Following international acclaim and an award-winning run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, this powerful and uplifting one-woman show about a young mother from Scarborough returns to embark on an extensive UK tour.

 

Winner of the Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award 2018, Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre Weekly Award 2019 and named The Sunday Mail’s Best Female Solo Show (Adelaide), Build a Rocket will see critically-acclaimed Serena Manteghi reprise her role as Yasmin. Hard-hitting yet inspiring, this funny and heart-warming production, written by Scarborough-born Christopher York, challenges our perceptions about young motherhood.

 

Yasmin is a bright 16-year-old from a small seaside town. In an instant, her world is turned upside down when she becomes pregnant with her son, Jack. Suddenly her life isn't sandcastles, arcades, and donkey rides. Abandoned by both the father of her child and her alcoholic mother, Yasmin faces one of life's great challenges completely alone - but can the thing which threatens to ruin her life actually be the thing which saves her?

 

Writer Christopher York comments, Teenage pregnancy is so demonised and we’re quick to blameteenagers. There was a girl I was at school with who had a child at 15. I was astounded at her resilience and that she went on to pass her GCSEs, go to college and university, get married and raise a wonderful human being. She is a phenomenal person. We are still conservative about these topics. If we were more open and Scandinavian about how we tackled sex and sexual health, especially with young people, we may not have the statistics we do.

 

Director Paul Robinson said, I’m delighted that Build a Rocket will be going on a national tour in co- production with Tara Finney Productions. It’s a key strategic priority for the SJT to be touring bold, resonant and relevant contemporary work as well as to further champion local emerging artist Christopher York on a national platform. The tour will allow us to reach a broader spectrum of audiences geographically as well as engage directly with local schools which is a wonderful prospect.

 

In addition to touring to theatres and arts centres across the UK, Build a Rocket will be performed at six schools in North Yorkshire generously supported by the Noel Coward Foundation.

 

"a breathless, swaggering hour of female endurance and defiance"

★★★★ The Telegraph
"a powerful one-woman show and a tour de force from Serena Manteghi whose performance blazes off the stage"

★★★★ Yorkshire Post

 

Tour Dates

13th– 14thSeptember              Stephen Joseph Theatre          

                                                Westborough, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1JW
                                                https://www.sjt.uk.com/

 

16th– 17thSeptember              Oxford Playhouse

                                                Beaumont St, Oxford, OX1 2LW
                                                https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/

 

18thSeptember                        Square Chapel Arts Centre

                                                Square Rd, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX1 1QC
                                                https://www.squarechapel.co.uk/

 

19thSeptember                        Interplay Theatre

                                                Armley Ridge Rd, Leeds, LS12 3LE

                                                https://www.interplaytheatre.co.uk/

 

21stSeptember                        York Theatre Royal

                                                St Leonard's Pl, York, YO1 7HD

                                                https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/

 

24thSeptember                        EM Forster Theatre

                                                High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 IJP

                                                https://www.emftheatre.com/

 

25thSeptember                        Oldham Library

                                                Greaves St, Oldham, OL1 1AL

                                                https://www.oldham.gov.uk/libraries

 

26thSeptember                        Pocklington Arts Centre

                                                Market Pl, Pocklington, York YO42 2AR

                                                https://www.pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk/

 

28thSeptember                        Selby Town Hall

                                                York St, Selby, North Yorkshire, YO8 4AJ

                                                http://www.selbytownhall.co.uk/

 

30thSeptember                        Queen’s Hall Arts Centre

                                                Beaumont St, Hexham, NE46 3LZ

                                                https://www.queenshall.co.uk/content/queens-hall-arts-centre

 

2nd– 5thOctober                      Live Theatre

                                                Broad Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DQ

                                                https://www.live.org.uk/

 

7th– 9thOctober                       Theatr Clwyd

                                                Raikes Ln, Mold, CH7 1YA

                                                https://www.theatrclwyd.com/en/

 

10th– 12thOctober                   Streatham Space

                                                Sternhold Ave, Streatham, London, SW2 4PA

                                                https://www.streathamspaceproject.co.uk/

 

15thOctober                            The Quarry Theatre

                                                St Peter’s St, Bedford, MK40 2NN

                                                http://www.quarrytheatre.org.uk/

 

16th– 17thOctober                   Traverse Theatre

                                                Cambridge St, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED

                                                https://www.traverse.co.uk/

 

18th– 19thOctober                   Theatre Deli

                                                Eyre St, Sheffield, S1 4QZ

                                                https://www.theatredeli.co.uk/

 

24thOctober                            Folkestone Quarterhouse

                                                Tontine St, Folkestone CT20 1JT

                                                https://www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/folkestone-quarterhouse/

 

26thOctober                            Hunmanby Arts Centre

                                                Stonegate, Hunmanby, YO14 0NS

                                                https://sites.google.com/site/hunmanbycommunitycentre/