Victory Street
Victory Street
By Rebecca Manley
Inspired by the novel of Richard MacSween
Directed by Peter Collins
The Lowry, Wed 17 – Sat 27 October 2007
Press Night: Wed 17 October
Interviews are available with Richard MacSween
The Lowry has collaborated with their partner company, the National Youth Theatre, to bring Victory Street to life, the novel by Richard MacSween. An ensemble cast has created a stunning piece of visual theatre to appear at The Lowry from Wed 17 – Sat 27 October. Victory Street is the second play to be performed as part of The Lowry’s exciting Salford season.
Ellie is a teenage girl growing up in a North West town where relationships between white and Asian sections of the community are becoming increasingly strained. Racial hatred is nothing new to the residents of Victory Street. Ellie’s neighbour, Mrs. Pearl, escaped from Vienna to England after the terrors of Kristallnacht and another neighbour was witness to the bloody partition of India. The story draws on the race riots of 2001 in towns such as Burnley and Oldham, telling the tale of a community searching for its identity and struggling to live together.
Richard MacSween, who has spent most of his life living in Colne, Lancashire, graduated from Leeds University in English/Art History in 1978. He has published two novels for teenagers, The Firing, which was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and Victory Street. Richard’s novels are often thought-provoking, though he says ‘Teenagers don’t want to be preached at, I want to raise issues for consideration, rather than tell them what they ought to think’.
Posted on Monday, 15 October 2007 under Press Community & Education Press