Northern Rascals' show Sunny Side heads to Wolverhampton

The Yorkshire-based company will seamlessly combine theatre, contemporary dance and spoken word to explore the modern young male experience and the struggles many men face from adolescent to adulthood. The show will be at Arena Theatre Wolverhampton on Saturday, May 24.

Touring in partnership with Andy’s Man Club, a men’s suicide prevention charity, this deeply moving show will raise awareness of the often-overlooked mental health crisis affecting young people across the UK.

Sunny Side centres around K as he navigates the tumultuous adolescent journey whilst combatting his personal and social development after the world has been on pause. Set in an unspecified Northern English town, K is increasingly losing his sense of identity and lacks emotional support in the once familiar world around him. In this ever-changing and uncertain environment, K travels through the past, present and future to reconnect.

Four years in the making, this powerful show delves into the very real mental health epidemic in the UK. Sunny Side was developed using the real-life experiences of over 1,420 young people aged 14 – 30-years-old across the UK. This testimony has been collected by Northern Rascals to lead into an authentic and informative production where audiences can resonate with unspoken narratives in society and highlights the company’s commitment to showcasing raw honesty and creating socially impactful work. 

The show tackles sensitive issues surrounding mental health using multiple disciplines to form an accurate portrayal of the modern youth experience. Sunny Side opens conversations around these prevalent problems and encourages people to raise awareness and reach out for support.

Co-Artistic Director Anna Holmes comments: "Sunny Side is a response to our personal, and the collective experiences of local young people who have grown up in the Calder Valley and in similar areas across the North. 

"Over a period of four years, we’ve worked with over 1420 young people to question what home means and how our fostering environment impacts the path that we can take and the future that seems available to us. What became apparent across our research is that our young people are anxious, trapped and overwhelmed by an ever-changing world where our future seems difficult to place. 

!Sunny Side is a response to that. The show prompts conversation on vital topics, questioning why is there a mental health epidemic in young people? Why is suicide the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, particularly of young men? Why does that seem even more apparent in a small Yorkshire town that is celebrated for its liberal and progressive environment? How can we fix it? Sunny Side may not provide the answer, but it provokes conversation and provides a vital, urgent insight into the internal world of our young people."