CPP was founded in 2002, our mission statement simple: to produce exciting and accessible theatre for all.

In the past three years we have produced three very different and well-received shows. Firstly, in 2003, The Owl and the Pussycat by Bill Manhoff at the Lamproom Theatre in South Yorkshire, followed in 2004 with Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues at the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre in London, and again at the Jerwood Vanbrugh in 2005 with Cinderella is not Enough , a World Premier and an original take on the pantomime genre, written by our chairman Will Norris.

As well as producing the actual productions themselves, CPP has gained quite a reputation for the manner in which we raise the capital for our shows. As opposed to simply asking for handouts from wealthy benefactors we have always believed in taking a pro-active approach to our fundraising.

In 2004 we walked 1367-miles from John O'Groats to Land's End in an extended route which took us 66 days, along the way visiting and crossing the stages of as many as was feasible of the regional theatres, including the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Bath Theatre Royal, The Stephen Joseph Theatre and the RSC in Stratford, along with our patron Corin Redgrave.

Not only does the money we raise go to hiring the theatres, publicising the shows etc, but also the main reason we undertake these challenges is so that we are able to pay everyone who works for us. Unlike many other companies of our size, who rarely pay their actors anything other than their expenses, it has always been our ethos that people and their talent is the most important commodity in theatre. Everyone from the director to the designers, from the technicians to the actors, has always received a wage on our productions.

For this reason we continued with the idea of pro-active fundraising last year, by riding a tandem bike 3000 miles across America from Broadway, New York to the Hollywood sign in the hills of California. Riding for the most part over 100 miles a day, the adventure took 26 days and was a gruelling experience. However, the pain was worth it, as we are now in a position to stage our fourth production in 2007.