Beats North
Is this a man’s world? Would it be nothing without a woman, or a girl…Or a power ballad?
Beats North explores the soundtrack to growing up through the eyes (and ears) of two northern lads who are still trying to figure it out.
About the production
Curious Monkey worked with Company TSU on Beats North, a double bill of new one man plays by Luke Barnes and Ishy Din, and featured Mariam Rezaei, directed by Amy Golding. Presented by a diverse team of emerging artists and originally developed with young men in Teesside, the piece engaged theatre and music audiences from different generations.
The plays look at the way that we interact with music and how music is a soundtrack to our lives. The piece was explored through the eyes of two young northern men whose individual stories were seamlessly interwoven live on stage by Award winning scratch DJ Mariam Rezaei.
In 2013, with support from Arc Stockton Arts Centre, we ran a series of development workshops to explore the relationship between text and performer, audience and music. This was followed by artists residency at Cove Park to work on script development in August, funded by Fuel. Through the Title Pending Award, development of the plays took place with support from Northern Stage.
The piece premiered at the Paines Plough Roundabout, Summerhall, as part of the Northern Stage Edinburgh programme in 2014.
Beats North toured in 2015.
“Lyn Gardner’s Hot Tickets for Edinburgh Fringe 2014.”
— The Guardian
“Use of music is groundbreaking and fascinating.”
— The Scotsman
Credits
Company TSU in association with Curious Monkey.
Cast: Tom Booth, Afnan Prince, Assad Zaman
Writers: Luke Barnes and Ishy Din
Director: Amy Golding
Musical Director and Performer: Mariam Rezaei
Producer: Jen Dewar
Lighting Designer and Stage Manager: Simon Cole
Set Design: Holly Seager
Dramaturg: Rosie Kellagher