Who we are

Part Exchange Co – an arts and social enterprise – is a Plymouth based professional performance company dedicated to the research, development and production of high quality site-specific performances and events that collaborate across the art forms and have new writing at their heart.

Established by Rachel Aspinwall, co-founder and associate Director of Menagerie Theatre in Cambridge, the eastern regions leading independent producer of new writing for the stage, and Ruth Mitchell, co-founder of Ripple and producer of new writing festivals New Shorts Now and Modern Mysteries for the RSC's Other Place.

What we aim to do

Part Exchange Co aims to produce inspirational new works of site – inspired art and performance that have a significant impact on the city, through the work itself, through the process of community engagement and through creative and partner collaboration. Wherever possible we strive to create work that will leave a sustainable long term presence in the city either in the form of a new piece of installation, sculpture, public art or other 'trace' (i.e. archive, publication ).

Our aims can be further broken down as follows:

To...

Create innovative site inspired, new writing performance work based on creative exchange between writers and artists of established talent and excellence from across the art forms.

Discover and nurture fresh and emerging artistic talent. Helping develop young and emerging artists and their work by them seeing/having their own work produced in an inspiring professional environment and giving them opportunities to work alongside established artists.

Be a catalyst for positive social change through the community engagement that is central to the creative process of our site inspired productions and events and is instrumental in audience development.

Be an active part of the cultural regeneration of Plymouth by producing performances and events that celebrate and draw regional and national focus to the city and growing the creative community by prioritising working with writers, artists, communities and other organisations of the city and near region.

Form effective partnerships and joined-up approaches, by linking into existing organisations, initiatives and agencies and helping develop the city and regional networks that support and create the conditions in which to produce high quality professional work within a sustainable creative culture.

Please visit www.hiddencityfestival.org.uk to see our latest project