PAST PROJECTS
Looking back at previous productions from Tideline Runners
"...Quick-witted, naturalistic dialogue bounces between characters without taking a breath, slick visuals and an on-point soundtrack...a common thread that seeks to elevate community theatre.... The gentle sweetness and knock-about humour serves well the message of self-acceptance, resilience and kindness, while adeptly side-stepping the trap of mawkishness."
T Morrison - Berwick Advertiser
Why Henry Is SO Weird
(2022)
Our first show for the whole family. '
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Henry is a lonely 12 year old boy with a crippling anxiety disorder, his parents are divorcing, he is bullied at school and adolescence looms large on the horizon. One night, he is visited by a vision of his 40 year old self, an imaginary companion only he can see, and this version of Henry has some very vocal opinions on how Henry is living his life...
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But young henry isn't the only person who needs help!
"Stunning"
P.Robinson - The Observer
The Smallest Story
(2023)
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A love story you will never forget from the end to the beginning.
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On the fist Christmas after Amy dies, Charlie is asked if he could go back. in time and start again knowing nothing would change, would he still choose her? From then, we follow Charlie as he cascades back through his memories to their very first meeting.
This intimately staged, one-act, three-header horror is perhaps his finest work yet…. We were all left shaken by everything that was Hidden In This Room.”
S Jadranko - Berwick Advertiser.
HIDDEN IN THIS ROOM
(2018)
Three-headed horror story. Norah and Lucy are crime scene cleaners who are removing the last remnants of Michael Caden from the world. When his estranged son Daniel returns from travelling to discover his father has been murdered, Norah makes a bold offer that could be cathartic or catastrophic.
"Mind-blowing! A simply stunning piece of musical theatre! Tideline Runners have taken their incredible talents to stratospheric new heights!" -
S Duke - Berwick Advertiser
sam & isla forever
(2014 - 2018)
Our first large scale community musical was written and composed by RJ Flynn. Shifting between two timelines as a legal team researching the case of unlawful killing of WW1 soldier shot at dawn for desertion in 1974, and the heartbreaking love story they discover, playing out in musical flashback.
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Inspired by real life accounts from soldiers on the front line and diaries of the period belonging to residents of Berwick Upon Tweed.
"Tideline Runners at their most brutal and uncompromising featuring some of the best performances in this group's history and the tightest focussed writing and direction." M Pentecost - WOW 24/7
ONE BIG LIE
(2017)
This acerbic black comedy was based on the astonishing true crime story of a Northern businessman who tried to blag his way out of debt by selling The Ritz Carlton Hotel in London. The only catch being it wasn't his to sell.
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This sensational story proved to be our most shocking and controversial production to date as this tale of an apparently contagious strain of corruption infected everyone it came into contact with. There were no heroes here, just people in the way. They could either join the conspiracy or be crushed by it.
"Slick and larger than life musical with more ear worms than should be legally allowed"
S Duke - The Journal
72HRS IN MOSCOW
(2016)
Our second large scale community musical is a fictional story of the trials of the Myshkin family woven into the real events of the August Putsch which saw USSR president taken out of power by means of a coup and the subsequent uprising of the people who marched on Red Square in defiance.
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You can see a filmed performance of this show on this site.
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“The Smallest Story Ever Told packed a mighty punch… the play made you grateful for health, happiness and memories.” **** Emma K Robertson - Cairns Theatre Passion
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"From horrifying to hilarious, R J Wilkinson plays arpeggio with his audience’s feelings. This is interspersed with sudden flashes of utter genius, where he combines all the notes into one great mis-matched chord. " S Campbell - The Berwickshire News
“…this is a fine and perceptive one hour play based on two true stories… it is particularly interested in grief and its effects although it explores these with flashes of humour.” *****
S Elkin - Sardines
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“Sometimes it is the smallest stories which can pack the largest emotional punch. In a single hour I laughed and shed a tear and really felt a part of the family’s drama. It truly feels like it is a story told from the heart. Excellent.” **** Rachael Simmons - Everything Theatre
THE SMALLEST STORY EVERY TOLD
(2015)
Inspired by RJ Flynn's own struggles with bereavement. This play is a comedic love story about overcoming grief. It is also a powerful examination of the lives of people who are living with dementia.
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The story follows the Donnelly family as the learn to cope with the loss of Amy which her husband Charlie does by remembering is life with her in reverse.
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We see events unfold as Charlie remembers them in backwards chronology. As we watch, we see Amy miraculously recover and come back to the world as the force of nature she once was and follow her and Charlie right back to the moment that they first met.
#1 Show 2013 "[The Tideline Runners] best show yet... funny, moving and an ending that stays with you long after the final curtain. One of the most honest and touching shows I have seen." S Duke - Berwick Advertiser
"Wonderfully witty, smart and delightful. There is real magic at work here." Geoff Newton (C4)
"Warmly funny and beautifully sad..." C Flyte
THE WORDS IN THE WIRES
(2013)
Loosely inspired by the true story of the origins of The Reuters News Agency. This historical drama is brimming with comedy and heartbreak.
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Told in flashback as Julius Reuter, held under arrest in the back room of a theatre, must fight to prove his latest story - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln - is not a hoax. In telling the story of his own life and how he became the founder of the world's most trusted news agency, he ends up telling the story of his best friend and how their loving friendship was destroyed by ambition.
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This play was awarded the title of Best Regional Theatre Show of 2013 by The Berwickshire News, Northumberland Gazette and WOW24/7.
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"Better than Human Interest Stories... Language that can be as soothing as a caress from a lover, or, as brutal as a boxing glove pitted with barbed wire and broken glass"
C Flyte - NotBAd
LOVE OR MONEY (AND OTHER STORIES)
(2013)
A super high concept comedy about a renowned film editor who, in order to do his job, will have to cut the performance of the woman he has fallen for from her big break movie.
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The film examines the age old Hollywood battles: Talent vs Looks, Commerce Vs Art, Man Vs Women, Ego Vs Ego. One thing's for certain, due to an entire lack of respect on all sides, nobody comes out of this on the winning side.
#3 Shows of 2012 "A stunning and powerful piece of theatre" - S Duke, Berwick Advertiser
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"So Sharp it will cut itself" - C Flyte NotBAd
HUMAN INTEREST STORIES
(2012)
Our first production was this series of interlocking scenes set over a year (one scene relaying an event during a single day each month)
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Privacy Vs Public interest was the main theme here as the play delved into the dark arts of the tabloid press.
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Writer RJ Flynn is on record as being unhappy with the script for this production to the point that there has been a substantive re-write of the entire show. This new version - renamed 'Below The Fold' is slated to be our production celebrating our first 10 years in 2022.