Tom Mansfield and Steven Lally met at Birmingham University during the autumn of 2001, as Tom was finishing an undergraduate drama degree and Steven was studying for his MPhil in playwrighting. After many long afternoons spent in student bars setting the theatrical world to rights, they produced Steven's play These Things Happen at Birmingham's Crescent Theatre in the summer of 2002, with a group of students under the name "Upstart Theatre".
In 2004, both now living in London, they produced Other Edens, an evening of short plays at the Etcetera Theatre, which featured work by Jack Thorne (now writing for Shameless, and for the West End in Fanny and Faggot), Andrew Taylor (now Artistic Director of 1215 Productions, and author of Edinburgh smash Failed States), as well as Steven's BBC Northern Exposure nominated play Dealing. The following year they produced Joanna Pinto's play Gardening Leave in London and Maidenhead, and took the British premiere of Ethan Lipton's Meat to the Edinburgh Festival.
In 2006, Upstart returned to the Etcetera with Undiscovered, another evening of shorts including work by Steven Lally, Dawn King and Alison Carr. Dawn King's Chickpea Sickday Picasso Sabotage then transferred to the Union Theatre as part of the 2006 ShortCuts Festival. This was the beginning of a close association between Dawn and the company, with her acting as associated writer on the early development work for The 22nd July Project, a theatrical response to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Underground station.
In 2007, Upstart produced London Calling, an evening comprising The High Cost Of Living by Joanna Pinto and Water Sculptures by Dawn King, at Battersea's Theatre503. Having played to sell-out houses, we transferred Water Sculptures to the English Theatre of Bruges. We also welcomed Laura Harvey to the Upstart team as Development Manager, responsible for expanding and professionalising the company. Laura was instrumental in Upstart's becoming a limited company in February 2008, with a board of directors composed of people from the theatre and beyond. In 2008, Upstart produced a double bill of two Dawn King plays, Water Sculptures and ZOO at the Union Theatre, and our Act/React season of new works is playing at Theatre503.
Upstart's principles today are the same as those thrashed out by Tom and Steven in Birmingham in 2002 - to develop, promote and produce new plays that stimulate thought about the most important issues facing our society and our world, while at the same time providing one hell of a night out. We believe that in today's world, theatre is more important than ever as a place where people can come together as part of a community to be engaged emotionally and politically, to be made to think, and to be thoroughly entertained.