The Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in Kingston upon Hull, England which presents substantial drama productions.
It also tours its productions on a regular basis.
The theatre was founded in 1971 by actor Mike Bradwell when he could not find work. He placed an ad' in Time Out magazine saying, "Half-formed theatre company seeks other half". The first production, "The Children of the Lost Planet" was a success though, like many new companies, it had meagre audiences. This experience led the company to fall back on performing plays for children. They started to get a good reputation for children's theatre. However, in 1974, the play "Knowledge" was performed and, although over half the audience had walked out, the critical acclaim of Guardian reviewer Robin Thornber led to the Bush Theatre becoming interested and staging the production.
John Godber became artistic director in 1984 although at first he was unaware of how much the Hull Truck Theatre was struggling financially. He had been making a good living as a teacher but the idea of being able to produce some of his own works led him to accept the post. He decided that the best way to improve sales and the success of the company was to write a play relevant to its audiences. He wrote "Up n' Under" a play about the rugby league in Hull which proved to be a success.
One of Hull Truck's most performed and famous plays is John Godber's "Bouncers". This celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 and was the final play to be performed before moving to the new venue.
From 1983 the company was based in its venue in Spring Street but a new 440 seat theatre has been built for the company, as part of the St. Stephen's development. This has cost £14.5 million and opened on 23 April 2009.
The opening production started its run on 25 April 2009 and was the premier of the John Godber play Funny Turns.
Hull Truck was the venue chosen to host the launch of Hull's Larkin 25 Festival in June 2010.
In July 2010 Andrew Smaje was appointed chief executive to develop its programme and to entice new audiences.
In September 2012 the company were nominated for The Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre at TMA Theatre Awards. This was for its touring productions of The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett, DNA by Dennis Kelly and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde adapted by Nick Lane.
In October 2012 Hull city centre was awarded Purple Flag status for the quality of the city's nightlife. The Association of Town Centre Management praised Hull Truck Theatre in particular "for its outstanding contribution" to entertainment for city centre users.
In January 2013 Hull Truck Theatre were nominated for Best Visiting Production at the Manchester Theatre Awards for DNA by Dennis Kelly.
In April 2013 Mike Bradwell returned to direct for the company for the first time in over 30 years, directing the world premiere of Queen of the Nile by Tim Fountain.
In May 2013 Mark Babych was appointed Artistic Director of the company.
In April 2014, it was reported that the theatre had received £400,000 in grants from Arts Council England and Hull City Council because of a financial crisis at the venue.