Turning Worm Theatre

Queer. Scouse. Disability-led. Dead sound theatre.

Even a worm will turn yeno

“Even a worm will turn“ is an old English expression about how even the meekest or most docile of creatures will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.

We’ll never know if we could’ve been meak or docile - we’re a bunch of disabled queer artists - meakness has never really been an option. What we do know is that our identities and communities are under constant attack. That’s why we’re Turning Worm. Our theatre retaliates! Our theatre seeks revenge! Our theatre is a formerly chilled out worm, who’s fucked off with the state of things. Come turn with us.

  • Scouse - Co-founded by scouse writer Marcella Rick, our work celebrates reigonalism in all it’s forms. We don’t shy away from our authentic voices, even if the grammar police come for us. You’ll never catch us with a casting-call for a character with an RP accent (unless we’re gonna make fun of said character).

    Whoever we work with, wherever we take our stories, Liverpool is our home, and our voice is scouse.

  • Queer - Our work doesn’t just feature LGBTQIA+ characters and gay sex (although there will be A Lot of that), it is politically queer. We love to celebrate queerness in all it’s forms - exploring non-traditional relationship styles; bending the rules across our processes; fucking about with structure (three-act who? never heard of her). We are committed to working towards a world that fucks off the rules that don’t serve us, finding joy and creativity in uncovering new practices that do.

  • Disability-led - we’d love to tell ya that all of our projects will be 100% accessible, but we’d rather be honest. We do the best that we can with the finances and resources at our disposal. We are a team of disabled creatives, working hard to find innovative ways to integrate accessibility, for our audiences and collaborators alike. In the past, this has looked like: creative captioning, reduced hours/flexible rehearsal schedules, relaxed performances and dedicated wellbeing and access support. We are committed to prioritising access and inclusion across all of our work, and excited by the prospect of finding new ways to do this.

And as for Dead sound? We swear down we are, but don’t just take our word for it!

Reviews from Marcy’s dad deffo count btw x

We are Turning Worm.

We make scouse, queer, disability-led, dead sound theatre… but what does that mean?

“What a boss new company! Seriously hilarious, joyous night at the theatre with Turning Worm Theatre. .. My face hurts from laughing.”

— Dr Francesca Peschier, June 2024