NEWS: Teesside theatre maker Holly Gallagher in residence at ARC

Teesside theatre maker Holly Gallagher in residence at ARC

Associate Artist Holly Gallagher is currently midway through a two week residence at Stockton's ARC working on her new show Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End).

Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit's End) is a performance about stress and figuring out why so many of us feel it to an unhealthy degree; it's about fear, pressure, and uncertainty; it's about sadness and mental health and how we help ourselves; it's about feeling like things are all a bit too much and then the cat goes missing.

Speaking about her new show, Holly says:  “Tensile Strength is about stress. It’s a word we hear a lot but I want to delve deeper into what it means for all of us and why some of us feel it to such an unhealthy extent. I’ve been interviewing people from all walks of life to find out about their experience of stress, as well as thinking about stress in my own life. I want to make a show that helps us understand what stress is and how we can deal with it in a healthy way.”

Tensile Strength is a show about the world we live in now, and one which will be essential viewing in a society that just can't seem to relax anymore

On becoming an ARC Associate Artist, Holly told us: “Making work as a solo artist can quite often be lonely, stressful, and uncertain, so having any kind of support is always massively valued. To know that my support is coming from a venue as nurturing and passionate as ARC is very exciting indeed! I’m massively looking forward to seeing how this new working relationship will enable my work to grow and develop. It’s also quite an honour to be becoming an Associate Artist at the building where I had my first ever taste of theatre through ARC Kids at the age of 11 (and where I stayed as a member of ARClub until age 18)!"

Holly Gallagher is a theatre maker, director and facilitator based in Thornaby, Teesside. She seeks to create work that speaks about the world we live in today while stimulating an audience's imagination.

She has an MA with Distinction in Theatre and Performance from Northumbria University and has showcased and performed in work at Northern Stage, Live Theatre, ARC Stockton, Alphabetti Theatre, GIFT Festival, and Moor Theatre Delicatessen. She was also a recipient of the Third Angel Mentorship scheme 2017.

Holly has received Arts Council funding for the project and fantastic support from organisations such as ARC; Third Angel; Mother’s Ruin; The Witham; York Theatre Royal; Arts Centre Washington; and Gala Theatre Durham, but still needs some funding to ensure the show will happen. As a result, a crowdfunding page has been set up to raise the last 10% necessary to make the show happen. Any support you can give to help raise funds and spread the word would be appreciated and there are a range of rewards on offer.

Fund raiser: https://www.fringefunder.com/campaign/207/tensile-strength-or-how-to-survive-at-your-wit-s-end