Innovative Theatre Productions Await
Discover bold storytelling and diverse theatre performances
Innovative Theatre Productions Await
Discover bold storytelling and diverse theatre performances
Who we are
The Company
We're a small team of creatives who believe in theatre that makes people feel. The inaugural production 'Enclosure' was performed in 2018. The play was written by Martin Lytton and directed by Kirstie Davis with cast Jacquie Crago, Jude Emmet and Caro Day. The Company has now been formally established by Jacquie and Jude who are both women of age with nearly 100 years of experience between them, and they continue to develop our mission:
- To platform unheard voices and urgent stories
- To tell intimate stories that wrestle with identity, memory and emotion.
- To redress the balance between age and gender.
- To entertain not preach and to look for humour and positive values in the darkest situations.
Our name - Pricking Thumbs
Inspired by a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth we take our name from the moment something powerful appears - the sense that something real and raw is about to happen. For us it means telling bold, honest stories that stir your senses and shake your spirit.
What we do
Why .....
What .....
What .....
We create a platform for new and under represented works that challenge, inspire and engage audiences through bold storytelling and innovative performances, showcasing the talents of both new and experienced theatre professionals.
What .....
What .....
What .....
The inaugural production 'Enclosure' was performed in 2018. The play was written by Martin Lytton and directed by Kirsty Davis with cast Jacquie Crago, Jude Emmet and Caro Day. 'Enclosure" is the story of three women living in an enclosed Britain where any contact or trade with the outside world is forbidden or illegal and where even remembering is resistance and resistance is fatal. 'Enclosure' opened at the Irving studio Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and toured throughout Gloucestershire.
Meet our Directors
Jacquie Crago
Jacquie Crago has been connected with theatre and the arts for over 50 years as actress, voice coach and director.
Among her many roles in rep she played Sonya (Uncle Vanja), Lady Macbeth, Hecuba ( Trojan Women), Lotte (Lettuce and Lovage) Mrs Solnesss ( The Master Builder).
Jacquie's Voice and accent coaching has taken her to various leading Drama schools and theatres including the Manchester Royal Exchange, the RSC (3yrs)and National (6yrs War Horse).
As a director Jacquie enjoys working with small scale touring companies and with drama students at every level developing stories and exploring texts, both classical and modern.
Jacquie's most recent productions include Chekhov’s Wild Honey, Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs.
Jude Emmet
Jude’s radio career has encompassed being a presenter for “Listen With Mother” in 1980s, and slots on “Poetry Please” and “Home Front” as well as many schools radio plays. More recently, Jude’s voice has regularly featured in Nickleodeon’s animated series “Butterbean’s Café”, “Paw Patrol” and “Rubble and Crew”.
Her voice can be heard in two audio books by prize-winning author Alice Jolly: “Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile” and “From Far Around They Heard Us Cry”.
Jude’s career in theatre spans nearly 50 years. During those years she has worked as an actor, director, workshop practitioner, writer and storyteller.
Between 2006 and 20016 Jude was Associate Director of Red Dog Theatre. During this time she wrote and directed 6 plays for young children, one of which, “The Great Bear of the North” was shortlisted for the Brian Way Award for excellence in writing for young people. She also adapted “Dombey and Son”, which she also performed in, and “A Christmas Carol” for Red Dog. She has acted extensively in Gloucestershire and beyond with various theatre companies, including the inaugural play for Pricking Thumbs, “Enclosure” by Martin Lytton.
Our next production 'Flight'
'FLIGHT' by Martin Lytton - Directed by Jacquie Crago
"FLIGHT – One Man’s Journey' is an electrifying one-man play theatre production that follows the life of Maneek, a boy raised in a remote village on stilts, shadowed by tigers and governed by a strict, distant father. As Maneek’s world expands—first through the bustling and often threatening reality of a city slum, then across oceans to unfamiliar cultures—he battles fear, grapples with love, and pursues a sense of belonging. Told through powerful storytelling, rich cultural references, humor, and poignant drama, this intimate personal tale speaks volumes about universal struggles of home, family, and the will to persevere."
Naz Sheikh Actor in residence
Naz is one of the talented individuals who make Pricking Thumbs Theatre Company possible, from our actors to our technicians and beyond.
Naz career, stage, and theatre/performance experience began in 2000, just two years before he moved to the UK from Bangladesh.
theatre
In the first years, he was lucky to play many theatre productions and roles in his mother tongue. In 2016, while doing his degree in Drama, he started reading and performing plays in English. After completing his degree, he performed in several Arts Council-funded shows and plays in East London.
Martin Lytton
About Martin
Martin is a playwright and poet currently living in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in the U.K.
He has close ties with Scandinavia, having lived in Sweden for twenty years, and speaks Swedish fluently.
Martin is a member of the Everyman Theatre Writer's lab and has had several shows performed in that theatre.
'Enclosure'
Martin's first play written for Pricking Thumbs Theatre was reviewed in 2018 by Judith Wordsworth in British Theatre Guide.
"Pricking Thumbs is a new Gloucestershire-based theatre company whose aim is to redress the balance of age and gender through challenging, inspirational theatre.
The opening of Enclosure is very reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Scottish play’s three Weird Sisters; one was almost waiting for the line “when shall we three meet again”. In this one-act play, three women, Caro Day (Sandra Price), Jude Emmet (Jo Weaver) and Jacquie Crago (Erda), are joined by the threads of life, through many lives, who meet again.
Set in 2048, Britons are fenced in after Brexit and everywhere Big Brother is watching. Again, I felt a bit reminiscent of an old TV series V. Misdemeanours are punished by correction, and sometimes death, and one of the misdemeanours is remembering. Remembering is subversive, resistance, and not to be allowed.
Jo Weaver, who lives on her own and paying a tax to do so, meets up with a co-worker, Sandra Price, and invites her to come and live with her. Erda flits between a beggar woman, the eyes of Big Brother and elder of the three Weird Sisters who also has the knowledge of how one can escape. But Sandra has had enough of being a harbinger of chaos and wants, just for once, to be “normal” and live her life even if it is under surveillance.
There are strong performances by all the actors—or if redressing the balance should this not be actresses—directed by Kirstie Davis. They engaged with each other and with the audience, even with the totally distracting performance going on in the Everyman’s main house encroaching on this piece of drama by Martin Lytton.
Being promoted as “part myth, part thriller, part warning, this play will keep you guessing to the very end ...”
"FLIGHT"
FLIGHT is Martin's second play for Pricking Thumbs Theatre Company and its first performance takes place at Exeter Cygnet Theatre on the 3rd October 2025, and then tours through October to include the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham on the 10th and 11th of October and then on to Bishop Hoopers House on the 18th October.
Watch this space for further performance dates.
Heather Hunter
Heather is our web, admin and all things tech go to person. She is a consultant to theatres and advices on Risk Assessment, Policies, and Training of backstage and front of house crew. An MA, FRSA and delights in all things Theatre and Ai,