A unique new play which highlights the homelessness crisis opens in Manchester next week before it embarks on a regional tour visiting five venues throughout November.
Parallel is brought to the stage by theatre production company Black Toffee. It is written and produced by Laura Lindsay, who also forms part of the three-strong all-female cast.
The darkly comic drama opens in Manchester next week, and runs at Hope Mill Theatre from Tuesday 1 November to Saturday 5 November.It will then take to the road and head across the North and East Midlands, heading to ARC in Stockton (9 November); Derby Theatre (11 November); Lincoln Drill Hall (17 to 19 November); and finally Square Chapel in Halifax (24 November).
Parallel is an innovative new play which starts with a dice role by an audience member to decide which roles the actors perform. This reflects the themes of chance and fortune in the play. Parallel highlights the personal stories behind homelessness and has been developed with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, and Harrogate Homeless Project. It is co-produced by Harrogate Theatre, where the production enjoyed a successful run in March this year.
Writer Laura Lindsay has conducted extensive research into the subject, including interviewing charity staff and service users, giving her a real insight by hearing first-hand accounts from those affected by homelessness. This has enabled Laura to present a play which handles the subject in a sensitive manner with heart and humour. She has focussed on the universality of human experience and the value of empathy in understanding such an important issue.
Parallel is directed by Peter Carruthers, who has been involved in the project since the play’s early development stages.
Peter is a long-time collaborator with Laura, they have starred alongside each other in several stage shows. Together they are the writing and performing duo behind Black Toffee’s Hidden, which enjoyed a critically acclaimed sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013 and was followed by a national tour and London run in 2014. Peter’s other directing credits include Slaughterhouse with Black Hand Productions, and he has also written, directed and produced several award-winning short films.
The three characters will be played by a talented all-female cast. One of the most innovative aspects of the production is that a dice roll by an audience member decides which parts the actors will play at every performance. There are in effect, six different versions of the play – which means that each cast member has to learn all three parts.
Writer and producer Laura Lindsay commented: “Homelessness is a huge problem, 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.
“Homelessness and the inequality in standards of living is something I’ve always felt really uncomfortable about and this was something I wanted to address through an engaging piece of theatre. The dice roll explores the impact of chance on the outcome of our lives. It illustrates that homelessness can happen to anyone, many people in the UK are just one pay cheque away from being homeless. With less than a week to go until the tour starts, the cast and Black Toffee creative team cannot wait to present this unique play to audiences.”
