MIXED UP NORTH by Robin Soans

7-15 July 2008. A project with LAMDA

Based on real events, MIXED UP NORTH captures the charm and vitality of a group of kids who join an unusual youth theatre group.

Their mission: bring harmony to their dead-end Lancashire mill town, by uniting young people from its fiercely divided racial communities.

Meet Trish, always on hand with faith, compassion and lemon drizzle cake. Meet director Bella, seven months pregnant, and sharing her artistic vision with a cast of youths who think that acting is “gay”. Meet gobby stage manager (and convicted offender) Sarfraz. And the kids themselves, as they get ready to show you their latest play…

Mixed Up North traces the efforts of this small group to found a Utopia from their bleak and compromising surroundings.

Robin Soans is brilliant at distilling real life stories into sparkling and illuminating theatre, as seen in plays such as A State Affair, Talking to Terrorists, The Arab-Israeli Cookbook and Life After Scandal. Mixed Up North will be a given a full production by Out of Joint next year. >>>