Desperate Men Theatre Company is a street theatre company founded by Richie Smith and Jon Beedell in 1980,^[1] and is the UK's longest-running street theatre company. Now based in Bristol, England, the company aims to produce original, accessible comic theatre, and offers a variety of street animations,^[2] bespoke work,^[3] and creative consultancy.^[4]

In 1985, Smith and Beedell appeared in Vivian Stanshall and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall's Old Profanity Showboat production of Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera. Smith played the part of Buster and Beedell played Screwy. Richard Smith reprised his role in the 1988 London production at the Bloomsbury Theatre.

Desperate Men have a history of producing work that deals with social and environmental issues, such as littering – the Rubbish Heads,^[5] recycling – Eco-Pirates^[6] and the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth – Darwin and the Dodo.^[7] In 2007 they were artistic leaders on the Severn Project,^[8] one of the UK's largest outdoor arts projects.

Desperate Men have also worked internationally, including in Beirut^[9] and in Hong Kong.^[9] They also developed a project as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the South-West of England,^[10] and featured in the 2014 and 2016 Wye Valley River Festivals.^[11]

The name 'Desperate Men' comes from a poem by John Donne – 'Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men...'^[12]