Three’s Company began in 2001 when Tom, Michael and Yaz staged a production at their local school – a new pantomime: Trouble In Panto Land, written by Michael and Tom. The success of this play – devised, directed and produced by the three – led to plans for a fully independent production in the Summer of 2003 at Buxton’s Fringe Festival. On a budget of £60 and a cast and crew of three, Platformation – a new comedy by Tom Crawshaw – sold out its three scheduled performance, sold-out a further two, unadvertised, and picked up four award nominations and an award for Best Production By A Young Company. Aged just 16, the three decided to continue the company on a professional level.
Platformation became the first part of the Transport Trilogy with parts two and three following over the next two years to more awards and sell-out audiences – including the largest total audience figures for any theatre production at the Buxton Fringe to date. From 2003 to 2005, the group staged a total of nine productions including a 400th anniversary production of Othello as part of the Opera House’s Studio season for which the group was given a special award at the East Midlands Tourism Awards.
Recent reviews have referred to Three’s Company’s “army of fans” and “their huge following in the town and beyond”. In 2005, the Vine Magazine called Three’s Company “Buxton’s worst kept secret”. From this base, the group have moved outwards to productions in Manchester and Edinburgh – and will be making their premiere in London this year. In 2004, Platformation won a place in Manchester’s first new-writing festival 24:7 and, in 2005, Later Showers was a popular and critical success in at C Venues in the Edinburgh Fringe – with audiences leaving the theatre in tears and glowing reviews from Three Weeks and the Daily Mail, including 5 stars from edinburghguide.com
In 2006, Three’s Company previewed their latest production – Play On Words which has since won a place in Oxford University’s New Writing Festival and is planned for a tour this summer. Plans include a run at the ICA, London as part of the Accidental Festival, a stint at the Buxton Fringe and a Fringe-long run in the Edinburgh Fringe. Alongside this, the group have a number of new plays and devised works in process and already have plans for offerings around the country in 2008.
However, the true roots of the company go back further than this. Before Trouble In Panto Land, Tom, Michael and Yaz, all growing up in the small town of Buxton, had been friends and worked on various projects for many years. Michael and Tom first performed together as goslings in Mother Goose at the age of nine; Tom and Yaz compered school concerts and ran their school magazine together from the age of eleven; and the three have been performing together in shows as disparate as Return To The Forbidden Planet, The Wizard of Oz, The Crucible and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from the age of twelve. The three have now following different routes with Tom at Oxford University, Michael at RADA at Yaz at Central School of Speech and Drama. However, the collaborations continue and the trio have exciting plans for when their studies finish in July 2008!
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