New Work for Manchester's Not Quite Light festival

Published: 17 March 2019
Reporter: Martin Thomasson

Beneath These Tarmac Cracks Credit: Simon Buckley
Joshua Val Martin Credit: Simon Buckley
Melissa Sinden (May) and Ellie Scanlan (the student) Credit: Simon Buckley

Beneath These Tarmac Cracks is a new play, commissioned for this year’s Not Quite Light festival in Manchester.

Co-written by Bruntwood Prize finalist Joshua Val Martin and Ellie Scanlan, in collaboration with sound artist Daniel Mawson, the production will feature visuals by Not Quite Light and a further singalong musical contribution by Rob King.

Beneath These Tarmac Cracks is an immersive theatre piece, telling the story of Salford carehome resident, May (played by Melissa Sinden), born in 1913, whose neurological condition provokes vivid memories of her entire life. When a young PhD student in history (Ellie Scanlan) seeks to exploit May’s condition to her own advantage, questions of the truthfulness of memory and our attitudes towards the ageing are thrown into relief.

Performances will be at Manchester’s Five Four Studios. The show premières 29 March at 7:30PM, with a second performance on 31 March. Tickets are on sale now.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, Bookshop.org, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?