Theatre Workout turns 20 in 2026. We met up with Adam to discuss theatre, education & travel

How does it feel to be turning 20?
It is a big deal, at least for me. 

I set up Theatre Workout to run theatre workshops for schools, because I wanted something more creative to do in between acting jobs, and I loved running workshops. I never thought it would grow in the way it has. 

It wasn't long until Theatre Workout simply took over my life, so although I haven't done as much acting as I had hoped, I've still been working in theatre, and it's enabled me to work with some of the biggest and best shows in the world, collaborating, and creating brilliant opportunities for schools. 

I'm very proud of everything we've achieved in the past 20 years, and I can't quite believe it's been that long. I've worked with some amazing practitioners, and seen a lot of shows, and I am super excited about what the next 20 years will bring!

Speaking of achievements, you've won a few awards this year, and it looks like you're busier than ever. How did that come about?
Yes, it's a great honour to be recognised like that. 

Some of the awards we've won  in recent years have been against incredibly stiff competition, going up against some companies who are much bigger and, I thought, better known. It was an honour to be nominated and shortlisted, so to win has been amazing! 

The Best Education Provider from the British Youth Travel Awards, and the Best Tour Operator Award by London for Groups, are probably the two most important as they are about the two key services we offer schools - workshops and trips, so I am very grateful to the judges all those involved. 

These awards helped us connect with more shows to develop their education programmes, and means we can do more for school to make the most of their theatre trips, which is the best part. 

Are you doing anything special for your 20th birthday?
There are no plans yet, but we do need to do something. It would be a shame not to mark it. I'll let you know…

What are the big changes you've seen in the past 20 years?
There have been a few. 

On the schools-front, we've noticed a big drop in the number of groups who do drama at school, but they're still coming, which tells me that although drama has declined in UK schools in the past 20 years, teachers and schools still recognise the value of it, and want to give their students the opportunity to experience it first-hand, which is great. We've also had more English, Music and Art groups do workshops, where they want to expand on the experiences they can offer their students to encompass Drama. 

From the theatre side of things, we've seen huge changes, especially since Covid, which hit the sector hard. We've partnered with 43 West End shows so far to develop their official education programmes, and although some producers have been a bit closed-off to partnerships in the past few years, this is starting to improve and we've partnered with shows like Mrs Doubtfire, Just For One Day, and The Devil Wears Prada in the past year or so. We're also starting to develop more programmes for 2026. 

The biggest change has been in the travel-side of the business. Covid and Brexit have had a terrible impact on the travel industry in the UK, and we've seen massive shifts in the cost of travel, and in the number of international groups coming to the UK. However, it's starting to improve, and we've seen a big rise in the number of European groups this year, plus we're getting more US and Asian groups coming through, which is great. London is such a major destination, for UK and international groups. We've been developing strong partnerships with travel partners to try and mitigate some of the travel costs for schools, and the more trips we do, the better we're getting at that. 

And what do you think are the big changes coming up in the next year?
With new arrangements with France and Germany, we're expecting more European groups, and we'll keep advocating for undoing some of the damage of Brexit which has been detrimental to school group travel through some of the associations we're a part of. 

There's a National Centre for Music & Arts Education coming, and although nobody knows exactly what that will bring, it is a step towards government support for arts education, which can only be a positive after the cuts we've seen in recent decades. 

We're continuing to talk with shows about developing their official educational workshops, and we're continuing to expand our masterclass series to create unique experiences for schools going to see shows that are coming up. 

The biggest change for us is what we're doing with schools. We've lost a lot of trip bookings this year because teachers are too thinly spread and, despite their best intentions, many simply don't have the time, energy, or head-space to organise a trip for their students. We've recently launched a new trip management platform which takes on a lot of that responsibility, to ease the workload on teachers. It means everything is in one place, accessible by us, and the school, to manage payments, itineraries, rooming lists and more, which should make organising and delivering trips much easier for all concerned. 

There are some new shows coming in, some which haven't been made public yet, and I think the West End will continue to hold it's title as the theatre capital of the world. 

And what about the challenges?
Funding is the biggest challenge, for us, and for schools. 

We don't have any funding to subsidise the cost of workshops, and too many drama teachers are one-person departments with miniscule budgets that barely cover the essentials, let alone extras like workshops. 

We're trying to find solutions to this, and have started working with some charity partners to find ways of making theatre trips more affordable. This year we've been able to offer two schools free accommodation in London, help other secure free theatre tickets, and for others, we've been able to support them with fundraising activities to help pay for their trips. We hope to do a lot more of that in 2026. 

The other major challenge is getting more schools to recognise the value of the arts and creative education, but also getting the theatre industry to recognise the value of education. 

Do you still get to act these days?
Occasionally. I took a step back when my son was born, but he's 10 now and becoming much more independent, so I hope I can start to do more. I still get the odd commercial, and I've done a couple of films in recent years - literally blink and you'll probably miss me, but I've done them nonetheless. 

If you could make one change which could have a big, positive impact, what would that be?
Ooh - I believe there is not a single issue in our future which we will ever solve, unless we address it in education first. That goes for all the big societal, economic, cultural issues - we need to address them in schools from an early age. 

The years of focusing on STEM has been detrimental. Education needs to be rounded, giving children the chance to question and learn about the world, themselves, and work towards finding answers. The arts are a great way to do that, as well as getting out of the classroom and into the world. 

I mean, if all schools start teaching drama tomorrow, it might be detrimental to Theatre Workout, but it would still be a good thing!