About Dark Forest

Established in 2023 by Nathan Martin, Dark Forest Theatre is an independent and travelling theatre company that is situated within the heart of Northern Ireland. Dedicated to the craft of authentic and powerful storytelling with a desire to create work that is both visually and emotionally captivating.

We wish to bring the art of performance to audiences across the Island and have performed in numerous venues both in and outside of Belfast. We wish to captivate our audience and bring them into a world that they perhaps have not experienced before. Our work deals with themes of identity, sexuality, folklore, myth, and the complexities of human nature.

‘MONSTER uses the extreme actions of a family to ask whether we’re all capable of violent acts motivated by love and anger borne out of loyalty.’ Alan Meban

Dark Forest Theatre has developed a reputation for its dark storytelling and powerful visuals. We often collaborate with Myrtle&Thorn and ForeverEndeavourFilms to help us create our visual storytelling. This storytelling continues to develop due to our sustainable business practices, in which we do not solely rely on outside funding to create our work.

Our Work

Our Purpose

Dark Forest Theatre is consistently committed to nurturing new and existing talent within the Northern Ireland Theatre industry. We strongly believe in giving artists and creatives the chance and the freedom to grow and explore within their craft. We do this be having audition call-outs for new productions and with each production giving artists the freedom to have their voices heard and listened to. Dark Forest Theatre also hosts free professional workshops – The Artist At Joy. These workshops are created to give artists professional guidance to reignite their love for performance.

The values of the company are always to be artist led & artist focused and to allow said artists under our care to have a voice and to take ownership of the space and their work. The mental and physical well-being of those within our community is first and foremost at the heart of Dark Forest Theatre. We hold strong core professional beliefs and expect those under contract with us to treat the work and others with respect and grace, at Dark Forest Theatre we hold ourselves to strict professional standards. We also strongly believe in helping others where we can and as such, we take a portion of our revenue from each production and donate to charitable causes. Previously and currently, we have donated and partnered with The Rainbow Project, Friends of Shankill Graveyard, Building Bridges Community Theatre, The Kevin Bell Fund and Cara-Friend.

Dark Forest Theatre was created to engage and to explore and we are open to conversations with artists, theatre companies and corporations. We endeavour always to offer support and to offer any guidance we may have. As a company we are also available for hire for any artistic purpose you may need. To begin a discussion contact us at info@darkforesttheatre.com