Preview: Southside Stories, Tobacco Factory Theatres

Written by playwright and poet Liz Mytton and co-produced by Zion Community Space, Southside Stories (Tobacco Factory Theatres, Feb 6-7) is a South Bristol community production tackles themes of deprivation, diversity and finding light in the darkest of times.

Invisible transport, talking pets and the midnight market where all currency is accepted. Welcome to Southside, a mystical and little-known neighbourhood between Hartcliffe, Withywood and Bishopsworth.

Inspired by the experiences of the local community, BS13 Theatre presents a tale of overcoming adversity, challenging oppression and waiting for buses that never arrive.

Jess Wright, the owner of Zion Community Space, has co-created the show with Liz Mytton. Here’s Jess to tell us more.

Southside Stories came about from the work we have been doing at Zion Community Space to try and challenge hate crime in our community. We have programmed a series of events over the last four years to reflect positively on the diversity of our neighbourhood and this show feels like an accumulation of all those stores and conversations we’ve been having.

‘Southside Stories’ in rehearsal

Liz Mytton has been involved with several projects at Zion, including Bristol’s Big Night Out, produced by Toby Hulse in 2016, and then her own show OCD – Optimistic Creative Deluge in 2017. We had a conversation in the summer about how we might be able to put on a show that was formed and devised by local residents to tell their stories and given them a voice in a powerful and creative process.

Liz has taken the experiences the cast members have had and fed them into a fictitious storyline. There is an important message throughout – but we also want the audience to be entertained!

All the cast members have experienced some kind of hate crime within their lives, from racism to homophobia. These experiences go unnoticed by many but have long-lasting consequences for those affected.

We held workshops at Zion last year, and invited anyone who might be interested in being involved with the project to come along. This enabled Liz and our cast to discuss these situations and experiences which have helped to create the script.

The cast members are South Bristol-based and, in the main, from the BS13 postcode [Bedminster Down, Bishopsworth, Headley Park, Highridge], but their lives reflect the the whole of Bristol. There are many more residents living in communities across the city who will have experienced similar situations, as well as the everyday challenge of living in a city suburb: and we can all recognise ourselves within these stories.

The project has been made possible by the support of Bristol City Council’s Originators Fund, Quartet Community Foundation, Triodos Bank, Clarks Ltd and Tobacco Factory Theatres.

Southside Stories Feb 6-7, Tobacco Factory Theatres. For more info, visit www.zionbristol.co.uk

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