About Golightly Theatre Company
Rooted in Stockton-on-Tees, we breathe life into the forgotten narratives, personal memories, and local family histories of our vibrant community through poignant, high-calibre theatrical productions.
Born from local family roots
Golightly Theatre Company was founded out of a profound passion for local family history. We believe that everyday lineage and ancestral stories hold cinematic drama and universal emotional truths. By uncovering personal letters, oral traditions, and archival memories from the North East, we craft genuine stage narratives that resonate across generations.
Championing northern voices
Based in Trimdon, our goal is to provide a vibrant artistic platform for regional performers, playwrights, and production crews. We nurture local creative talent while making thought-provoking, community-centred theatre accessible and engaging for local audiences of all backgrounds.
Join us in the auditorium
Whether you are captivated by intimate heritage dramas or bold community revivals, our live events offer unforgettable evenings of shared storytelling. Discover our upcoming calendar of performances across regional stages and secure your seats today.
Meet our team
Andrew Golightly
Writer/Director
The author has a lifetime of experience creating theatre as an actor, teacher, director and now a writer. Originally from County Durham, Andrew trained at Drama Centre London before working in theatre and television: one or two stand-out roles at Northern Stage Company and Live Theatre as well as some forgettable appearances in Spender, Byker Grove, Emmerdale and Harry before settling in Gloucestershire with a family and a full- time teaching post.
After many years, thousands of students, hundreds of productions and several schools, including some years working in Porto, Andrew returned to spend time with elderly relatives and decided to interview and record their stories of growing up and working. These are compelling stories concerning lives lived in and around a dying mining industry and represented here through dialogue, strong characters and passionate music.
Jo Collins
Composer/Lyricist
Jo began her musical career in the late 1960s as a folk singer, later moving into the pop world of the 1970s. She formed her own four-part harmony group, Music Room, which signed with Decca Records and released three singles—two of which reached the charts.
She went on to write for Chappell Music Publishing, but soon became disillusioned with the cut-throat nature of the recording industry. Turning her creative energy elsewhere, she began work on a rock musical at a time when Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell were taking the world by storm.
In 1974, inspired by the extraordinary response to her work, Jo joined forces with her close friend Mary Ward to found what would become the internationally renowned Chickenshed Theatre Company. As co-leader of the company, she wrote many of its most celebrated musicals while helping to shape its pioneering inclusive ethos.
Having recently stepped back from her full-time responsibilities at Chickenshed, Jo has continued to write for other theatre companies as well as for BBC television and radio. She is now thrilled to be collaborating with Andrew on her latest project, Coal Faces.