Stand and Be Counted Theatre announce an audio walk adventure for lockdown half-term

The Stand and Be Counted (SBC) Theatre, the UK’s first Theatre Company of Sanctuary, has announced the release of 'Hidden Winter'; an audio walk adventure for family audiences produced in association with Theatre in the Mill, Cast, Hull Truck Theatre and Oldham Coliseum Theatre, and funded by Bradford Producing Hub and Arts Council England.

Hidden Winter is an adventure for all families this half term, made with The Herd Theatre.

Hidden Winter follows eight-year-old Hiba, a mischievous cat, and a trail of winter clothes in a story celebrating the joys and difficulties of making friends in a new place.

This brand-new story walk adventure is designed to be experienced by audiences on mobile devices, whilst on walks in their local park, or at home, during national lockdown restrictions.

Hidden Winter has been co-created with young asylum-seeker children and families in Bradford and will be available for free in English and Arabic from Friday (February 19).

Rosie MacPherson, Artistic Director, said: "Something that comes up a lot for people seeking sanctuary, particularly newly placed families and individuals, is the issue of getting to know their new area when they don’t know anyone, and they don’t speak the language.

"As asylum seekers are not allowed to work, making friends through employment isn’t an option and with schools closed in lockdown it’s harder than ever to connect.

"The pandemic has shown how important it is for society, and more specifically theatre, to find new ways to listen and learn from each other.

"This new interactive story walk adventure feels like an exciting way to create and present theatre that fits with the current routine of our lives, making the new feel familiar and the familiar feel new."

Ruby Thompson, Artistic Director of The Herd Theatre, added: "In family workshops, full of laughter, we created worlds, characters and snippets of story.

"Together we talked about our experiences and sparked our imaginations to find Hiba’s adventure.

"The result is a story that we think all children and adults will relate to, experienced in this unique way - through your headphones, in your local park!’

Hidden Winter is co-written between Rosie MacPherson and Sam Caseley, and co-directed by Hannah Butterfield and Ruby Thompson and produced by John Tomlinson.

The creative team also includes narration by Firas Chihi, illustrator Lucy Bingham, designer Smart Banda and sound designer Ed Waring.

It is the first collaboration between SBC Theatre and The Herd Theatre, in association with Theatre in the Mill, Cast, Hull Truck Theatre and Oldham Coliseum Theatre, funded by Bradford Producing Hub and Arts Council England.

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