Dance theatre company Northern Rascals bring their show Shed coming to the Riley Theatre in Leeds

Shed comprises three short linked pieces that explore and raise awareness of some of the issues faced by young people today – they include men’s mental health, modern love and relationship dynamics and the female experience in light of high-profile cases of violence against women such as the rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Using digital art, spoken word and contemporary dance, the show is performed on a pop-up on-stage structure by a cast of four dancers and three voice actors and invites the audience to observe these delicately wrought narratives which are all based on real-life experiences.

“It was a production that came out of the pandemic really, growing out of that period of social disconnection,” explains Holmes. “As a company we were trying to work out how we could perform so we created the show as a pop-up, which meant it could exist in a theatre space but also in other settings. Alongside that we were researching our own experiences and those of our collaborators and we did a lot of research with other young people too. We realized that while all those stories felt individual, they also felt collectively shared. Shed is a response to that – and we wanted to make it feel like the audience is looking in on other people’s lives.”

The company received their first tranche of funding just as studio spaces and small venues were opening up again after lockdown and they secured a residency at Northern Broadsides in Halifax, where they developed the piece further. “We had to be in the same space for the whole time. Normally we go in different spaces but I think being in one space actually helped,” says Holmes. “I think that is why the show is so intimate and focused on tiny human moments.”

Working collaboratively with their team of dancers and voice actors, Holmes and Ford created the three connected stories that form the narrative for Shed. It is a process that involves experimentation, discussion and finding a way to combine choreography with words. “Anna writes all the text and most of the time we will start off with a small amount of text and we all play on that,” explains Ford. “But then we can also choose to leave that behind and go with some movement ideas and sometimes that will fuel more writing ideas. The movement is made to the rhythm of the language rather than what is actually being said in the text.” Holmes and Ford then work with the voice actors separately to record the text, then take the recording into the dance studio to put the two together with the dancers. One of the three stories, about young men’s mental health, has already been developed into a full-length standalone piece, Sunny Side, and the intention is to also develop and expand the story about the young female experience. Both shows will be touring at some point in the future, so watch this space.

In the meantime, more tour dates for Shed are currently being planned and Holmes and Ford are looking forward to bringing the production to a wider audience. All good art is about starting conversations and so far, the show has been doing just that. “We are not trying to solve any of the issues we are exploring,” says Holmes. “When we first started the company that is something we talked about – how do you tackle these subjects without offering a solution. What we can do is raise awareness and it feels wonderful to have had such a positive response.” Ford agrees. “That is the bit that means the most,” he says. “It is not necessarily about whether people liked the show but if it got them talking or it reminded them of someone or something in their lives, then we have done our job.”

Shed is being performed at the Riley Theatre, Leeds on January 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets £15 (£12 concessions) via rileytheatre.com