Red Ladder Brings SANCTUARY to the Stephen Joseph Theatre

Red Ladder Theatre Company will present Sanctuary, a compelling new musical written by Boff Whalley (We’re Not Going Back) and award-winning playwright Sarah Woods, charting one man’s plea for help and refuge at a time when not all strangers are welcomed.

The musical – Artistic Director Cheryl Martin’s first Red Ladder production since taking the helm in January this year – opens at Theatre Royal Wakefield on September 19, before embarking on an eight-week tour to theatres and community venues across the country this autumn. 

Sanctuary tells the story of Alland (Aein Nasseri), a young Iranian man who begs to be given sanctuary at a church in northern England, sparking a community to react in all the ways each member believes to be right.

Molly (Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen), a young worker there, joins forces with vicar Fiona (Emily Chattle) to resist both the angry vigilantes and the hard-hearted authorities beyond the church walls to try to protect Alland.

Holding a special community service where voices on all sides sing their songs of redemption and condemnation, Fiona asks the question to everyone present: “Do we give Alland over to the State or live up to our well-versed ideals of compassion?”

The creative team has worked closely with people hoping to call the UK home, shaping Alland’s story. Writers Boff and Sarah spent the past six years collaborating on projects for Welsh National Opera, in partnership with the Oasis Centre for refugees and asylum seekers, to co-create original operas for a more diverse audience, and director Cheryl spent eight years directing women refugees and asylum seekers in shows for Manchester’s Community Arts Northwest. 

Earlier this year, Leeds-based Mafwa Theatre ran sessions with the team and students from Wakefield-based CAPA College, who then created their own workshops for secondary school pupils, supported by asylum seekers, that have helped shape the production.

This unique collaboration between Red Ladder, Theatre Royal Wakefield and CAPA College, featuring a chorus drawn from their brilliant performing arts students, mixes hard-hitting ideas with memorable melodic tunes and harmonies.

Cheryl Martin said: “Sanctuary comes at a critical moment in the conversation about immigration, refugees and asylum seekers. I hope this musical helps open up this conversation because it’s one that goes to the heart of who we are and the kind of society we want to live in.”

Writer Sarah Woods, co-creator of Sanctuary, said: “Boff and I have been collaborating for a number of years, including co-creating work with people seeking refuge and asylum, and this is a story that we both feel needed to be told.

“There is a lot of hostility in the media when it comes to immigration and we want to counter this narrative by offering audiences different viewpoints. I believe the stories we tell can really affect change in the world. A lot of people who come to the UK seeking asylum are here because they've stood up against oppression, doing things that many of us might not have the strength to do. We can learn a lot from them and the stories they share with us.”

Sanctuary co-writer, Boff Whalley, said: “Working with refugees and asylum seekers over the past handful of years has been an education. A steep learning curve in understanding how both Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’ and the non-stop onslaught of the trash media has impacted Britain. 

“We’re a nation in turmoil over immigration. A country at war with itself over small boats – whilst at the heart of it all are desperate people fleeing war and imprisonment, searching for hope and a place to call home.

“And that’s why ‘Sanctuary’ is important right now. Which all sounds a bit grim, doesn’t it? And grim isn’t a great starting point for good musical theatre! So the idea is to make this big subject entertaining as well as poignant and educational – it’s my job with the music to use melody and harmony to draw people in, to create shared moments, to give the audience a helping hand into this story of a young asylum-seeker looking for sanctuary.

“Music is such a powerful tool, and it can cross divides, it can patch up differences between people. Which is what ‘Sanctuary’ will hope to do.”

Sanctuary welcomes us in and asks the question: “Do we want safety and freedom for only ourselves, or for us all?”

Come on in – the Service is about to begin…

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