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Steel speaks about world premiere of new play at ARC
Grow Up Grandad
Stockton ARC
Friday 4thto Saturday 12th September 2015.
Teesside’s leading playwright Gordon Steel is preparing for the world premiere of his first play produced under his new theatre company.
STEELWORKS is Teesside’s first producing professional theatre company and its inaugural production Grow Up Grandadwill run at ARC from Friday 4 September to Saturday 12 September.
The play is Steel’s first venture into producing and he is proud to be premiering it in Teesside and commented: “I’ve always been proud of where I come from and I’ve never hidden the fact I’m from Teesside. I’m very proud of it. I love where I come from. And when you go to write, you write about what you know and I know this area so I try to write about it.
“Producing Grow Up Grandad takes me back to my Stockton Youth Theatre days because in those days we would produce it very much on an amateur basis but with professional standards. It has come full circle just the expectations and the stakes are higher. In those days I was producing the work of others but now the added pressure is it’s my own work – hoping people will like it. Inevitably, whenever I ask people to come and see a play their response is, “Is it any good?” or worse, the statement, “It had better be good!”’
Gordon who is born and bred in Teesside has mentored hundreds of the region’s aspiring actors whilst at Stockton Youth Theatre and many have gone on to be well recognised faces of the TV screen and stage including; Jill Halfpenny, Daniel Casey, Mark Benton and Simeon Truby who is the star of Steel’s new play.
Stockton born Truby will star as ‘Grandad’ and local school girls Eliza Dobson and Rose Allen will both share the role of grandaughter Poppy. Actress Liz Carney (Emmerdale, The Royal) will star in the role of Margret.
Both heart-breaking and humorous, Grow Up Grandad is an intergenerational story that deals with love and loss, hope and sadness, as the relationship between a young girl and her grandad is thrust together and torn apart.
Grow Up Grandadhas been written and directed by Gordon and has been produced in conjunction with ARC with funding from Arts Council England.
Currently based at ARC in Stockton, it is intended that STEELWORKS will become Teesside’s resident theatre company producing plays regularly and providing an opportunity for talented actors and creatives to work in their own town.
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