Defining Hackney Showroom’s story and strategic direction
We sharpened Hackney Showroom’s story to strengthen its strategic positioning and equip its leadership to champion its distinctive contribution to UK theatre
The challenge
Hackney Showroom is an artist-led theatre company and civic arts space based on Kings Crescent Estate in Hackney. It makes original, genre-defying theatre and runs a year-round community programme alongside it. After a decade of bold productions and deep local work, the company was ready to step into its next chapter as an established voice in UK theatre.
With a new Chair in place and a new organisational strategy in preparation, there was an opportunity to sharpen how Hackney Showroom understood and communicated its value.
The founders and Co-Artistic Directors wanted their communications to match their ambitions. They had a wealth of stories to tell, from artists who had grown with them to audiences discovering theatre for the first time. The task was to bring these together into one coherent narrative that built recognition of Hackney Showroom itself, not just its productions. They also wanted to share their perspective more widely and take a confident place in conversations about the future of theatre.
Our approach
Through facilitated narrative sessions with Hackney Showroom’s Co-Artistic Directors, we identified what distinguishes the organisation: its collaborative, long-term approach to artist development and its dual role as a theatre company and civic space. We positioned these strengths within the wider challenges facing UK theatre, establishing the relevance of Hackney Showroom’s perspective.
We translated this narrative into a communications strategy aligned with the organisation’s longer-term reputation ambitions. The strategy translated its story into practical opportunities for communication across channels. It also established the governance, resourcing, and risk management needed to deliver it.
The next step was to turn this strategy into a shared organisational asset. That meant equipping the people who shape Hackney Showroom’s direction and relationships to articulate its value consistently and confidently.
At a board strategy day, we worked with trustees and senior staff to test the narrative, build shared ownership and identify how they could champion the organisation. Using a deceptively simple question, “What would you say if someone asked you at a party what Hackney Showroom does?”, we explored how confidently they could articulate its value and where the story needed greater clarity.
We closed by translating the narrative into a practical ambassador role: communicate the core message, tell stories that show the organisation’s contribution beyond individual productions, identify opportunities for Hackney Showroom to influence relevant conversations, and amplify its work through personal and professional networks. The aim was to move from a clearly defined story to a consistent, collective approach to advocacy.
The results
Hackney Showroom now has a clear point of view on what theatre is for and what artist development should look like today. Its communications are guided by a single framework rather than individual show campaigns, giving all levels of the organisation a compass for storytelling and content.
By the end of the strategy day, trustees and senior staff had a sharper answer to the party question and a shared story to take out into the world.
"What a thoroughly invigorating and clarifying experience! Viya opened up new ways of thinking and offered tangible approaches. If you want consultancy that is challenging, purposeful and insightful then you've come to the right place."
- Nina Lyndon & Sam Curtis Lindsay, Co-Artistic Directors, Hackney Showroom