'We're the kind of place where people's stories don't normally get shared Because we're just 'ordinary folk' from Tameside, just out 'little' borough over there."
Inspired by interviews carried out with members of the Tameside community, ‘No Such Thing As Ordinary’ is a snapshot into the stories and lives of people in Tameside. In a collage of first-hand accounts, we follow 6 characters as they explore their relationship with the borough’s history, community and their own memories of the place they call home and ask us to consider if there is such thing as ordinary?
Tameside Creative Community (CIC) is made up of local Tameside residents brought together as Ambassadors for the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Local Exchange programme. They worked with the Royal Exchange Theatre to bring the Den to Stalybridge in August 2019, creating a programme of activity for a two-week pop-up festival. They are now working together as company, aiming to contnue giving a platform for local voices and celebrating Tameside.
No Such Thing As Ordinary was performed at Guide Bridge Theatre on October 1st 2021 as a live read through, with a mix of professional and none-professional actors, including Royal Exchange Theatre Tameside Ambassadors, Young and Elders Company graduates.
Cast: Joe Emmerson, Lorraine Reynolds, Mitesh Soni, Deborah Leech, Jane Jackson and George Leitheiser.
Written and Directed by Rachel McMurray
Photos by Joel Fildes
