Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile Read online

  ADELLE STRIPE’S

  BLACK TEETH AND A BRILLIANT SMILE

  Adapted by Lisa Holdsworth

  This is a work of fiction and is an alternative version of historic events.

  It has been manipulated, re-structured and embellished. Real people rub shoulders with fictional characters, some utter words from letters and characters, some utter words from letters and scripts; others are gleaned from occasional references, newspaper cuttings, hearsay or fractured memory.

  It is not the truth and exists purely within the realms of speculation.

  First performed by Freedom Studios in the Ambassador, Bradford in May 2019.

  Contents

  Cast & Creative

  Freedom Studios

  The Story of the Company

  Our Work

  Our Mission

  Our Vision

  Board of Trustees:

  Act One

  Act Two

  CAST

  Andrea Emily Spowage

  Young Andrea Lucy Hird

  Alma/Carole and Cast Laura Lindsay

  Eileen/Sophie and Cast Claire-Marie Seddon

  Mo/Patsy and Cast Balvinder Sopal

  CREATIVE

  Director Kash Arshad

  Designer Hannah Sibai

  Stage Manager Emaleigh Pightling

  Sound Designer Karen Lauke

  Lighting Associate Keilidh Whyte

  Assistant Director Jaasra Aslam

  Press Duncan Clarke PR

  Marketing Joanna Jowett

  Many thanks to:

  Artistic Directors Leadership Programme (ADLP), RTYDS, John Polley, Wrecking Ball Press, Aitken Alexander, Georgina Ruffhead at David Higham Associates, Chris Lloyd at Red Ladder, Richard Warburton at Theatre in the Mill, Kala Sangam, Maria Battul, Steven Gaythorpe, Mary Dowson, Ellen Boyle, Royston Greaves and Linda Hollinger at the Ambassador, K and U Pub Vintage, Kat Martin, Molly Rumford and Katie Mahon of Bloomin’ Buds Theatre, Rachael Scott at Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, Stephen Harrison at Buttershaw Youth Centre and all who contributed to the original research.

  Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile was produced by Freedom Studios and Kash Arshad as part of the Trainee Artistic Director Residency through the Artistic Director Leadership Programme (ADLP). The production is supported through public funding from Arts Council England and the National Lottery.

  Adelle Stripe | Author

  Adelle Stripe was born in 1976 and grew up in Tadcaster. Her debut novel, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile, is inspired by the life and work of playwright Andrea Dunbar. It received the Society of Authors’ K Blundell Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. The Observer described it in their books of the year list as ‘A beautiful period piece of 1980s Britain, as funny and sad as anything by Dunbar herself’.

  Adelle is the author of three poetry collections and her writing has appeared in The Quietus, New Statesman and The Guardian. She has recently contributed to Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers.

  Lisa Holdsworth | Adaptor

  Lisa has been writing professionally since 2001. Her first commission was an episode of Fat Friends (ITV). She went on to Emmerdale (ITV) where she spent three years.

  She has since written for New Tricks (BBC) where she won the RTS Yorkshire Best Writer Award for one of her episodes, Waterloo Road (BBC), Robin Hood (BBC) and Midsomer Murders (ITV) including the fan favourite ‘Death by Cheese’ episode.

  Recently she has written for Ackley Bridge (Channel 4) and Call the Midwife (BBC).

  She also writes and co-produces fringe theatre in Leeds for Slung Low Shorts which is now in its fourth year.

  Kash Arshad | Director

  Kash is the Trainee Artistic Director at Freedom Studios, Bradford. Recent directing credits include Airplays (Leeds Playhouse); We Are Ninja Division (Slung Low Shorts); The Tempest (ALRA North); Selfies Kill More People Than Sharks and Making Love (Rogue Bones); Memories of Partition (Royal Exchange Theatre); Free Fall (Rogue Bones); The Big Reveal (Abooo Theatre); and Street Voices (Freedom Studios). He was Associate Director on When We Were Brothers and North Country (Freedom Studios) and Assistant Director on Threepenny Opera (Octagon Bolton, dir. David Thacker); Handbagged (Theatre By The Lake, dir. Liz Stevenson); #ChipShoptheMusical (Freedom Studios/Octagon Bolton, dir. Ben Occhipinti) and Assistant Trainee Director on Romeo and Juliet (West Yorkshire Playhouse, dir. Amy Leach). He is also co-artistic director of Rogue Bones Theatre, 2018/19 Associate Company with Oldham Coliseum.

