Since its creation in 2014 by Darren Murphy, Making Productions has gone on to produce bold new writing and existing work in new and exciting ways to engage and entertain audiences. Combining newly discovered talent with experienced collaborators, partner organisations and other producers, the aim is to extend the scope of creativity in the performing arts. We are passionate about exploring relevant and current work for education and community organisations for the betterment of all and is unique in this practice by championing Women, BAME and LGBT+ creatives.

Making Productions is establishing a reputation for producing dynamic, engaging theatre and artistic excellence. 2023 sees Darren’s directing debut with Blueberry Smoothie, where he not only wrote, produced and directed the short, he cast himself as the lead, Karl! Following on from this he has co written Gaia which is in pre production along with three other film development projects.

Since forming Making Productions they have produced the critically acclaimed Shutters (Park Theatre), a triple bill of unique American plays that explored the extraordinary journey of women over the last century.  Featuring an all-female ensemble performing both male and female roles.  This was followed by the hugely successful Strindberg play – The Father (Trafalgar Studios), Disaster! The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre) Bug (Found111), the 35th anniversary production of Coming Clean, Kevin Elyot’s first stage play (King’s Head Theatre), and Outlaws to In-laws, where he, along with playwright Matthew Harris, commissioned seven writers to each write a short play exploring the choices gay men have made within a social history of oppression, violence and hate (King’s Head Theatre), the universally acclaimed and Off West End Award winning production of Doubt, A Parable starring Stella Gonet which was the first revival of the play in 10 years (Southwark Playhouse).  Making Productions was also part of the producing team behind the King’s Head Theatre West End Season with successful transfers of La bohème (nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production) and Australian play, Strangers in Between (both at Trafalgar Studios). 

In 2018 MP successfully produced the European premier of The Unbuilt City and the highly critically successful and Off West End nominated world premiere of Old Fools by Tristan Bernays (Southwark Playhouse). 2018 also saw the opening of some other brand new works including more collaborations with King’s Head Theatre with Hamilton (Lewis) premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and then transferring to King’s Head Theatre. 

In January 2019 MP started the year strengthening their relationship with King’s Head Theatre transferring the successful production of Coming Clean to the West End (Trafalgar Studios). 2019 also saw Southern Belles which unites two ground-breaking one-act plays by one of the twentieth century’s most influential dramatists, Tennessee Williams, brought together for the very first time (King’s Head Theatre). Jerker – a pornographic elegy with redeeming social value and a hymn to the queer men of San Francisco in twenty telephone calls, many of them dirty got it’s very first full length run of the play (King’s Head Theatre). 

As part of the King’s Head Theatre 50th Anniversary Coming Clean (due to its sold our run in 2019) returned followed by a brand new Puccini double-bill – Opera Undone: Tosca & La bohème. Radically distilled to sixty minutes each and sung in English, this revolutionary new production tears up the opera rule book for a whole new generation.

After an almost two year break from theatre due to the pandemic and the shift in audience habits booking theatre, MP opened 2022 with the critically acclaimed sell out production of Diary of a Somebody (Seven Dials Playhouse) which garnered a 5 STAR review from the Guardian. Following on from this success MP collaborated once again with King’s Head Theatre to produce their third adaptation of the Puccini classic La bohème directed by Mark Ravenhill.

Making Productions community reach work involved producing 3 seasons of West End Bares on behalf of the Make A Difference Trust, whose goal is to bring the theatre community together to raise funds for their HIV & AIDS research and awareness and related social projects.  Old Fools was a collaboration with Alzheimer’s Research UK. A project that engaged with key audiences that are interested in an specialist play relating to Alzheimer’s and related diseases.