After establishing themselves in their native Yorkshire and surrounding counties, a young West Yorkshire based dance-theatre company recently made their debut in London to great acclaim, gaining a four-star review from The Guardian!
SHED is a gritty new piece from multi-disciplinary company Northern Rascals. It uses digital art, spoken word and contemporary dance performance to raise awareness of the mental health issues young people face.
In a four star review The Guardian’s lead dance critic Lyndsey Winship said ‘this three part show lets us peer into its characters lives, … it’s rare in dance to see a set up that looks so real.’
For its first date of 2024 SHED will head to Leeds’ Riley Theatre on 27 January. More UK wide 2024 tour dates are currently being lined up.
SHED is performed by a cast of four skilled dancers in an on-stage pop-up structure. It invites the audience to stand outside and look in as real-life experiences are told in a series of three linked shorts, each giving a different insight into the stories that make us. SHED is an engaging, ultimately uplifting, beautifully written and choreographed portrait of confused emotions, love and loss and the essential humanity that resides in us all.
‘Like peeping through a keyhole into someone else’s world… vulnerabilities are shared and souls are bared, resulting in work that is powerful and poetic’ Dance Art Journal (on an early preview of SHED)
Co-Artistic Director and writer Anna Holmes said ‘SHED was birthed in a period of social disconnection where our lives were linked through snippets on screens, in windows, through doors. These moments felt isolated and incredibly personal; they belonged to us, our lives and our four walls. Yet, when we regrouped with our creative collaborators and our community, we found that our stories were not singular but collectively shared. SHED is a response to that. Our hope is that our audiences will leave taking a part of SHED with them, perhaps a familiar story, or one that’s unknown. SHED is rooted in the messy, complicated lives that we all live.’
‘(it’s) as if lives have settled under a low-lying fog. That might feel bleak, but it also feels authentic’ The Guardian
SHED was created by Anna Holmes and Sam Ford, co-Artistic Directors of Northern Rascals. Written by Anna Holmes, the show is performed by Grace Ford, Flora Grant, Ed Mitchell and Soul Roberts with voice actors Lamin Touray, Brendan Barclay and Anna Holmes. Sam Ford is also currently a member of Rhiannon Faith Company.
SHED is supported by Arts Council England, CAPA College, Northern Broadsides and York St John University.
Driven by social conscience, Northern Rascals was created by Holmes and Ford in 2017. The company uses theatre and contemporary dance to lead audiences to original narratives rooted in the current socio-political climate. Nationally recognised, the company is renowned for their coherent, moving and engaging pieces, creating raw yet poetic interpretations of today’s world and the people that inhabit it. www.northernrascals.com
Listings info:
SHED
Visual art, spoken word and dance combine to raise awareness of the mental health issues many young people face. An engaging, ultimately uplifting, beautifully written and choreographed portrait of confused emotions, love and loss and the essential humanity that resides in us all. Age 14+. Runs 70 minutes (no interval).
Saturday 27 January 7.30pm
Leeds Riley Theatre,
98 Chapeltown Road, LS7 4BH
£15 (£12 concs) 0113 219 3000 www.rileytheatre.com
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