Third Angel Archive
Overview
Third Angel, led by founding Artistic Directors Rachael Walton and Alexander Kelly, produced theatre and participation projects from 1995-2023. Working extensively from their base in Sheffield, they also toured throughout the UK and internationally. Their work encompassed theatre, performance, live art, installation, photography, video and film. Alongside producing extraordinary performance, Third Angel’s artistic work also included their Participation Programme for young people, communities, students, artists and audience members.
As Artistic Directors, Walton and Kelly oversaw the devising, writing, performing, designing and directing of each show. One would often take a more prominent lead depending on the work, with their exact roles varying from project to project. Third Angel also worked frequently with a group of associate artists and regular collaborators. This team of collaborators were from a range of disciplines and often brought in for a particular specialism, but had an influence on other areas of the project.
This is what Third Angel have said about their work:
“We believe that theatre is part of the conversation that helps people to understand their place in the world. We think that small stories are as worth telling as big stories. We are interested in the small, intimate things in life, the things that often get overlooked or swept under the carpet: the value of individual experience, the beauty to be found in the tiny details of everyday life, and the surprising emotional power of memories and places. The work draws on both fact and fantasy, autobiography and fiction. We are drawn back to the theme of escaping, or attempting to escape, from everyday life, through an exploration of memory, imagination and fantasy: the gap between your dreams and ambitions, and the reality of your day to day life.
We are interested in specialist research as a way to better understand the world around us, and we work regularly with experts from other fields, including geographers, psychologists, sociologists and astrophysicists.
In our shows the performers’ relationship with the audience is direct and intimate, but also playful. The audience are implicated, by turns, as conspirators, voyeurs and witnesses. Whilst committed to exploring ideas and asking questions, the work is not afraid to entertain and engage an audience.”
What the collection holds
The archive contains mixed media documentation relating to Third Angel productions, including research and development, scripts, video documentation, photographs, marketing and publicity print, press cuttings, as well as company administration.
The collection is not yet fully catalogued, but has been box listed, so please contact us for further information.
Further information
The online archive for Third Angel is still currently available at thirdangel.co.uk, which includes details of all the shows and projects, their approach to participation work, plus short films, full length show videos and performance texts. Also available is Third Angel's YouTube Channel where you'll find short films, video trailers, documentation of live shows, and some of the company's participation work with young people and communities.
Third Angel believes its job is to get people to look at the world differently, including theatre and what it can be and do. We believe everyone has the right to access culture, and that creativity makes the world a better place. At the heart of everything we do is collaboration: with other artists, performers, participants and our audience. We like to play, to experiment, to devise, to write, to draw, to research, to perform, to talk and to write lists.