★★★★★
"Wise, tender and joyous" Fest Mag
Winner: Fringe First Award 2022
We're Roots
Roots is Yorkshire's queer touring theatre company, staging ambitious collaborations between communities and LGBTQIA+ artists.
Our work includes UK and international tours of the Fringe First Award-winning hit Happy Meal, Queer Spaces and Queer Scratch.
Take Part
We partner with LGBTQIA+ artists, communities,
charities and places to create unique theatrical projects.
Roots is a registered charity committed to celebrating the creativity of queer people in North Yorkshire and beyond. Our projects develop the talents of everybody; from emerging artists and life-long theatre-goers, to people who have never before participated in the exciting life of their local theatre. Our legacy lives on long after a tour through our networks of participants, artists, venues and charity partners.
Are you interested in taking part? Join our newsletter to be the first to hear when a Roots project is coming to you.
See Our Work
Since 2019, we've worked with hundreds of queer artists to start creative careers and develop their practise. Here's some of their brilliant work. And here's all our past Shows and Events.
Our Friends
Please consider making a donation to our charitable work. It's easy and safe via PalPal Donate.
Thank you: Matthew Ashwood, Martin Bowley KC, Francesca Clark, James Drake, Liz Vogler
Contact Us
Roots Offices:
4-6 Bridge Street, Tadcaster,
North Yorkshire, LS24 9AL
Roots Venue Partner:
York Theatre Royal, St Leonard's Place, York, YO1 7HD
Roots People
Steven Atkinson
He/him | CEO
Steven founded Roots and leads the company. He previously co-founded the new writing company HighTide.
Amber Rennison
She/her | Community Co-ordinator
Amber recruits and supports the LGBTQIA+ communities and audiences that we work with, and helps to produce our events.
Francesca Clark
She/her | Trustee
Francesca is an independent producer working in new writing and queer cabaret.
James Drake
He/him | Trustee
James is a consultant for EY and focuses on operations, accounting and risk management.
Lel Meleyal
She/her | Trustee
Lel is a retired ex-academic, now writer of stories, novels and scripts. She lives in Scarborough.
Emma Martin
She/her | Marketing
Emma is a freelance marketeer working with clients producing theatre across the UK.
Priya Roy
She/her | Trustee
Priya is a publicity director at Vintage (Penguin Random House). Previously she worked in publicity at the Young Vic.
Shivaike Shah
He/him | Trustee
Shiv is the founder of Khameleon Productions, and also works in production at Netflix.
Lizzie Vogler
She/her | Trustee
Lizzie chairs Roots and is an independent producer and consultant. Previously she has worked for ETT and Futures Theatre.
Our Partners
