First full-length play by rising star Bradford writer Kat Rose-Martin to premiere in her home city

Trained as an actor, Rose-Martin’s writing career has taken off over the past few years. She was the recipient in 2019 of the inaugural Kay Mellor Fellowship, a partnership between Leeds Playhouse and the late Mellor’s TV production company, Rollem; in 2020 she was part of BBC Writersroom Northern Voices and in 2021 was selected for Sky Comedy Rep – a writers’ scheme with Birmingham Rep Theatre and Sky.

Her first TV broadcast credit was for the 2021 Christmas episode of Holby City, and she currently has several TV projects in development and a pilot commission for BBC3. Her stage plays include Jane Hair, Children of War, Cheap as Chips and Glow. She is definitely one to watch.

She began working on Pick n Mix back in 2018 as part of Bradford-based theatre company Freedom Studios’ writers development programme Street Voices. “It was inspired by a true story, some of my own experiences and the chaos of being a 15-year-old girl,” she says. “The play is about normal people from Bradford, people I grew up with and care for immensely.” During the pandemic lockdowns she and Alex Chisholm, then Freedom Studios co-artistic director, continued to develop the play, funding was secured and the production, directed by Chisholm, begins its Yorkshire tour this week, with a transfer to a London venue early in the new year.

Rose-Martin is keen that the play, which opens at Kala Sangam tomorrow, sparks dialogue and debate around issues that are either still considered taboo or not spoken about enough. “The play is about what I think are the most important things to think and talk about when you are 15. The sex education at my school was, let’s say inadequate – we never talked about abortion, pregnancy or miscarriage – and teenage pregnancy is still seen as something that has shame attached to it. The play is also about how messy and knotty those situations are. Life isn’t perfect and we all have to navigate those things. We can have strong opinions but until it happens to us, we really don’t know how we would react.”

She has approached all those themes with a deft lightness of touch – there is plenty of humour in the storytelling. “It is a comedy – these girls are figuring out what it is like to be a young woman in Bradford today and they have a lot of laughs, fun and fall-outs along the way.”

The play – which features Charlotte Ellis as Olivia, Natalie Davies as Kim, Sonia Wrightson as Alisha, Morgan Scriven as Kim’s boyfriend Jordan and Mustafa Chaudhry as Kash, the pizza delivery guy – was cast through open auditions. The idea was to make it as accessible as possible to young local actors who might not yet have had much professional experience. “When I was starting out, people gave me a chance so I want to give opportunities to others,” says Rose-Martin. “Sonia actually went to Buttershaw School with me – when I saw her at the audition, I said ‘I know you’, I used to hang around with her. And Charlotte is my mentee through Bradford Producing Hub – although she auditioned like everyone else, there’s no nepotism.”

When we speak, rehearsals are into their third week and Rose-Martin is pleased with the way the show is shaping up, although she is mindful of not being around in the rehearsal room too much. “Because I am an actor myself, I know how inhibiting it can be to have the writer there all the time – theatre is a collaborative process and it is important to let the actors try things out, it has got to be their play.”

With this play, Rose-Martin is following in the footsteps of her mentor Kay Mellor in telling the stories of people who are often under-represented – and celebrating female friendship. “The bonds between women are so strong and intense, Kay’s instinct was to write about those women because they were women she knew – it is the same for me; we need to put those stories out in the world. I want people to come to the play and enjoy themselves and laugh. I’m hoping it will be a right good night out.”

Pick n Mix is at Kala Sangam, Bradford, November 1-5; Scholemoor Beacon, November 9; Leeds Playhouse, November 10-11; Rockwell Centre, November 12; Bingley Arts Centre, November 13. The script is published by Bloomsbury on November 1.