From Stand and Be Counted (SBC) Theatre and The Herd TheatreHidden Winter is a brand-new story walk adventure, designed to be experienced by audiences on mobile devices, whilst on walks in their local park, or at home, during national lockdown restrictions.

Hidden Winter follows eight-year-old Hiba, a mischievous cat, and a trail of winter clothes in a story celebrating the joys and difficulties of making friends in a new place.

The story has been co-created with young asylum-seeker children and families in Bradford and will be available for free in English and Arabic from Friday 19 February.

SBC Theatre is the UK’s first Theatre Company of Sanctuary. This is the first collaboration between SBC Theatre and The Herd Theatre, in association with Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Theatre in the Mill, Cast, and Hull Truck Theatre, funded by Bradford Producing Hub and Arts Council England.

Rosie MacPherson, Artistic Director of SBC Theatre, said:

 “Something that comes up a lot for people seeking sanctuary, particularly newly placed families and individuals, is the issue of getting to know their new area when they don’t know anyone, and they don’t speak the language. As asylum seekers are not allowed to work, making friends through employment isn’t an option and with schools closed in lockdown it’s harder than ever to connect. The pandemic has shown how important it is for society, and more specifically theatre, to find new ways to listen and learn from each other. This new interactive story walk adventure feels like an exciting way to create and present theatre that fits with the current routine of our lives, making the new feel familiar and the familiar feel new.”

Ruby Thompson, Artistic Director of The Herd Theatre, added “In family workshops, full of laughter, we created worlds, characters and snippets of story. Together we talked about our experiences and sparked our imaginations to find Hiba’s adventure. The result is a story that we think all children and adults will relate to, experienced in this unique way – through your headphones, in your local park!”

Hidden Winter is co-written between Rosie MacPherson and Sam Caseley, and co-directed by Hannah Butterfield and Ruby Thompson and produced by John Tomlinson. The creative team also includes narration by Firas Chihi, illustrator Lucy Bingham, designer Smart Banda and sound designer Ed Waring.

Hidden Winter will be available from Friday 19 February 2021, with how to play instructions and an activity pack at http://www.hiddenwinter.co.uk  

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