Cardboard Citizens was founded in 1991 by Adrian Jackson, MBE, in the Cardboard City that had sprung up in what was then called the Bullring in Waterloo. Cardboard Citizens became independent in 1995 and now regularly tours Forum Theatre productions written by playwrights including
Kae Tempest (
Glasshouse), Ali Taylor (
Cathy) and Sarah Woods (
Meta) in the UK to theatres, prisons, hostels and community venues. It has also mounted theatre productions in both site-specific locations and as collaborations with other larger organisations, including the
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and
English National Opera. These have included
Mincemeat,
A Few Man Fridays,
Pericles and
Timon of Athens (both RSC). In 2016, the company staged a Community Ensemble theatrical staging of
Ken Loach's
Cathy Come Home to mark the film's 50th anniversary and the Theatre Company's 25th anniversary. The production starred Elle Payne as Cathy and
Denholm Spurr as Reg. In December 2017, Cardboard Citizens' founder, CEO and Artistic Director
Adrian Jackson was awarded an
MBE for Services to the Arts in the
2018 New Year Honours list. == 2021–Present ==