HERE by Lindsay Rodden to premiere at Northern Stage and online this March

A powerful new play by Lindsay Rodden will have its world premiere at Northern Stage this March.

A co-production between Curious Monkey, Northern Stage and Newcastle University, HERE will run 4-12 March and be available to stream online.

The piece is about finding sanctuary in the unlikeliest of places and is part of Curious Monkey’s Arriving project and its long-term work with refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.

Four seasons, four people, from four corners of the world, collide. The strange city folds and unfolds around them, a story that opens up like a book to get lost in. This powerful new play by Lindsay Rodden is about finding sanctuary in the unlikeliest of places.

About dancing on rooftops, blossom in winter, and re-writing the story of the city as your own. About two best friends with a library card and the power they summon through friendship and books to make something magical. To say WE WERE HERE.

Collaborating for 18 months with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from all over the world including Sudan, Syria, Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Zimbabwe, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Congo and Nigeria, writer Lindsay Rodden worked closely with more than 80 people who are now settling in the North East and Derby to create authentic characters.

The cast includes professional actors from refugee backgrounds with Arieta Visoka playing Lulja, Joana Geronimo playing Pauline, Karen Traynor playing Janet and Murat Erkek playing Salim.

HERE is directed by Amy Golding, written by Lindsay Rodden and features design by Katie Scott, music/sound design by Niroshini Thambar and lighting design by Simon Cole.

Lindsay said: “As a writer, I was determined not to take a story from anyone. Because stories are so powerful that the Home Office will demand yours from you, question it, doubt it, perhaps use it against you. But stories have been given, and invented, and shared, and that’s how we made HERE. The play is only one part of a huge project, and a growing community writing its own story, reclaiming and harnessing that power in the hope of happy endings. That’s all any of us want, isn’t it?”

For tickets and more information, visit northernstage.co.uk