Yorkshire performers at heart of new production

The Invite "draws on the personal experiences" of its actors, according to Mind The Gap

An "immersive experience" by a leading Bradford theatre company is to be staged as part of the city's 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations.

Mind the Gap, a disability performance and live arts company which is based in the landmark Lister Mills, said The Invite was created specially for Bradford 2025.

The production, due to run between 17-20 September at The Beacon, a custom-made touring venue, "blurs the lines between reality and fiction", the company said.

Charli Ward, Mind the Gap's creative director, said: "A lot of the performers are from Bradford, from Yorkshire, and they are really passionate about being from Yorkshire. I'm hoping that really comes through in their performance."

"Aside from that, we've been around for 35 years but some people don't know who we are, so BD25 has really given us a platform to showcase who we are," Ms Ward explained.

"We're about to relaunch our website and our branding, so we feel like we're in a really nice opportunity to shout about what we do."

Rich Rusk, director of The Invite, said the story "takes place over one day".

"Everything is leading up to a surprise birthday party for a character who doesn't really like surprise birthday parties," he said.

"So, we're showing the lives of all her friends from the moment they wake up to the moment they say 'surprise' and 'happy birthday'."

Mr Rusk said the show was based on the personal experiences of the actors starring in the performance.

"It's one of the main reasons we made the show in this way, because we needed it to be the voices of the people of Bradford," he said.

"We wanted to be part of Bradford City of Culture in a way that's an authentically Bradford story.

"That's why the lived experiences in this are so important."

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