About Pentabus

Pentabus is the nation’s rural theatre company, based in Shropshire. We are the only rural touring company that is committed to producing new work & tours to communities across the UK and beyond.

Our work brings communities & young people together, bringing outstanding contemporary productions with sector leading creative teams, directly to isolated rural communities, as well as platforming rural stories in urban settings. We have recently moved from our base of 40 years to be resident at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, enabling us to connect more closely with communities and to enable more access to our engagement work as the transport links to Ludlow are far better than in our previous rural home. 

Over five decades we’ve produced over 300 new plays, supported over 220 playwrights and reached over half a million audience members. We’ve won awards and created lasting relationships with artists, venues and audiences across the country, and were the first to live stream from a village hall.

We excel at finding & nurturing new talent & have hosted Writers in Residences since 2014. These playwrights have gone on to be commissioned by the Birmingham Rep, Bristol Old Vic, Hampstead Theatre, HighTide, Manchester Royal Exchange, Nottingham Playhouse, Royal Court, The Bush, and the National Theatre.

We champion people of all ages to explore their creativity with particular emphasis on creating pathways into careers in the creative industries for those underrepresented, & people who live rurally under 30.  Pentabus Young Company is our initiative offering playwriting workshops in schools and further and higher education, work experience and mentorships, as well as the opportunity to join our Young Writers’ Programme, which celebrates over a decade of work, and has catapulted many writers into careers in the arts.