NIGHTLY standing ovations would fill any playwright with joy, but for Gordon Steel the audience reception of his new play at Stockton Arc is doubly thrilling.

Grow up, Grandad marked the launch of his new company, Steelworks, and its success raised tentative hopes that it will garner backing from the business community for his production company to take off.

“We drew 200 people on the opening night and tickets started flying for the rest of the week,” said Steel, who also directed this comedy drama about family relationships, based on a lively and at times ferocious intergenerational class between a modern schoolgirl and her stick-in-the-mud grandfather.

The response was even more gratifying because the play attracted people who are not regular theatregoers.

Involved in youth theatre on Teesside for many years as a college drama teacher from the 1980s and more recently as a private acting coach, Steel has been a playwright of repute since winning an Edinburgh Fringe First Award in 1993, though it has long been a bone of contention with him that audiences in Sydney, Australia, are more likely to see one of his plays than people in this area.

Many theatres are cautious about staging new plays, with audiences tending to like what they know.

What Steel knows is that there is considerable talent on Teesside – not least as demonstrated in his new play by 13-year-old Eliza Dobson, of Stockton, and Rose Allen, 12, of Hartlepool, who shared the role of Poppy over the ten-night run and were as impressive in their parts as the professionals.

Stockton-born Simeon Truby, cast as Grandad, is one of the many budding actors he helped to a professional career. Another is Mark Benton.

Truby’s long list of professional stage and TV credits over the past couple of decades ranges from Coronation Street to the literature classics.

“In this economic climate, financing live theatre is very expensive,” said Steel, originally from Eaglescliffe, who had a fruitful relationship as a writer for Hull Truck over several years.

An Arts Council grant of around £10,000 awarded at Easter and the support of Arc galvanised him into action and led to the setting up of Steelworks.

“It’s early days, but hopefully we can get businesses interested to act as sponsors in the future. Ultimately, if we get the support, it will be a big bonus for Teesside because we would use local actors, designers and creatives and develop an audience.”

Steel envisages about one play a year, including new northern work and GCSE classics, bringing in professional cast members whenever needed for a particular role.

His next play ready and waiting in the wings is The Fallen of Fulstow, which shifts in time from the First World War to 2005.

Fulstow is a village in Lincolnshire and the plot is based on a true story.

“If you can form a regular audience who know they will have a good time and really enjoy the experience, you can take a few risks,” he said.