  Hannah Sibai | Designer

  Hannah is a performance designer based in Yorkshire. Since training at Wimbledon School of Art in London she has designed over sixty productions across Europe including theatre, film, music videos and installations.

  Theatre design credits include: Gwei Mui (Jennifer Tang); The Elves and the Shoemakers (Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal); Teechers and Two (Tom Wright, Gala Theatre); Where We Began (SBC Theatre); War with the Newts (Knaive Theatre); Vulture’s Song (Blah Blah Blah); 666 Comments (Daniel Bye); Pygmalion and Handbagged (Tom Wright, English Theatre Frankfurt); Instructions for Border Crossing (Alex Swift, Daniel Bye); The Astonishing Vacuum Cleaner Adventure (Sarah Punshon); WANTED (Chris Goode and Company); Instant Light Circus Company (Slung Low); Under the Bed (154 Collective); Bassett (Javaad Alipoor, Sheffield Crucible); Weekend Rockstars (Middle Child); When We Were Brothers and Home Sweet Home (Freedom Studios); SET FIRE TO EVERYTHING!!! (RashDash); The Situation Room (Oscar Mike); Days of Light (Starving Artists) and Country Music (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

  Emily Spowage | Andrea

  Emily Spowage is a Manchester-based actress. Originally from Sheffield, she went drama school in Manchester earning a first class degree. Theatre credits include: JB Shorts & Reloaded, The Ruck (Creative Scene); The Burnley Plays (Inkbrew Productions); Fallout (Jackie Thompson); Parallel (Black Toffee); Tadpoles (M6) and War Stories (Replay @Home).

  TV credits include: Coronation Street (ITV); Emmerdale (ITV); ‘Surprised Girl’ in the Asda advert and ‘Sleepy Girl’ in the McDonald’s advert.

  Film credits include: Eaten by Lions (Mecca Films).

  Lucy Hird | Young Andrea

  Lucy was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire and grew up near Buttershaw Estate. Lucy attended Footsteps Theatre School in Bradford and Scala School of Performing Arts in Leeds, and went on to train at ALRA North.

  Credits include: The Funfair (HOME); A View From The Bridge (Bolton Octagon); One Flesh (Brush Stroke Order); Peter Grimes (Opera North); Emmerdale (ITV); Doctors (BBC) and Click (Screen Yorkshire).

  Laura Lindsay | Alma/Carole and Cast

  Laura trained at Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, gaining a first class degree. Theatre credits include: Parallel (Black Toffee and Harrogate Theatre, Northern Tour); Partus (Third Angel and Sheffield Theatres, national tour); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (The King’s Arms, Manchester, Winner of Best Fringe Production); You Once Said Yes and Above and Beyond (both with Look Left Look Right); How to Survive the Blitz and Time Passes, Listen (both with The Bare Project); Once in a Land Much Like Ours (Breathe Out Theatre, northern tour, nominated for Best Actress at Buxton Fringe); Hidden (Black Toffee and Harrogate Theatre, national tour and Underbelly, Edinburgh) and All Because of Molly (The Lowry and regional tour).

  Television/film credits include: Emmerdale (ITV); Prisoners’ Wives (BBC) and TRiGGA (Creative England/BFI).

  Claire-Marie Seddon | Eileen/Sophie and Cast

  Claire-Marie Seddon is an actress and musician born and bred in West Yorkshire. She trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

  Credits include: Unsung (Unsung Collective, playing And
rea Dunbar); A Little Night Music/Improbable Fiction (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); We’re not Going Back (Red Ladder, UK tour); The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (The Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); Women of Aktion, Northern School and This Space is Occupied (Bent Architect); Freak Show (NoiseMaker, The Roundhouse); Adam & Eve: The Musical (Splendid Theatre, Gilded Balloon); Tarzanne (Interplay Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe); Jack Frost (Fidget Theatre, Barnsley Civic); In at the Deep End/Best Foot Forward (Mikron, UK tour), Cinderella, celebrating the theatre’s 225th year (The Georgian Theatre Royal); Tiny Heroes (Dan Bye Company, Fringe First Winner, UK tour).

  As Musical Director: Oliver!, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night (Front Room Productions) and We Are Outlaws (Wrongsemble).

  Balvinder Sopal | Mo/Patsy and Cast

  Balvinder Sopal is a British Indian actress from Kent. She graduated in 2001 from the University of Huddersfield with a degree in Theatre Studies with Media.

