Podcast

Our New Podcast - about being homeless




Join Mark And Jo as they spout a load of ......

Knife Crime.

Police recorded 26,370 knife offences in 2014/15. Yesterday I found out we didn't get an Arts Council grant to tour a play in youth zones in the North West about knife crime and gangs.

People who stab other people don't read flyers about not stabbing people. People who stab people don't wear stickers. People who stab people know that it's wrong and what the consequences of their actions may be, but they still choose to carry a blade.

We need to get them young.

If you have any money and you think this would be a good thing to do with young people give me a call 07956913666

Ghost Walks

I have written three ghost walks now, Oldham, Saddleworth and now Burnley.

This is how I do it.

1. I usually go and visit the local reference library or museums and start to look for reported stories.  I would say 60% of the walks comes from local newspaper accounts.  From these stories we do our own enquiries about the people or the buildings involved and try and establish a story.  
2. We ask local people if they have their own stories to tell.  These have come from many sources and their story always begins " I don't believe in ghosts, but..."  These have come from postal workers who saw a strange woman in a shop window, to a girl who had a strange experience on leaving an empty car park.
3. A small percentage of the stories come from Psychics who will visit the walks and usually pick up other spirits present and tell another story. 

Then all you have to do is tell them, well.

https://www.hardgraft.co.uk/

A Ghostly Street we visit on a walk.

Red Riding Hood - film

Here's a little film to get you all excited about Red Riding Hood

Grass Reviews

Well, we're well into our run of GRASS so I thought I'd share some audience reviews.  If you want to see more go have a look here

Grass, Snitch, Nark, Blabber.

Grass by Mark Whiteley

When I was 20, I witnessed an horrific beating in a pub in Nottingham.  Two young, alcohol fuelled, angry men on a Friday night out, I knew both the victim and the perpetrator.  What followed was one of the scariest times in my life. I was threatened, stalked and even arrested. 

After the fight I was asked by the Police Officer what I’d seen, we all know what can happen to a grass on the council estates of England.  What would you do?  I did what I thought was right and decent and ultimately, I ended up paying a high price for being a snitch. 

Before the Crown Court case I was regularly visited by gang members wanting to know “what I was going to say” in court, under oath.  As the date loomed I didn’t know where to turn or what to do, so on the morning of the case I ran away.  Of course as a 48 year old I look back on that ridiculous decision with mature eyes, but I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

On the run from the Police and living on friend’s sofas I battled between my conscience and my fear for my safety.  In the end, Iaughably, I was “on the run” for just three nights. I had a chance meeting with an old lady on a park bench, who had far more life experience than I did at that time.  She listened and told me about her brother, a conscientious objector, who ran away for six months during WW2 then bravely returned to face the music. 

The next day I walked into Nottingham Crown Court and was arrested for Contempt on entry.  I gave evidence and the accused was found guilty and given 12 months, suspended for 12 months.  I left Nottingham pretty soon after that.

25 years later and the ghosts of my past are back.  GRASS is a new British crime drama from award winning Manchester theatre company HARD GRAFT. 

Venue -  KAVA 17 - 21 Mumps, Oldham, OL1 3TL
Tickets from £6*
Dates 30th Sept. - 17th October 2015
Time 7.30pm

*£6 preview tickets on the 30th September

WIN

BOOK AND WIN!

This Box could be yours

For your chance to win this shoebox from our production of The Christmas Elves and Shoemaker, just book your Grass tickets before Monday to be entered into our FREE competition.

http://www.hardgraft.co.uk/whats-on/