Our History

Told by an Idiot was founded in 1993 by Hayley Carmichael, Paul Hunter and John Wright.

Our name reflects our desire to place characters who are often on the margins of stories, or who simply act as comic relief, at the very heart of the narrative. Our use of the word ‘Idiot’ in our name and in all we do, refers to the characteristics of playfulness, openness, and curiosity and is used warmly as a means to celebrate human vulnerability. We passionately believe there is an ‘Idiot’ in all of us and, by embracing our capacity to mess up, slip on life’s banana skin but continue to get up, we begin to inhabit a liberating and creative space.

Our work has been seen across four continents, from Bradford to Beijing, Coventry to Caracas. Our first production, On The Verge Of Exploding, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993. It was nominated for the Independent Theatre Award, followed by a run at the London International Mime Festival.

Over the past 30 years we have produced critically-acclaimed new productions with partners including the Royal Court, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Leeds Playhouse, the RSC, National Theatre Wales, National Theatre of Scotland, Unity Theatre Liverpool, Barbican Centre London, Royal Exchange Manchester and Theatre Royal Plymouth.

We have collaborated with celebrated artists including Michel Faber (The Fahrenheit Twins), Carol Ann Duffy (Casanova), Zoe Rahman (Charlie and Stan), Philip Pullman (The Firework makers Daughter), Richard Wilson (Playing The Victim) and Simon Armitage (I Am Thomas).