Preview: SHED at Bishop Auckland Town Hall

Dance-theatre show performed inside a wooden shed visits County Durham

SHED

Bishop Auckland Town Hall 

Wednesday 19 March 2025

Bishop Auckland Town Hall will host Northern Rascals’ SHED on Wednesday 19 March at 7.30pm. This will be the last chance to see the show at the end of the company’s rural tour.

SHED is a dance-theatre show from the acclaimed Yorkshire based dance-theatre company Northern Rascals. It uses drama, digital art and spoken word alongside contemporary dance performance to raise awareness of the mental health issues young people face.

Performed inside an intimate, pop-up set that feels like peering into someone’s flat, SHED offers a raw, authentic, and uplifting experience. Featuring three short stories:

Sunny Side

A poignant exploration of adolescence and identity, Sunny Side follows K as he navigates a world on pause, grappling with a loss of emotional and physical connection. Caught between past, present, and future, K’s journey reflects the struggle to make sense of life’s changes.

A Small Life Just Like Mine

A modern day love story. A Small Life Just Like Mine tells the tender story of two lovers navigating the seasons of their relationship. Amidst the mundane and messy realities of partnership, the beauty of connection shines through.

Blackcurrant Lips

At the end of a night overshadowed by threat, two friends reflect on female safety, power, and the realities of being a young woman today.

Northern Rascals bring a fresh perspective to dance-theatre; a portrait of love and loss and the essential humanity that resides in us all. SHED was created by Anna Holmes and Sam Ford, co-Artistic Directors of Northern Rascals.

Co-Artistic Director and writer Anna Holmes said ‘SHED was birthed in a period of social disconnection where our lives were linked through snippets on screens, in windows, through doors. These moments felt isolated and incredibly personal; they belonged to us, our lives and our four walls. Yet, when we regrouped with our creative collaborators and our community, we found that our stories were not singular but collectively shared. SHED is a response to that. Our hope is that our audiences will leave taking a part of SHED with them, perhaps a familiar story, or one that’s unknown. SHED is rooted in the messy, complicated lives that we all live.’

Driven by social conscience, Northern Rascals was created by Holmes and Ford in 2017. The company uses theatre and contemporary dance to lead audiences to original narratives rooted in the current socio-political climate. Nationally recognised, the company is renowned for their coherent, moving and engaging pieces, creating raw yet poetic interpretations of today’s world and the people that inhabit it.

Photos: Elly Welford

Tickets:

SHED is performed at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Wednesday 19 March at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12, or £10 concessions, and can be purchased at: https://bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk/bishoppost/shed/