The founder of the Hull Truck Theater, Mike Bradwell, died at 77

The playwright John Godber has led tribute to “Formidable Force” Mike Bradwell, theater director and actor, who died at the age of 77.

Bradwell founded the Hull Truck Theater Company in a squat in rue Coltman in 1971. She then won national fame.

His death Monday morning was confirmed by the theater.

Godber, who was artistic director of Hull Truck from 1983 to 2010, described his predecessor as a “freezer and disruptor” who would be “sorely missed”.

Godber said: “Mike was at the heart of me coming to Hull and, in this sense, changed my life. He invited me to apply and lead a truck after his departure and it was an important turning point.

“He was a really nice and very funny guy.

“We will miss a lot.”

Bradwell was born in Scanthorpe in 1948 and formed as an acting director at the East 15 interim school in eastern London.

In 1971, Bradwell placed an advertisement in Time Out magazine, which said “the half -formed theater company looked for another half” when he sought to connect with other budding artists.

The result was the Hull Truck Theater and, in the next 11 years, Bradwell and the Company toured the United Kingdom to play children’s, plays and experimental theater shows.

In a joint statement, Mark Babych and Janthi Mills-Rard, heads of management of the Hull Truck Theater, described Bradwell as “passionate, funny and courageous” and said that his “artistic without compromise has revolutionized British theater by putting the stories and voices of the real central scene”.

They added: “His heritage is felt in our industry and nowhere more than here in Hull.”

Between 1996 and 2007, Bradwell was artistic director of the Bush Theater in Shepherd’s Bush, London.

In a statement, published on social networks, the Bush Theater said he was “deeply saddened” by Bradwell’s death and said he left an “indelible brand” on the site.

Bradwell was also a award -winning writer. His book on the alternative theater, The Rétitent, Escapologist, won the Society for Theater Research theater for the Society for the Society for Theater.