Freedom Studios Present NORTH COUNTRY by Tajinder Singh Hayer at The Wild Woods, Bradford

"If your whole world was destroyed...What would you do next?"

From Freedom Studios, the producers of the acclaimed Brief Encounters at Bradford Interchange, Home Sweet Home and The Mill - The City of Dreams comes North Country. Bradford playwright Tajinder Singh Hayer's new work explores the lives of three young people from Bradford as they deal with the aftermath of a devastating plague; over the next forty years, they reshape themselves and their communities as the play asks 'What do you hold onto when your whole world has changed?'

Tajinder Singh Hayer's post-apocalyptic new play will run at The Wild Woods in the centre of Bradford from 26 October - 5 November.

Directed by Freedom Studio's new co-artistic director Alex Chisholm (Nine Lives by award winning writer, Zodwa Nyoni), North Country tells the story of the survival of three Bradford teenagers - Harvinder, Nusrat and Jason - after a plague has hit the planet. Together and separately they struggle to survive, each bringing together their people and their communities as they try to remake their world. But their biggest challenge doesn't come from starvation, or zombie like cannibals. It comes from within.

Director Alex Chisholm said about the new play:

"Starting at Freedom Studios Aisha (Khan- Co artistic director at Freedom Studios) and I knew we wanted the first show of our artistic directorship to be about, for and with Bradford. I had already working with Tajinder on "North Country' directing a workshop and reading at the Arcola Theatre as part of their Playwright season in 2015. Tajinder and I had previously worked together at West Yorkshire Playhouse where he had been a writer on attachment and written 'Players', translation of Andreas Flourakis 'Antelopes' and 'Mela' in 2008 (which I also directed).

North Country' seems the perfect play to start with as it is about Bradford now and what it could be in the future.; A post- apocalyptic play centered on three multi-cultural young people in Bradford, Nusrat, Harvinder and Jason, how they survive the apocalypse and the world they build in Bradford afterwards. It examines what happens to people and communities under stress, what it does to people's identities and what happens when these communities come in contact with each other. In the journey from old to new world, what does each person chose to keep of their culture, and what has to be thrown away.

While we've been working on the play a lot of things have happened, not least Brexit and the rise of far right and demagogue type figures in the US, Europe and herE. North Country has felt less and less fantastical, and more a description of what we are going through now. The great thing about it, is that it tackles these big, current issues in an exciting, future set story that everyone can feel part of. The play will draw you into the world, through its storytelling, and performance in an actual deserted space."

Bradford born Tajinder Singh Hayer has written for the stage, radio and screen. He has been writer on attachment at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, writer in residence at BBC Radio Drama Manchester, and was nominated as one of the Royal Court's fifty promising playwrights in 2006-7. He has also written for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Peshkar, Menagerie and Look Left, Look Right Theatre Company.

The production's cast will feature Bradford actors Natalie Davies (School bully Shelley in Coronation Street, ITV), Kamal Kaan (Brief Encounters at Bradford Interchange, Freedom Studios) and Philip Duguid-McQuillan (Jumpers for Goalposts, Paines Plough/Hull Truck/Watford Palace Theatre & The Bush Theatre). The play is designed by Uzma Kazi.

North Country will be performed in The Wild Woods, a former Marks and Spencer building on Darley Street in Bradford City Centre. Before its closure in 2015, the building had been an M&S since 1935 and was one of the first three Marks and Spencer stores in the country. The building is currently managed by Brick Box

Bradford-based Freedom Studios is an award-winning intercultural theatre company, which connects different people and communities through story-telling and making theatre. Engagement is intrinsic to their work, and communities are at the heart of what they do.

The production is supported by the Arts Council of England, Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Lancaster University.

For more information, visit www.freedomstudios.co.uk

26 October - 5 November (No performances between 29 October - 1 November)

SCHEDULE

Wednesday 26 & Thursday 27 October at 7.30pm

Friday 28 October at 5pm

Wed 2-Saturday 5 November - 7.30pm

Friday 4 November - 5pm

Matinee performances- 3 & 5 November at 1.30pm

RUNNING TIME- 1hr

ADDRESS- The Wild Woods, Darley Street, BD1 3HL (entrance on Piccadilly)

TICKET PRICES- £3, £5, or £10 tickets available pay what you decide

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM- www.freedomstudios.co.uk or on the door (cash only).

CREATIVE TEAM

Director - Alex Chisholm

Alex is a director, dramaturg and Co-Artistic Director with Aisha Khan of Freedom Studios in Bradford. She recently directed Nine Lives by Zodwa Nyoni, for a national tour. Alex was appointed Literary Manager at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in December 2001 and Associate Director in January 2006. Productions for West Yorkshire Playhouse include Schoolboy/Lover by Richard Cameron, Dust a community play by Kenneth Yates, Mela by Tajinder Singh Hayer, Scuffer and Sunbeam Terrace by Mark Catley, Tender Dearly and Non-Contact Time by Jodie Marshall, Huddersfield by Ugljesa Sajtinac, English version by Chris Thorpe, and two radio programmes in co-production with the BBC: Night Lights and Writing the City. In January 2005 she was invited by Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade to direct the Serbian Premiere of Huddersfield.

Uzma Kazi - Designer

Uzma has built up experiences in the areas of community development & production design, including set, costumes, props, puppetry and workshops. Her production experiences include 'The Cornershop' (2008 & 2009) by Black Country Touring; '1001' (2009) by Peshkar Productions; 'The Muslim Tommies' (2009) - BBC Religion; 'Discovering the Ramayana' (2008) & 'Basant Lahore' (2009) by The Fetch Theatre Company; 'Hijaab' (2009) by Arakan Creative; 'Street Voices 3' (2010) by Freedom Studios and 'Shed Loada Paint' (2014) at Bradford Festival, 'Orgreave: An English Civil War' (2014), 'Hurr', (2014) and 'My Brother's Country' (2015) by Northern Lines Theatre Company, 'Home From Home' (2015) at Bradford Festival; '99% Halal' (2015) by Shazia Ashraf; 'Tongue, Tied & Twisted' (2016) by Black Country Touring; 'Theatre for One' (2016) Horse + Bamboo Theatre. Uzma is developing independant projects including 'Grooming Ground' & 'The Square Chapatti Club'.

Tajinder Singh Hayer - Playwright

Taj is a Bradford born and bred writer for the stage, radio and screen. He is currently a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. He has been writer on attachment at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, writer in residence BBC Radio Drama Manchester, and was nominated as one of the Royal Court's fifty promising playwrights in 2006-7. He has written for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Peshkar, Menagerie and Look Left, Look Right Theatre Company. He won the BBC's Spin new writing award in 2003 with People Like Me, and has written for BBC Radio Four, Radio Three and the Asian Network. He has also written for the CBeebies Channel (Numtums, 2013), and has had short films shown at festivals around the world.

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