouse each year to watch a film, borrow a book, see a show, attend a festival or simply meet friends and spend time in the building. The anniversary will celebrate the part those people have played in Storyhouse’s first decade and invite them to join in throughout the year.
Annabel Turpin, CEO of Storyhouse, says: “Ten years feels like an important moment to celebrate, but for me this anniversary is as much about looking forward as looking back.
“Storyhouse has always belonged to the people who use it – whether they come to see a show, borrow a book, watch a film, take part in something, or simply meet a friend and spend time here. Hundreds of thousands of people have made Storyhouse part of their lives, and that’s what we want this year to celebrate.
“I’m incredibly proud of what has been built here, but Storyhouse is never finished. It keeps changing because the people and communities around us keep changing too. Our job is to keep listening, keep opening doors and keep creating opportunities for people to experience culture, make things, tell stories and feel that this place is theirs.
“For our birthday, we want people to share their memories, join in the celebrations and look forward with us to what comes next.”
The anniversary year begins in March with a special 10th anniversary edition of Storyhouse Women, curated by Eliza Hatch, founder of Cheer Up Luv, a platform dedicated to ending gender-based violence and discrimination through education, art and storytelling. One of Storyhouse’s longest-running festivals, Storyhouse Women will also welcome back former poet-in-residence Hollie McNish.
In April, Open House will invite people behind the scenes at Storyhouse, with free backstage tours, workshops, exhibitions and opportunities to get hands-on with theatre-making throughout the building.
Storyhouse Young Company takes to the main stage in May with a brand-new play commissioned especially for the company. A professional writer, to be announced, will work with young people from across Cheshire West through a series of workshops which will help inform the new play.
The production marks ten years of Storyhouse Young Company, which provides free actor training for 18–25-year-olds and has helped hundreds of young people develop their skills and take their first steps into the industry.
Artists from all backgrounds will be invited to submit work for a special This House is Your House exhibition in spring, with selected entries shown both at Storyhouse and online. A panel including community members will select the work for the exhibition, with details of the open call to be announced.
The celebrations will also head outdoors, with The Teddy Bear’s Picnic at Storyhouse in the Park. Aimed at some of Storyhouse’s youngest audiences and their families, the event will feature musicians performing favourite nursery rhymes.
In the autumn, Gangs of New York returns to the city where it was first created. Written by Kieran Lynn and originally produced for Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, the new production will run at Storyhouse from September to October before heading out on tour.
The cast will include actors who have trained through Storyhouse Young Company, bringing together two strands of Storyhouse’s work over the last decade – creating new theatre in Chester and developing the next generation of talent.
The anniversary year will end with Storyhouse’s 2027 pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, bringing the celebrations to a close with the inclusive, playful approach to pantomime that Storyhouse audiences have come to know.
Storyhouse in 10
Storyhouse in numbers from opening to today.
- 7,217,402visitors have been welcomed
- 60 young actors have been trained for free through Storyhouse Young Company
- 54 local filmmakers have showcased their film in the cinema
- 58 different community groups use Storyhouse every month
- 115,658 hours of time donated by volunteers
- 12,364 children have experienced live theatre through their local school
- 1314 rhyme time sessions have been delivered for new parents
- 388 artists have been supported through mentoring, workshops free space and given the opportunity to show their work
- 27,852 free tickets have been provided for low-income households
- 1,609,169 books borrowed from our Library since opening
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