  TV credits include: guest lead in Call The Midwife (BBC); Doctors, Hollyoaks (LIME Pictures); Coronation Street (ITV) and Emmerdale (ITV) as the shows only hijab wearing DC. BATFA Award Winning White Girl (BBC); Adha Cup (Channel4) and Waterloo Road (BBC).

  Theatre credits include: Partition (BBC Radio Leeds/WYP); Every Third Minute (WYP); Delete (Rada Festival); Running Wild (Firey Angel); Sleepless (Co production Analogue/Staastheatre Mainz); Stowaway (Analogue Theatre); The Edge (Transport Theatre); Deranged Marriage (Rifco Arts); Home Sweet Home (Freedom Studios); The Snow Queen (Trestle Theatre/international tour); Our Glass House (Common Wealth); Behna (Kali Theatre); The House of Bilquis Bibi (Tamasha/Hampstead); Counted? (Look Left Look Right); Mela (WYP).

  Radio credits include: Dukelele (Cbeebies); Everyday Tales of Afghan Folk (BBC Radio 4); Granny Anne (CBeebies); Brief Lives (Radio 4); The Wild Neighbour and the Willing Cat (BBC World Service); Enemy of the People, Child in Time, The Prospect (BBC Radio 4) and Silver Street (BBC Asian Network).

  Emaleigh Pightling | Stage Manager

  Ema is a Stage Manager based in West Yorkshire. Trained at ALRA South, they have experience in site specific work, large scale commercial and small/mid-scale touring work.

  Their credits include: When We Were Brothers, North Country and Ice Cream: The Opera (Freedom Studios); Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast (UK Productions, Blackpool Grand); Mia and Survival Kit (Mind the Gap); Radical Acts (Commonwealth); Carnival Chronicles (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Nine Lives (Leeds Studio, national and international tour), Hamlet and People on the River (ALRA); Played In … (Mansfield Palace Theatre) and Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Assembled Junk).

  Karen Lauke | Sound Designer

  Karen is a Sound Designer who works across theatre, immersive audio installation and film. Karen is a member of the Association of Sound Designers (ASD) and curated Sound Kitchen for the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians’ Prague Quadrennial 2015.

  Most recently Karen has been working on ‘X’ a feature film by Mark Duggan. Other credits include: Sand House (dir. Olwen May, Cast Theatre); Trial (dir. Martin Gibbons, Monkeywood Theatre); Blackout (dir. Alex Summers, The Duke’s Theatre); Gutted (dir. Tara Robinson, HOME & The Pleasance Edinburgh); Going for Goldeneye (dir. Jim Miskell, Woodhouse Pictures); Cleft Lip (dir. Erik Knudsen, One Day Films); Merlin’s Dragon (Bluestone National Park Installation collaboration with Helen Newall); Port Stories Audio Installation (dir. Alex Summers, The Duke’s Theatre); Whispers of Heaton (dir. Caroline Clegg, Feelgood Theatre Productions Heaton Park); Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster (dir. Sue Roberts, BBC4); War Stories (dir. Benedict Power, 24:7 Festival and Re:play) and Soundwaves and Waterways (Salford City Council, Bridgewater Canal Project 2015–2018).

  Kielidh Whyte | Lighting Associate

  Keilidh is a freelance Lighting Designer, technical stage manager and venue technician based in West Yorkshire. She has spent the past few years working on a vast range of productions and has had the pleasure of working on shows from Mary Poppins to Kasabian. Tours include When We Were Brothers (Freedom Studios); The Time Machine’ (Nunkie Theatre); 21,000 Miles of Rail (Hannah Butterfield) and The Historians (Hot Ice).

  Jaasra Aslam | Assistant Director

  Jaasra Aslam is currently the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme Three Month Placement at Freedom Studios and Assistant Director on Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile. She was part of the Leeds Playhouse Young Company 2018. Most recently she was Assistant Director on Radical Acts (Common Wealth Theatre, dir. Evie Manning) and random by debbie tucker green (Leeds Playhouse, dir. Gbolahan Obisesan).

  FREEDOM STUDIOS

  Freedom Studios is a theatre company based in Bradford. We make new plays in unusual spaces and develop new and diverse artists and audiences across Bradford and beyond.

  The Story of the Company

  Freedom Studios was born from the successful and pioneering Asian Theatre School which started life in 1997 as a partnership between Red Ladder Theatre Company and Theatre in the Mill.

