A new play highlighting homelessness, Parallel from Black Toffee Theatre, comes to ARC Stockton on Wednesday 9 November.
The play’s writer and producer, Laura Lindsay, spent time interviewing homeless people across the North when developing the play's script, and then formed the characters around the stories she heard.
“Homelessness is a huge problem,” she said, “especially as the national housing crisis worsens and the number of people rough-sleeping has doubled since 2010. Parallel explores this problem and also our broader understanding of home, purpose and charity. It is told through the lives of three strangers, who desperately need to connect.”
At the beginning of each performance, a member of the audience will be asked to roll a die to decide which characters the three female actors will perform.
“The dice roll explores the impact of chance on the outcome of our lives,” Lindsay explained. “It illustrates that homelessness can happen to anyone; many people in the UK are just one pay cheque away from being homeless.”
The cast is Arabella Gibbins, Emily Spowage and Laura Lindsay.
The performance is at 7PM on Wednesday 9 November and is priced on a Pay What You Decide basis.
Black Toffee Theatre is an Associate Artist of Harrogate Theatre and Parallel has been developed with the Harrogate Homeless Project and Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people.
After ARC, the production goes on to Derby Theatre (11 November), Lincoln Drill Hall (17 to 19) and the Square Chapel, Halifax (24).