About Us
Let’s start at the very beginning…
Founded in 2012 as Arion Productions Ltd, we set out with a clear goal: to tell meaningful and artistic stories about people and subjects often left out of theatre.
Arion Productions began when Theatre Director Andrew Keates and Executive Producer Andrew Harmer met at the Landor Theatre in Clapham. Keates was directing shows like Martin Sherman's Bent and Harmer, with his generosity and practical sense, quickly became the perfect partner. Together, they formed an ideal team, combining passion and sensibility to create impactful theatre.
2012
A Remarkable Beginning
Our debut production, Passing By by Martin Sherman, premiered at the Finborough Theatre, starring Alex Felton and Stevie Webb.
Later that year, we presented the professional world premiere of the new musical A Winter's Tale. Inspired by one of Shakespeare’s last and most experimental plays, this innovative piece by Howard Goodall, Nick Stimson, and Andrew Keates at the Landor Theatre won Best New Musical in the 2013 OffWestEnd Theatre Awards, solidifying our belief in the artistic merit of musical theatre.
2013
Sex, Drugs and Musical Theatre
We produced the European premiere of Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon’s epic punk musical ROOMS: A Rock Romance at the Finborough Theatre, starring Cassidy Janson and Alexis Gerred.
We transferred Passing By to the Tristan Bates Theatre (now Seven Dials Playhouse), featuring James Cartwright and Rik Makarem.
And we revived William M. Hoffman’s As Is at the Finborough Theatre, a groundbreaking play about the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York. This poignant production received rave reviews and was featured as Time Out Critic's Choice.
2014
working with legends.
In response to the rise of far-right political parties in the UK, we collaborated with iconic Broadway writers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty to present the European premiere of Dessa Rose at Trafalgar Studios (now Trafalgar Theatre). With a stellar cast including Cynthia Erivo, Cassidy Janson, Jon Robyns, and Miquel Brown, this production received universal critical acclaim and remains a highlight of our history.
2015
HIV, AIDS and The Trenches
We returned to Trafalgar Studios with As Is, featuring a living memorial wall and rapid HIV testing—the first West End production to offer such a service. This initiative, along with post-show events, explored HIV, AIDS, and their ongoing impact on the LGBTQIA+ community. The entire cast attended a protest in Trafalgar Square alongside director, Andrew Keates who spoke out in response to Nigel Farage’s comments about ‘migrants’ bringing HIV into our country. As Is starred David Poynor, Stevie Webb, Dino Fetscher, Jane Lowe, Giles Cooper, Natalie Burt, Bevan Celeste with a new set design by Tim McQuillen Wright.
That year, we also premiered The White Feather at the Union Theatre, a powerful musical about British soldiers executed for shellshock or PTSD. The show featured an updated book and new songs, starring Abigail Matthews, Adam Pettigrew, Lee Dillon Stuart, David Flynn, and Katie Brennan.
2016 - 2019
Time to Learn
2016 - 2019: Masterclasses
Arion began producing masterclasses and workshops to help inspire and nurture the next generation of theatremaker. Our venues included the New Diorama Arts Centres and the Omnibus Theatre Clapham. Just a few of these unique events including writing plays and screenplays with Mark Gatiss and Martin Sherman, Acting For Camera with Annette Badland, Acting Through Song with Jenny Galloway, Anna-Jane Casey, Cassidy Janson, Julie Atherton, Oliver Saville and Danielle Tarento, Puppetry with Abigail Matthews and Acting with Andrew Keates.
2017 - 2019: The Show People Podcast
In September 2017, we launched The Show People Podcast - a fortnightly podcast that shines a spotlight on the UK’s performing arts industry, covering the latest performing arts news, things to see and do, opinion pieces and discussion about industry issues and it provided a platform for new writers and composers to have their work broadcast to listeners of the show whilst interviewing a special guest from the performing arts industry about their career, lessons learned, anecdotes and some on-the-spot challenges too. We created over 30 episodes with incredible guests throughout the performing arts industry and amassed a listenership of over 50,000 listeners worldwide.
2017 - 2018
East and South East Asian Representation
In 2017, we co-produced the European premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish at Park Theatre and led the yellow-face protests against the Print Room at the Coronet for their culturally insensitive casting.
In 2018, we collaborated with Jewish actor and comedian Steve Furst to develop his show In: Character, which toured various venues including the Underbelly Festival, the Museum of Comedy, and the Tristan Bates Theatre.
2019
Boldly going…
We co-produced the world premiere of Dark Sublime by Michael Dennis at Trafalgar Studios. This heartfelt LGBTQIA+ story starred Marina Sirtis, Jacqueline King, Dr. Sophie Ward, Kwaku Mills, Simon Thorp, and the voice of Mark Gatiss. It explored the bond between an aging sci-fi actress and a young fan, delving into themes of unrequited love, fandom and Lesbian representation in autumnal years.
2020 - 2023
The Interval
Arion had plans for a major West End production of a play, and we were about to announce another season of masterclasses. Collaborations with other companies were already underway. However, COVID-19 and the UK lockdown forced us to abandon all these plans. With the virus making live audiences impossible, Arion lost countless projects and funds month after month, ultimately forcing us to suspend all activities until further notice.
Between 2022 and 2023, our Artistic Director Andrew Keates was terribly assaulted, battled a major health condition and lost a number of loved ones, forcing him to take a year off to recover, recuperate and consider how he and the company might one day rise from the ashes, whenever that would be.
2024 - Present
We’re here, we’re queer!
In July 2024, Andrew Keates resumed his role as Artistic Director, but not of Arion Productions Ltd, but of the newly renamed Queer Theatre Ltd!
Our mission is simple
To tell authentic LGBTQIA+ stories without shame.
To nurture LGBTQIA- theatremakers with pride, in the form of classes, specialist workshops, one night only events and social/networking functions.
To partner with individuals and organisations who will help us grow the visibility of queer stories in the mainstream as well as directly to the LGBTQIA+ community.
To one day occupy a permanent space and dedicate it to creating LGBTQIA+ theatre, events and entertainment.