  These organisations recognised the lack of artistic and creative provision for Asian young people in Yorkshire and that movement and opportunities into the arts industry was sorely lacking.

  In 2002, Red Ladder Theatre Company employed Madani Younis (now Creative Director of the South Bank Centre) as the full time Director of Asian Theatre School. During his tenure the company created original work that was critically acclaimed for breaking new artistic ground and reflecting the diversity of its artists. Younis wrote and devised in collaboration with the company a number of productions including:

  Streets of Rage (2002), a response to the Bradford riots.

  Silent Cry (2003/4), a story about a death in police custody that toured nationally.

  Freeworld (2004) developed through an international collaboration with Studio Theatre, Damascus, Syria.

  Torn (2004) a half hour television drama developed in collaboration with the BBC, and scripted by Ray Grewal.

  Caravan (2005), a collaboration with West Yorkshire Playhouse, that explored the everyday lives of those living within our cities and communities.

  In 2007 Freedom Studios was established as a new contemporary theatre company to develop and widen the scope of its creative theatre work. Its debut piece was a national tour of a new work Happy and Married? written and directed by Madani Younis. In 2011 Freedom Studios produced the critically acclaimed The Mill – City of Dreams, a site-specific promenade piece of theatre based on the lives of former mill workers in Bradford. In December 2011 Madani Younis moved on to the Bush Theatre and Deborah Dickinson became Creative Producer. Projects and productions included:

  Bollywood for Dummies (2013).

  Home Sweet Home (2014), toured to the Albany in London and ARC in Stockton.

  Osmosis (2014).

  Brief Encounters at Bradford Interchange (2015), a promenade piece at the train station.

  In 2015 Aisha Khan and Alex Chisholm became the new Co-Artistic Directors of Freedom Studios.

  Our Work

  Today Freedom Studios continues to champion new writers, and take theatre to new audiences, in non-theatre spaces. Our productions have been seen in fish ’n’ chip shops with #ChipShoptheMusical by Emma Hill, a disused M&S on Darley Street with North Country by Tajinder Singh Hayer, and performed from two ice cream vans with Ice Cream: The Opera, part of Bradford Festival 2017. Most recently we produced the acclaimed When We Were Brothers by Ben Tagoe, at The Underground, Bradford, and on tour around Yorkshire in conjunction with Red Ladder North Social Touring circuit. We are delighted to extend our long relationship with Red Ladder with the tour of Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile.

  We work to develop and promote new theatre talent that reflects and celebrates the rich diversity of our region. This includes Street Voices programme for playwriting, Introduction to Playwriting, and Introduction to Directing courses.

  Freedom Studios Youth Theatre meets on Saturday mornings in term-time offering supportive and creative sessions where you
ng people can come together, make friends and acquire all the necessary skills to make great theatre. We also have an annual week’s Summer School for young people with a passion for performing and making drama for stage or screen.

  We are a charity and rely of the generosity of funders, donors and sponsors to do the work we do. For more information on any of the above, or to donate, please visit us at www.freedomstudios.co.uk or give us a call on 01274 730077.

  Our Mission

  To nurture new and experienced artists in Bradford with a view to bringing together audiences and communities by creating new work and other opportunities for them to engage with the arts.

  Our Vision

  Bradford: A city where theatre and culture is enjoyed by one and all, with innovative arts activities for all communities that create, enrich and sustain a vibrant and harmonious society.

  Co-Artistic Directors Alex Chisholm and Aisha Khan

  General Manager Steve McCabe

  Youth Theatre Director Natalie Rose Quatermass

  Website and Social Media Officer Chris O’Connor

  Marketing Associate Joanna Jowett

  Trainee Artistic Director Kash Arshad as part of the Trainee Artistic Director Residency through the Artistic Director Residency Programme (ADLP)

  Board of Trustees:

  Anj Handa – Chair

  Mez Galaria – Trustee

  Kamran Rashid – Trustee

  Rodolfo Baradas – Trustee

  Freedom Studios is a registered charity, no 1121488

  Twitter: @Freedom_studios. Facebook: FreedomStudios. Instagram: freedom_studios

  Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile

  Act One

  20th December 1990. The Beacon Pub. Cheap Christmas lights flash distractingly under garish tinsel and Freedom! ’90 by George Michael plays from the battered, bog-standard wood-cabinet jukebox.