Ruff Necks CIC

07/10/2026

GREAT NEWS: Not 10-19 years old, but still want to see us perform? You can!

We are also hosting a ticketed event on Tuesday 27th October at 4:00pm at The Grand Shaft in Dover for the general public. We only have 12 tickets left, so grab them while you can!

https://good-show.co.uk/events/shakespeare-swung-king-lear-at-the-grand-shaft-4rcwf7

07/10/2026

FREE EVENTS FOR 10-19 YEAR OLDS THIS HALF TERM YOU SAY?!

We are so excited to be featured on Future Foundry's Dover Youth Festival 2026!
Our young people have been working hard to create their dramatic retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear and are gearing up for their performance at the incredible Grand Shaft in Dover this half term!

Tickets are FREE, but places have to be booked!

If you want to come and explore a Shakespearian tale from an incredible historic building, book your performance ticket here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/doveryouthfestival/2425389

And if you want to experience what it's like to recreate a Shakespeare play as a cast member and creative, you can book onto our free workshop here:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/doveryouthfestival/2425406

We hope to see you there!

*Edit - Riverside Centre, not Studios! Not enough coffee consumed yet it would seem... Sorry!

01/10/2026

Oh hello Dover... Ruff Necks is coming to play!
After some incredible workshopping and rehearsals, our cast is coming to deliver their take on Shakespeare's King Lear on Tuesday 27th October as part of Dover Youth Festival.

We have a FREE performance for 10-19 year olds as part of this years Dover Youth Festival programme at 2:30pm.

Then, at 4:00pm we go again to the general public for our special dusk performance.

Please note that tickets are very limited due to the confined nature of The Grand Shaft, so don't delay!

And if you have a 10-19 year old who was gutted to miss out on this year's cast, we will be running a free workshop through Dover Youth Festival on Sunday 1st November to see how we created this awesome piece of performance art!

All ticket links are in our bio - we can't wait to see you there!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/doveryouthfestival/2425406

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/doveryouthfestival/2425389

https://good-show.co.uk/events/shakespeare-swung-king-lear-at-the-grand-shaft-4rcwf7

11/09/2026

Ellie's Directorial role within Ruff Necks is one of VERY MANY hats... Today, it's getting the narration demos ready for rehearsals and to be used as examples for our brave and talented narrators to record (in a proper studio, with all the fun tech).

But for now, enjoy a couple of outtakes and some extraordinary nostril flare action to take you into the weekend!

Can you tell which scene she was narrating?

04/09/2026

Today we had the absolute pleasure of meeting Matt Higgins, Construction Manager at Park Farm Construction.

After a really helpful introduction from Laura DCC , we were able to speak with Matt about our needs, who was more than willing to help.

24 hours later and we have all the supplies we need to make our youth Shakespeare project a reality with their generosity and support!

Whilst building sets is standard in theatre, when working with Listed and Heritage buildings as performance space, you have to get a bit creative, and always be considerate to the needs of the venue and the limitations of what can be left behind.

Our tech and stage management team have been working hard to design and make a temporary structure for our upcoming performance in October, but keeping costs in line with our budget has meant the need for the kindest of donations of ply from Park Farm Construction ! THANK YOU! We are so grateful to local businesses that support up and coming organisations like ours and make a huge impact to our local community!!!

02/09/2026

WE'RE BACK!!!

After an incredible 5 days of workshopping at we have our cast creating and composing ahead of our performances in October - stay tuned!

We are so incredibly proud of the young people we are working with who showed up today, ready to make some Shakespeare. Their ideas and talents were in full force; even after having a first day back at school (or first day of secondary for some!)

For now, enjoy some of our summer workshops where we were exploring using strips of fabric and percussion instruments to become the elements!

P.S. our Director Ellie WILL NOT be starring in the performances. But she does make a lovely placeholder!

P.P.S. Why would you want to be stuck in the middle when you could be playing with fabric or instruments?

19/08/2026

So excited to joining the Hub & Spoke network! As a small not-for-profit business their help is invaluable to us!

Founded by Ellie, Ruff Necks CIC is doing fantastic work in East Kent to create opportunities for young people to explore creativity, build confidence and develop their skills through music, movement and performance.
At the heart of Ruff Necks is a commitment to creating safe, inclusive and supportive spaces where young people can express themselves, connect with others and discover what they’re capable of. Through creative activity and performance, they’re helping to support wellbeing while giving young people a voice and a place to belong.
We’re really pleased to have Ellie and the Ruff Necks team joining Hub & Spoke.

13/08/2026

We saw this quote today and fell in love! As a neurodivergent being trying to navigate life, I've often felt like I'm not enough, whilst being told I'm too much... Both so damaging to feel or hear! So perhaps it's not about fitting in, just finding your place. And in the wise words of Cynthia Erivo , one is never too much, "Simply more!"

We welcome neurodiverse young people into our theatre space, because without the arts, we wouldn't have found our place or our tribe and always would have felt on the outside. In our workshops, we are the tribe and we are brilliant - however much more we are!

30/07/2026

Yesterday was so exciting! We took a classic exercise and used it to explore the power struggle dynamic of the Gloucester family.

Our young participants focussed on height, gaze and placement to depict the shifting power between the characters and what a stunning exploration it was!