Mikron Theatre Company actor-musicians Catherine Warnock, left, Georgina Liley, James McLean and Robert Took in Harvey Badger’s debut play Operation Beach Hut. Picture: Robling Photography
MIKRON Theatre Company will tour to 138 venues by van and narrowboat in 2025, none more outdoor than Scarcroft Allotments, their regular fertile ground for quirky comedy, song and enlightenment in York.
The travelling players from the Pennine village of Marsden, West Yorkshire, are on the canal, river and road for a 53rd year from April 4 to October 18 with the world premiere of Mikron acting alumnus Harvey Badger’s debut play, Operation Beach Hut, setting up base camp amid the Scarcroft Road flowers and vegetable plots on Sunday afternoon.
As is their custom on their pop-up theatre travels to halls, community centres, pubs and village greens , Mikron will pop back to York in the autumn to present a second world premiere, Hush Hush!, wherein Lucie Raine infiltrates the clandestine world of wartime code-breaking to expose the vital contributions of the unsung heroes of Bletchley Park, whose ingenuity and unwavering resolve helped secure victory. More on that world of secrets, cyphers and song later.
First, let’s dig into Operation Beach Hut at the allotments. Badger’s musical will whisk Sunday’s inland audience off to the golden sands of Fiddling-On-Sea for the annual Best Beach Hut competition when stressed-out city dweller Holly seeks solace by the sea.
As the competition draws closer, the history of the seaside floats to the surface, washing up a host of characters and stories from centuries gone by, delivered by Marianne McNamara’s quartet of actor-musicians: Georgina Liley, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and familiar face James McLean.
Robert Took and Catherine Warnock in a scene from Operation Beach Hut. Picture: Robing Photography
Soon Holly realises far more is at stake than merely a prize for best beach hut in a play that combines Mikron’s signature bright and brisk storytelling with original songs (composed by musical director Amal El-Sawad with lyrics by Badger).
Guaranteeing you will have a “whale of a time” in Badger’s slice of seaside nostalgia, Marianne says: “This production is a celebration of British seaside culture, filled with heart-warming stories, catchy tunes and plenty of laughter. We’re excited that we have integrated audio description at every performance too.”
Harvey Badger is delighted to be making his Mikron bow as a playwright after touring on board Mikron’s narrowboat Tyseley as part of the cast for the 2023 productions of Poppy Hollman’s Twitchers and Amanda Whittington’s A Force To Be Reckoned With.
“I was at the opening night, packed out with Mikronites in Marsden, and it’s been lovely to hear how well the play’s going down,” he says.
“This is my first experience of opening a play where I’ve been the one working on it and then handing it over to the director and actors. That was a lovely moment.”
Harvey Badger, back row, middle, in Mikron Theatre Company’s 2023 production of Twitchers with Hannah Baker, left, Eddie Ahrens and Rachel Hammond. Picture: Anthony Robling
Harvey had studied on the actor musicianship course at Rose Bruford College, in London.“They really push you to try our your own work there,” he recalls. “I wrote music, did little play projects, bits and bobs, nothing that you would call professional, but enjoyable to do.
“Then while I was on tour in 2023, Mikron did a call-out for new writers, and I felt I had the gist of what they’d be looking for. I submitted an initial application with an idea for a potential show and a sample of the first ten pages – and it’s pretty much ended up as that play!”
His submission involved two rounds: those opening pages to show his writing style, the patter between characters, the dialogue. “But I still had to show I could handle three acts. So the second round was more of the structural side, showing how I would develop the character arcs,” says Harvey.
Mikron has a structured way of commissioning plays, where the first two months are given over to research. “I knew the play was always going to be about an out-of-towner, from London, but I’m from Brighton originally, which is where the drive to write this play came from,” says Harvey.
“Having lived in London for eight years now, it’s been lovely to revisit Brighton – I’m getting married this year and we went to The Lanes in Brighton to get our rings.
Mikron Theatre Company’s poster artwork for Harvey Badger’s Operation Beach Hut
“My parents now live in St Leonards on Sea, my grandparents live In Brighton, and I think the love of the sea is embedded in all of us because we’re a small island, where the sounds of the sea and our beaches are inherently part of our culture. It’s a big part of who we are.
“I grew up on the sea front, looking out of the window, seeing the sea every day, so I find a big sense of calm standing by the sea, feeling very grounded there.”
Harvey decided it would be important in Operation Beach Hut to represent both those who live all year round by the sea and those who visit. “They are two different communities, and I’m aware of the gentrification of some places that has led almost to ghost towns being created, when people only come for three months of the year when the weather’s good.
“I wanted to show the difficulties but also that if the two communities could support each other, they can create the magic that these places can be. There are no perfect answers, and I don’t think plays are meant to provide answers but to ask lots of questions.”
Mikron Theatre Company in Operation Beach Hut, Scarcroft Allotments, Scarcroft Road, York, Sunday (18/5/2025), 2pm to 4pm. No tickets required; a pay-what–you-feel collection will be taken post-show.
Mikron Theatre Company in Lucie Raine’s Hush Hush!, Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, September 21, 4pm to 6pm.