Unfolding Theatre announces new co-production with Northern Stage

Unfolding Theatre is pleased to announce Free School Meals, a new co-production with Northern Stage.

What if we let the kids cook up a storm? During the pandemic someone gave kids a food parcel with 10 cheese slices, a Frube and half a carrot. The kids are pretty outraged. They think people deserve better than that. So they’re taking over and turning the tables, dishing up delicious bites, brilliant beats and tastes of a better future. The Canteen is a restaurant run by children. They’re serving up super fresh ingredients and a healthy portion of home truths. Will you book a table and digest what they have to say?

Free School Meals is brand-new show about hunger, inequality and power that features a talented cast of 15 children from Newcastle. The co-production will be presented as part of Northern Stage’s new season between Wednesday 25th and Saturday 28th August 2021.

Director Annie Rigby explains: “We’re so proud to be co-producing the show that will welcome audiences back to Northern Stage. Bringing people together is what Unfolding Theatre is all about. It's especially exciting to be reopening the theatre with a show made with children. Free School Meals puts children in charge. Audiences will be welcomed into a restaurant run by children - taking them on a journey that reflects on power, inequality and hope for change.”

 Performing alongside the cast of children will be rapper Kay Greyson, who has also composed an original soundtrack for Free School Meals, and pot washer Alex Elliott.  The creative team also includes writer Luca Rutherford, designer Simon Henderson, sound design from Garry Lydon and choreography by Patrick Ziza.

Led by Artistic Director Annie Rigby, Unfolding Theatre seeks to bring surprising combinations of people together to better represent England’s diversity on our stages. Over the last decade, the company has built a reputation for working with all sorts of people from different walks of life to make theatre with a wild sense of humour and strength of character. Recent work includes Hold on Let Go, a poignant show about memory described by the Scotsman as “Infectious energy and good humour…A show to remember”. Hold on Let Go will tour across England in Spring 2022.

Tickets are £18 / £10 concessions and go on sale on 1st July (pre-sale available to Northern Stage members from 24th June).