Piece Hall stage for huge outdoor play

‘Zara:Daughters of Fortune’

Halifax Piece Hall/April 19 & 20

Four years in the making, theatre company Mind the Gap’s new show is a giant piece of outdoor theatre that is heading for Halifax Piece Hall and Southwark in London this spring.

Called ‘Zara: Daughters of Fortune’, the provocative and cutting-edge show will feature a giant baby, a cast of more than 100, an original music score and 3D projection mapping.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mind the Gap, based in Bradford, has collabor-ated with outdoor arts specialists Walk the Plank to create the new family-friendly show which explores learning disability and parenthood for a mainstream audience. It has been developed from two of Mind the Gap’s previous shows ‘Anna’ and ‘Mia’, which featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

Julia Skelton, executive director of Mind the Gap, said: “Zara is a huge-impact piece of outdoor theatre that has been four years in the making. We have brought together an international team of directors, choreo-graphers, producers, designers, puppeteers, musicians and actors. We are really proud to be the company behind the idea.”

Taking on the challenge of playing Zara is Mind the Gap actor JoAnne Haines, aged 29, who has appeared in many of the company’s touring productions including ‘Stig of the Dump, ‘Irresistible’, ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Gift’. She also starred in an episode of the BBC daytime soap ‘Doctors’ and received funding to research and develop a new multi-sensory piece of work called ‘Colour Full’.

Joyce Nga Yu Lee, artistic director for ‘Zara’, said: “Throughout our research the stories we heard were tender, shocking, funny, poignant and everything in between. ‘Zara’ is a fusion of these complex and untold precious stories.”

‘Zara: Daughters of Fortune’ is at Halifax Piece Hall on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 7pm. To book visit mind-the-gap.org.uk