No Idea

Two women. One show. No ideas. Solution? Ask the great British public.

An Associate Artist project in collaboration with Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence

The British public: they decide who’s got the X-Factor, who’s a Pop Idol, who’s Got Talent, and sometimes they even express an opinion about who should run the country. Coming up with an idea for a piece of theatre should be a doddle so Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence decided to let the public tell them what their show should be about.

What people said was funny, heartfelt and sometimes jaw-dropping. Asking the public to write their show seemed to be a great idea, but slowly they realised that something was happening that neither of them could have predicted. Something very strange indeed…

No Idea was created as an Improbable Associate Artist Project, a programme where Improbable provide artistic, production, and mentoring support for our Associate Artists and artistic collaborators.

No Idea received its first work-in-progress showing at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2009 before touring the UK to Manchester, Liverpool, Ludlow, Plymouth, Birmingham and Bristol. No Idea then played an extended run at the Young Vic in London in July 2010 and in December 2010, the show went on a British Council tour to Damascus, Syria and Cairo, Egypt.

The “sequel” to No Idea – called Still No Idea – was created in 2018.

Devised and Written by Lisa Hammond, Rachael Spence and Lee Simpson

Directed by Lee Simpson
Designed by Ben Stones
Lighting Design by Colin Grenfell
Sound Design by Gareth Fry

Performed by Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence