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Signal Fires: Northern Girls (2020)

Pilot and ARCADE created Northern Girls for audiences to experience stories from Northern Girls by firelight in a special outdoor setting in Scarborough. Presented as part of the Signal Fires Festival.

In collaboration with ARCADE, Pilot is setting free the stories of girls and women who live along the North East coastline, encouraging them to write and present tales that matter most to them in 2020.

The performances will feature short pieces from Asma Elbadawi, Zoe Cooper, Maureen Lennon, Charley Miles all commissioned especially for this event, as well as work created with spoken word artist Hannah Davies and a group of young women from Scarborough, to create a magical celebration of northern women’s voices. A predominantly female creative team, comprised of theatre artists from the area will come together to direct and stage the work as fire-lit presentations in Scarborough.

First performed Tue 27 – Wed 28th October at YMCA Scarborough


Northern Girls was part of the Signal Fires Festival.

Signal Fire (n): a fire or light set up in a prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration.

In October and November, fires will light up across the UK with storytellers and audiences sharing in one of the original forms of theatre. The fires will signal the vibrancy of touring theatre, and the threat our industry continues to face.

From spectacular bonfires to digital blazes; the nation’s leading touring theatre companies will present a series of theatrical events at locations across the UK in celebration of our fundamental need to tell stories.

The companies will be working with hundreds of UK freelancers. Each fire will span different disciplines reflecting the breadth and diversity of the touring circuit. All fires will be presented outdoors in front of socially distanced live audiences, or digitally for those who are shielding or currently unable to travel. Companies involved in Signal Fires are: 45North, Arcade, Beyond Face, Big Telly, Boundless, Eastern Angles, English Touring Theatre, Fen in association with Out of Joint, Fuel, Graeae, Headlong, Kestrel Theatre Company, Kneehigh, Macha Productions, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, New Perspectives, Pentabus, Pilot, Paines Plough, SBC Theatre, Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Slung Low, Spare Tyre, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and Yellow Earth Theatre (with more to be

Programme

You can access a free downloadable programme for SIgnal Fires: Northern Girls.

Signal Fires: Northern Girls PDF

Directors

Gitika Buttoo

Maria Crocker

Oliver O’Shea

Esther Richardson

Writers

Shannon Barker

Zoe Cooper

Claire Edwards

Asma Elbadawi

Ariel Hebditch

Maureen Lennon

Charley Miles

Amy-Kay Pell

Actors

Laura Boughen

Laura Elsworthy

Asma Elbadawi

Siu-See Hung

Holly Surtees-Smith

Production Team

Creative Associate (Writer’s Group): Hannah Davies

Sound Design:Charlotte Bickley

Lighting Design: Ben Cowens

Production Management: Luke James

ARCADE TEAM

Rachael Drew

Sophie Drury Bradey

Gallery