THE STORY OF BUNBANTER

The Bunbury Banter Theatre Company (or Bunbanter for short) was created by Glennon Anderson (also known by her real name Ali Anderson-Dyer) & Samantha O Shea in the autumn of 2006, since when it has grown considerably! After Series One of our radio plays we were joined in the company by Jake Butt, a cracking writer, and Philip Anderson-Dyer, our wonderful Company Producer.

In 2008, we were lucky enough to work with Tim Conner and Corin Giles who made massive strides forward with the marketing and funding of the company.

In 2009, having said a fond farewell to our wonderful marketing people (who have both moved on to exciting arenas beyond the world of audio drama), we welcomed four new members in the form of Gareth Brown, Andrew Thompson, Sam Miller and Henry Douthwaite. With our team expanding, 2009 was a busy year behind the scenes for the radio plays, as we also launched our Bunbanter Saturday School in Ealing, West London and our Workshops for Schools programme 'Whisper in your ear'.

In 2010, we announced the appointment of the hugely talented Martin Eggleston in a new Literary Manager position.

In 2011 we launched our Professional Development Workshops, and are extremely happy to have Karen Bradley on board in the role of Production Manager. She will working on some new and exciting Bunbanter projects.

As always, a massive thanks goes to John Dyer who continues as Company Secretary.

THE WORK WE DO

Bunbanter works to deliver imaginative, immersive and engaging theatre of all kinds, specializing in the area of new writing. We aim to make theatre accessible to new audiences and new talent, while remaining committed to our ethos of strong storytelling and collaboration.

We currently produce an ongoing series of short atmospheric radio dramas, with which we are continually setting new standards of high quality as we hone the art of capturing people's attention through the airwaves. We work with a large number of new writers, directors and editors across a variety of genres. Our aim with the plays is to achieve the level of production quality found on BBC Radio while staying true to our mission of exploring the medium in a collaborative and exciting way.

Visit the Radio plays section to find out more and hear some clips from past series.

We also teach the next generation about drama and audio work through workshops and classes. As well as visiting various schools and organisations, we have our own Saturday Theatre School and Holiday Schools, which offer tuition in singing, dance, drama and media classes, among others. Unlike many other organisations, we focus on our student’s confidence and development while encouraging them towards different experiences such as stage combat, musical theatre, radio and TV, and productions on a professional stage. Since we are a working company ourselves, our education department benefits from the collaboration and help of theatre professionals, who are not just aware of the current trends but making them!

Have a look at the Education pages for more information.