Hugh Jackman and Sonia Friedman Are Shaking Up The Theatre World
Tony Award winners Hugh Jackman and Sonia Friedman have launched Together, a theatre company dedicated to affordable, intimate live theatre.
The company’s founders aim to offer audiences a fresh, engaging theatrical experience.
Working with director Ian Rickson, Together will present a variety of performances including short runs of full-length plays, readings, panel discussions, and other events across the US, UK, and beyond.
The company aims to give artists the freedom to take risks without the pressures of commercial theatre, focusing on collaboration, equal pay for actors, and shared creative credit.
By stripping down fully rehearsed productions to their essentials and performing in small, intimate venues, Together will celebrate the raw power of storytelling and creativity.
Jackman and Friedman explained in their announcement that Together was born out of a desire to rediscover the “simple, thrilling essence of live performance.”
The announcement states that actors will perform “just feet from the audience, creating an intimate, elemental experience and heightened sense of community.”
The company wants to be, “open to as many people as possible.”
“This isn’t about our stepping away from Broadway or the West End—it’s about supporting and coexisting alongside them.”
“We also want to embrace flexibility—whether that’s through varied performance schedules during the week or staging plays in repertoire, allowing productions and ideas to evolve in a spontaneous and organic way.”
Jackson was last on Broadway in the recent revival of The Music Man, while Friedman has won Tony’s for her work on musicals like Merrily We Roll Along and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The trio previously worked together on the 2014 Broadway production of The River.
The Jez Butterworth drama was directed by Rickson, produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, and starred Jackman.
As Together grows, the company promises to create a space where the excitement of live theatre can thrive.
