Walk the Plank are a British group of artists, theatre makers, pyrotechnicians and event engineers who specialise in outdoor arts/theatre, touring performance and pyrotechnics.

Their shows are on land and on water and often mix performance, music, lighting, visual images, fire, and fireworks

Fireworks

Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...

. The company was established by John Wassell and Liz Pugh in 1991, who identified a niche market

Niche market

A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...

 for a touring theatre ship, and other aquatic shows on the waterways. The company's work began when the pair purchased a touring theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 ship, the MV Fitzcarraldo. The company's work has now extended far beyond the ship and they work on delivering shows and events, varying in scale from intimate to epic. Walk the Plank have produced work for Toronto’s Wintercity Festival

WinterCity Festival

Toronto's WinterCity Festival is a 14-day city-wide celebration of Toronto’s culture, creativity and cuisine. Currently in its 7th year, WinterCity is three festivals in one, The WOW Series, The Warm Up Series and Winterlicious....

, Singapore Festival, Euro 2004, Tall Ships 2005, Centerparcs, Sir Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, as well as multiple city and local councils. Perhaps their most well known credit are the opening and closing ceremonies for Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations.

Their administrative base is in Salford, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 and they have workshop facilities in Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall.

Their work often involves community engagement and they are known for scheduling and leading participation elements which fit the context of the event they are organising.

Event management and consultancy

The company's Senior Management Team (including co-founders John Wassell and Liz Pugh and Project Directors Andy Stratford and Billie Klinger) are trusted advisers in the areas of outdoor arts and cultural events.

MV Fitzcarraldo

The Fitzcarraldo http://www.walktheplank.co.uk/wtp/index.php?page=nauticalia was built in 1971 in Sandnessjøen

Sandnessjøen

Sandnessjøen is the centre of the municipality of Alstahaug in the county of Nordland, Norway, with a population of over 9,000. It was made a township in 1788....

, Norway for TFDS as the MV Bjarkøj. She was 20 years a general cargo and passenger ferry working the islands around Tromsø

Tromsø

Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...

 in north Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

In December 1991 Walk the Plank purchased the ship, renaming it the Fitzcarraldo. The ship was registered British in 1992, the same year of its first British national tour. Its hold was adapted as a theatre.

Each summer, from 1992 to 2006 the Fitzcarraldo set sail from the Albert Dock

Albert Dock

The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and toured ports and harbours in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Audiences of up to 125 people can sit the aft deck to watch as the hatches rise and the cargo holds are crane

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

d open.

In 2000, 's co-production (with Company) of "Moby Dick" won Best Fringe Production at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards

Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards

The Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...

. Jim Burke also won the Best New Play award for this adaptation.

In 2003 the ship went on a national tour to 19 ports with a stage adaption of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...

, to positive reviews. At first the audience sits on the quayside

Quayside

The Quayside is an area along the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in the North East of England, United Kingdom....

, and the Fitzcarraldo represents the Abraham Lincoln; later they sit in the Fitzcarraldo's hold, which represents the inside of the Nautilus, or occasionally the seabed.

Currently, due to mechanical deterioration to some of its driving components the ship resides in the Canning Dock

Canning Dock

Canning Dock is a dock, on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Salthouse Dock to the south and Canning Half Tide Dock to the west. The Canning Graving Docks are accessed from the dock.-History:The dock was opened in...

, which is part of Liverpool's Albert Dock

Albert Dock

The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...

 complex, and is used as a static venue for many events including parties, cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 evenings, live music, and drama.

Walk the Plank are currently making plans to sell the Fitcarraldo, in order to focus on delivering large scale outdoor events, creating touring performance and continue to provide pyrotechnics elements and firework displays to both public sector and private corporate organisations.

WTP Pyrotechnics

WTP Pyrotechnics is a limited company

Limited company

A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...

 who donate all their profits to Walk the Plank. This is a major source of income for Walk the Plank other than arts grants and donations. WTP Pyrotechnics creates fireshows, firework displays, site-specific work, and outdoor spectacles – producing work in landlocked and waterside locations. They have created shows on canals and rivers, in harbours and parks and town centres in the UK and abroad.

Past projects include site-specific events, fireshows and aquatic spectacle, working with pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...

, machines, music, large images, and mobile structures, performance, and fire; usually, one-off specially-commissioned pieces created for a particular site or occasion. The work is often on, near, or by water, but they work inland also.