About Us

Voicebox was founded in 2013 by Tim Humphreys-Jones as a platform for local artists to get together and share their work.

 

Initially based at Un Deg Un in Wrexham, and with the support of This Project the organisation evolved into a thriving open mic platform bringing local, national, and international headline artists to North East Wales. 

      At the beginning Voicebox benefitted from the support of Welsh spoken word legends Martin Daws and Sophie McKeand. Both mentors helped shape the event and helped us bring in local artists to develop their craft at the open mic. Over the years Voicebox has hosted some of the most exciting artists in the scene including Harry Baker, Normal Lovett, Dominic Berry, Toby Campion, Joy Frances, Debris Stevenson, Cecilia Knapp, Deanna Rodgers and many more through our monthly events. Internationally recognised artists sharing the stage with local talent has been a staple of the Voicebox programme.

     Voicebox has brought national book tours to the area including Jess Green’s A Self-help guide for being in love with Jeremy Corbyn and Ciaran Hodgers’ Cosmocartography as well as local artists such as David Subacchi and Tim Humphreys-Jones. You can find a showcase of our nights on our youtube channel.

     As well as bringing international artists to the area, we have raised local artists profile and provided a platform for Welsh voices including, Double-Barrelled, Kinell, Frank Thomas, Zaru (Zhubat), Ben Wilson, Natasha Borton, and Evrah Rose.

    Throughout the years we have continued to push the boundaries of the genre by developing experimental art events such as spoken word theatre collaboration Insomnia, hosted international online events with Voicebox Goes Global  and hosting the first poetry slam in Wrexham Last Stanza Standing.

     We’ve held events at Wrexham Methodist Church, Oriel Wrexham, Gallery 3B and Valle Cruis Abbey.  We have also facilitated other organisations to branch out into the performance scene including hosting events for Black History Month, Mencap Cymru’s Disastrous Dates storytelling event, National Poetry Day, World Book Day and International Dylan Thomas Day.

     Voicebox has been a catalyst in the performance art scene including the initial Thematics hip-hop events which paved the way for local organisation Larynx Entertainment in the area.

    As well as our performance events, Voicebox is always seeking to find other avenues to upskill our artists including publishing our own anthology Voicebox New Era and working alongside other local and national organisations such as National Theatre Wales, Ty Pawb, AVOW, Gwirvol, and Roundhouse London. We also commissioned the Voicebox documentary to take stock of how far we’ve come and that can be found on our youtube channel.

   Out of our dedication to platforming local artists, we developed the Voicebox Collective. A cohort of artists who have attended the Voicebox open mic nights who tour local and national festivals. Voicebox collective has featured at festivals and nights such as Focus Wales, Wrexfest, Ty Pawb exhibitions, Gladfest, Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Llangollen Fringe, Nottingham Playhouse and National Theatre Wales Performance Party. They have also supported international artists such as Neil Hilborn, Sabina Benim, Rudy Franscisco and taken part in the Talking Doorsteps International Spoken Word Collective.

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In 2018 Voicebox moved to Bank Street Social under the Artistic Direction of Pete Rodgers. Pete expanded our artists with headliners such as Beans on Toast, Ennio the Little Brother and Vulpes Urbana taking the stage. As well as organising some of our site-specific events such as Valle Crucis Abbey. 

    In 2020 we welcome Natasha Borton as the Artistic Director for our post-covid development as we branch out into further partnerships, micro-commissions, and extending the work of Voicebox Collective.

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     Voicebox continues to find platforms for local artists as well as encourage national recognised voices to visit the area to create inclusive, community-based performance art that puts Wrexham at the forefront of the Welsh arts scene.

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