Our History

Told by an Idiot was founded in 1993 by Hayley Carmichael, Paul Hunter and John Wright. 

Our name reflects our desire to place characters who are often on the margins of stories, or who simply act as comic relief, at the very heart of the narrative. Our use of the word ‘Idiot’ in our name and in all we do, refers to the characteristics of playfulness, openness, and curiosity and is used warmly as a means to celebrate human vulnerability. We passionately believe there is an ‘Idiot’ in all of us and, by embracing our capacity to mess up, slip on life’s banana skin but continue to get up, we begin to inhabit a liberating and creative space. 

At Told by an Idiot we have a burning desire and responsibility to make change happen in British Theatre. It is crucial that we use our public subsidy to give voice to those on the periphery of the story.  

Told by an Idiot operates on the edge of chaos in a constant quest for the unexpected, and consistently opens the door to risk in order to deliver the best work by continuing to develop and change. Ultimately at the end of one of our shows, we want the audience to leave the theatre with a smile on their face and remember that Told by an Idiot put it there. 

Told by an Idiot have been lucky enough to present our work across the Globe for the past 33 years. From Beijing to New York, the Scottish Highlands to Caracas. We have made genuine international partnerships working with young performers in Soweto and talented jazz musicians in Venezuela. We have reinvented the work of acclaimed author Philip Pullman with an ensemble in Helsinki and were the first UK theatre company to tour to South Africa post apartheid. We are currently an Associate Company with Birmingham Rep and we have produced critically-acclaimed new productions with partners including the Royal Court, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Chichester Festival Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, the RSC, National Theatre Wales, National Theatre of Scotland, Unity Theatre Liverpool, Barbican Centre London, Royal Exchange Manchester and Theatre Royal Plymouth. 

In 2025 we toured Charlie & Stan in China and also staged the production on the Queen Mary 2 in partnership with Cunard, undertaking a transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York echoing the journey Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel made in 1910. Over Christmas 2026, we stage our biggest show to date, The Three Musketeers in co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Over the years, We have collaborated with celebrated artists including Michel Faber (The Fahrenheit Twins), Carol Ann Duffy (Casanova), Zoe Rahman (Charlie & Stan), Philip Pullman (The Firework-makers Daughter), Andrew Scott (Playing The Victim) and Simon Armitage (I Am Thomas).

‘Very funny and heart wrenching’ - Peter Brook 

‘No one else is making theatre as creatively and ambitiously as Told by an Idiot. They are a unique phenomenon – intelligent, ingenious and genuinely popular.’ - Simon Armitage, UK Poet Laureate 

‘Told by an Idiot is the most exciting, enthralling and energising presence in British Theatre’ - Carol Ann Duffy