Who we are

We make all our work in collaboration with partners who bring additional value to our projects and who share our child-centred values.

We believe that access to high quality theatre is a cultural entitlement of all children. Through our work in communities, we create unique creative opportunities that enrich young lives and support young people to negotiate an increasingly complicated world.

We are a registered charity and a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and are proud to bring our work to children in schools and venues in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that our friend and Theatre Hullabaloo’s Chair of Trustees, Professor Simon James, passed away in June 2025 after a short battle with illness.

Simon was a professor in the Department of English Studies at Durham University where he made a significant contribution to the understanding of Victorian literature, particularly H G Wells, however Simon should also be remembered for his extraordinary contribution to – and passion for – children’s rights to arts and creativity.

He took his role as Principal Investigator for the Durham Commission on Creativity in Education extremely seriously and worked tirelessly to create a compelling case for the central role of creativity in children and young people’s lives. It was as part of his role with the Durham Commission that he first came to The Hullabaloo shortly after we opened in 2017. He was very open about the fact that he wasn’t well-versed in arts and creativity for the very youngest but had been told that he should come and visit us so we could tell him all about it!

Nearly three hours of conversation and several cups of coffee later, he jumped up and hurried home because he said he now realised that what we were discussing was ‘the most important part of the Commission’s work’ and that he had to start work on making sure that was understood immediately. He jokingly called this his ‘Road to Damascus’ moment and promised that he would help to make the case for greater investment in the arts for early years.

He was true to his word. Early Years was significantly featured within the Durham Commission and Simon joined the board of Hullabaloo and became a strong and committed advocate for our work. A year or so later the Arts Council’s strategy, Let’s Create, specifically identified Early Years children and their families as a priority for the first time. Only a few months ago, Simon was again working tirelessly to complete the Child of the North report which he once more ensured included creativity for the very youngest.

After serving as Vice Chair for a number of years, Simon took on the role of Chair of Trustees at the AGM last December, a role he said was a ‘huge honour’. His commitment to our organisation was remarkable, not just as an advocate and in a governance role, but he would frequently be seen sitting amongst an audience of very small children on a Saturday morning so that he could really understand and enjoy the impact of the work that we do.

Simon’s legacy is extraordinary, but he clearly had so much more to give and we will all miss him terribly.