Our story

Sabotage Theatre Company was founded in 2008 by theatre maker Zoe Hinks, with a mission to create bold, original theatre and bring it to audiences beyond traditional theatre spaces.

Inspired by nature, adventure and resourcefulness, the company quickly developed a distinctive approach to touring. Between 2011 and 2017, Sabotage travelled extensively through rural communities, particularly on Romney Marsh, performing in forests, historic churches and community venues. Productions often toured by horse and wagon, company members camped and cooked over fires, and actors walked between venues dressed as travelling players.

Then this chapter came to a close and the company decided to travel further afield. Our tours became more ‘modern’ but this spirit of adventurous, environmentally-conscious touring remains central to our identity.

Since then, Sabotage Theatre has performed everywhere from ancient woodland and street festivals to lost villages and unusual historic spaces; these days you can even find us in theatres too. Sets, puppets and costumes are often built from recycled and reclaimed materials, using hands-on experimentation and play.

We believe theatre is shaped by the places where we perform and should be accessible to everyone. By working in community spaces and unconventional venues, we aim to break down geographical, financial and social barriers to live performance.

Our name reflects our ethos. Inspired by stories of workers putting their clogs (sabots) in machines to protest during the industrial revolution, Sabotage Theatre sees performance as a way to question assumptions, challenge norms and encourage audiences to see the world differently.

Sabotage Theatre became a registered charity in March 2024. While constantly evolving, we remain committed to creating visually bold, playful and socially engaged theatre. Recent work includes family and early years productions: After the Rain, a portable touring show designed to reach nurseries, schools and community spaces, bringing imaginative storytelling and environmental themes directly to young audiences, and The Púca, a participatory performance inspired by Irish folklore to teach skills of mental health resilience. 

Two people standing outdoors during daytime, with a blue and white striped circus tent in the background. One person in the foreground wears a mask with exaggerated facial features, a beret, and a gold chain, while the other person in the background has red hair, a green sweater, and a black top hat.

Saboteurs

Sabotage Theatre has a small pool of artists and performers. We value our working relationships and endeavour to continue and develop our creative language, so our projects will always contain a few Sabotage veterans. However we also see the importance of constantly refreshing and nourishing our creative team by bringing in fresh talent with each project. If you are interested in working with Sabotage please get in touch, tell us your skills and send your CV to zoe@sabotagetheatre.com, we’d love to hear from you.

Here are some of our regulars:

  • A woman sits on a couch making a puppet, in a room with plants and guitars in the background.

    Zoe Hinks

    Artistic Director

    Zoe founded Sabotage Theatre Company in 2008 after graduating from East 15 Acting School with a BA in Contemporary  Theatre. Since then she has written scripts, performed, made puppets and masks, directed, painted sets and wagons, produced, built stages, sewn costumes and  rifled through skips.  She wrote the Sabotage Manifesto in 2009 which has become the basis of the company's practice and is passionate about the necessity of live performance in everyone’s life.

  • A man with curly hair and a beard holding a puppet dog. The man wears a black cardigan over a striped shirt, and the puppet resembles a dog with gray and white fur, black eyes, and a large black nose.

    Darren East

    Puppetry Director

    Darren has been working as a professional puppeteer for over twenty years, creating work that has toured the UK and internationally. He was the Associate Artist at the Little Angel Theatre (‘the home of British Puppetry’) in 2013 and awarded in 2014 an Off West End Award for his puppetry direction of Third Hand’s Puppet Opera Triple Bill. Darren has developed his own unique pedagogy for puppetry training, running sell-out courses from his base in Brighton since 2012 and has taught puppetry and physical theatre at Kingston and Middlesex Universities as well as running puppetry workshops in schools and colleges across Brighton and London for more than 15 years.

  • A woman with dark hair and a maroon top with lace details is looking down at puppets and bottles on a white table. The puppets appear to be performing a scene. The background is dark with blurred string lights.

    Daisy Jordan

    Puppeteer

    Daisy is a visual artist, maker and puppeteer, based in Newhaven. She studied Fine Art Painting at the University of Brighton from 2006-2009, and discovered her love for puppets after taking an evening class shortly after graduating, in which she created a life-sized orangutan complete with bonnet and dress. Since then, she has created and performed in her own puppet shows, such as The Sorrowful Tale of Sleeping Sidney. She often performs as puppeteer and singing waitress at Bom-Bane's Cafe in Brighton and has also worked for companies such as Longnose Puppets and Bobblehat Theatre.

  • A woman with dark hair blowing into a pipe in an church with large windows.

    Sarah Ratheram

    Puppeteer / Performer

    An experienced performer with a specialism in masks Sarah trained at East-15 Acting School. Theatre work includes The Giant Jam Sandwich (New Perspectives); Macbeth and Styx (RIFT); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Little English Theatre); Morbid Curiosities (Don’t Go Into the Cellar); A Midsummer Night’s Dream in New Orleans (Ruby in the Dust); The Book’s the Thing and A Christmas Carol (Librarian Theatre); The Bitches Ball and The Missionary’s Position (Penny Dreadful Theatre);  Animal Farm (Tour de Force) and several shows for CoLab Theatre, Forthright Theatre and A Door in a Wall.

  • Close-up portrait of a young man with blue eyes, brown hair, light facial hair, and wearing a dark sweater, against a dark gray background.

    Lee White

    Puppeteer / Performer

    Lee is the founder of award-winning company Stickyback Theatre, a playwright and puppeteer, mask maker and Commedia Dell Arte practitioner. Lee also works as a Tutor and Director at various dramatic institutions.

  • A woman with long reddish-brown hair smiling, resting her hand on her forehead, with sunlight in the background.

    Kate I'Anson

    Composer

    Essex born composer Kate works freelance for Moonbug Entertainment and Tonies Audiobooks UK & Germany.

    An accomplished musician, arranger and accompanist, she has previously worked with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow on ‘Country Strong’ feature film, ‘Glee’ for Fox Network US, The Spice Girls tour and prep/vocal arrangements, The Saturdays tour and TV show, WestEnd prep for Melanie C on Blood brothers/Jesus Christ superstar, TV’s Fame Academy and GMTV.

Our Trustees

  • A smiling elderly man with gray hair wearing fashionable blue and red sunglasses and a black shirt with white daisy patterns, standing against a plain white wall.

    Pippin Boardman

    Trustee

  • Close-up selfie of a person with pink hair, wearing a black beanie and a colourful necklace, smiling gently, with a blue watercolour wash background.

    Sea Shucksmith

    Trustee

  • Graphic design with gears, spanner, name tags, and text reading 'Sabotage' and 'Theatre'.

    Penny Mustill

    Trustee