Rochdale's Own: In Conversation with Laura Rodwell from M6 Theatre

The Rochdale Creates team are conducting a new series of interviews to learn the stories behind our brilliant local organisations, the people that make it all happen and their impact on our community. In the first instalment of the series, we spoke to M6 Theatre's Managing Director Laura Rodwell. 

What is the origin of M6 Theatre? What's the story behind its creation?

M6 was set up 49 years ago by a collective of artists. We originally started life in Bolton (hence the name M6 – it was the main motorway used to tour) but we moved to Rochdale shortly after inception. We started life as a radical theatre company that made shows for both adults and children and toured to non-traditional spaces like schools and pubs and played to audiences who wouldn’t attend the traditional idea of theatre. It was in 1991 when the decision was taken to focus entirely on creating work with, for and by children and young people and this is where M6 really found its place. I’m actually a little hazy about the inception of the company and there’s details I don’t know. However, it is M6’s 50th birthday next year and I’m delighted that we’ve recently been granted National Lottery Heritage Funding to undertake a big celebratory programme of events including an oral history and archiving project – so we’ll be researching our history, going through our archive, interviewing founding members and those that were involved in the very early days, preserving M6’s heritage for future generations and sharing it more publicly. We’ll be announcing more details on this in due course.  

Who are the people behind M6? 

We’re a small team at M6 – we only have nine core staff but we’re privileged to work with a range of exceptional freelance artists like actors, writers, theatre makers and facilitators. Our Artistic Director and CEO is Gilly Baskeyfield and she oversees our artistic programme and shows. She is absolutely the heart of M6 – all of our shows are about empathy, respect and kindness in some form or another and that’s very much who Gilly is. We have a production team of two – Joss & Sharon – who oversee all the technical aspects of our shows, make all our sets and costumes, book our tours and go out with the touring team all across the country. They’re incredible – they are so creative and I’m always astounded by the quality of our shows and what they manage to achieve with relatively small budgets and such a small team. Then we have our participation team, Sarah and Alice, who are fantastic theatre makers in their own right but who are also just very skilled at working with our young people – I love going into our Youth Theatre sessions to see what they’re up to and occasionally join in! Behind the scenes is myself as Managing Director, our Company Administrator Lauren, Marketing Officer Maria and Finance Officer Rachel – and we make sure everything is running smoothly, but they’re also lots of fun to work with. All the staff are brilliant – M6 is the nicest team I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.

What has been the biggest challenge for M6 Theatre over the years? How did you overcome it?

M6 has faced various challenges in during its time, which we’re hoping to be able to tell the story of more through our 50th Birthday project. There’s definitely been instances of significant funding cuts throughout the 50 years and times it was uncertain the company could continue. But M6 has always proved itself to be resilient, adaptable and ambitious and able to navigate times of uncertainty and even crisis, whilst always retaining our core values, which is a belief that every child and young person, no matter their background or circumstance, should have the opportunity to experience the joy and power of live theatre, and to be able to explore their own creativity.

Tell us your favourite achievement of the Theatre!

M6 has received various awards and critical acclaim for productions over the years. For instance in 2016, we won the Off West Award for the Best Production for Children and Young People with Whatever the Weather. We were also chosen to take 2 shows - One Little Word and Sunflowers and Sheds - to the prestigious Imaginate International Children's Festival in Edinburgh. But for me, having lived in Rochdale all my life and having always adored M6, the days when they came to my primary to perform shows are some of my favourite memories from school. What I love about now working here is how much that admiration is shared – whenever I’m out and about in Rochdale and mention where I work people’s faces light up – they remember seeing one of our shows as a child, they know someone who came to our Youth Theatre – everyone has a memory. When our production team are out and about in Rochdale in their M6 uniform buying stuff for sets and costumes they get stopped all the time – teachers, dinner ladies, people who used to attend sessions with us as children – it’s lovely to hear. Again, we’re hoping to actually be able to record some of these memories as part of our 50th Birthday project. And I’m really proud of how we’ve grown from being a local company to a national touring company. All our shows are made with input from local children – we listen to what’s important to them and we then incorporate that into our touring shows so the voices of Rochdale children are represented across the country.

Are there any upcoming events, shows or programmes at M6 Theatre you're particularly excited about?

Our 50th Birthday next year! It’s going to be very exciting and we’ll be announcing the full programme soon but there’ll be lots of opportunities for people to see shows or attend events and be involved. A sneak preview of what's ahead is that we are absolutely thrilled to be working with Olivier Award winning playwright, Mike Kenny, who is busy writing a new play for us to help us celebrate. In the meantime, we’re doing two days of performances of our latest show All the Small Things at M6 Studio on 7 and 21 November and I’m really excited we’re performing at the newly reopened Heywood Civic on 14 November. It’s a gorgeous show about the power of stories and has lots for both children and adults to love in it!

What impact does M6 Theatre have on Rochdale’s community and local businesses?

I mentioned earlier about how all of us that work at M6 get stopped by people wanting to share their recollections of seeing one of our shows or similar when they were younger. It happens all the time and you can sort of take it for granted but actually when you stop and think about it it’s incredible. Over the last 5 years M6 has worked with almost every single local school at least once – whether that be performing a show or delivering a workshop. But it’s amazing that in a place like Rochdale, which has some of the most deprived areas in the country and where children face a range of challenges around poverty, aspiration and mental health, that so many of them have had the opportunity to experience the absolute magic of theatre. We just plant that seed, introduce them to something they’ve never seen before, show them a person on stage or a story they might relate to, and maybe even inspire them think “I could do that when I grow up”. That child might then go on to join our Youth Theatre, where they get the opportunity to make new friends and whilst creating their own piece of theatre they develop a range of skills which are really important for future life like communication and teamwork. We hear from schools and local partners all the time that their children wouldn’t have been introduced to theatre without M6, and that’s an achievement and a legacy we’re very proud of. 

If you're part of an organisation or an individual working within Rochdale's community and you'd like to tell your story, please don't hesitate to email ruby@soundroots.uk to participate in this series.