Riding Lights Roughshod 2013

I've talked on this blog in the past about the Riding Lights Theatre Company, with the national tour of Monsieur de Coubertin’s Magnificient Opymlic Feat! (a show created for London 2012). But today I'd like to talk about their smaller-scale touring operation, known simply as Riding Lights Roughshod.

Roughshod was created out of Riding Lights in 1992 to meet the increasing demand on the company of grass-roots community performing. Put simply, Roughshod take theatre into places where theatre wouldn't normally do - prisons, town centres, army bases and the like. Over the last 20 years their shows have been seen by over 65,000 people - and their new touring company for 2013 has just been announced.

I'm excited about the new company for two reasons. The first is that I love Roughshod's work, having seen them in Amble last year and in various guises at the various summer schools I attended as a teenager. Their performances are kinetic and accessible, the stories they tell are always interesting, and they convey the spirituality of these stories in a way which isn't the least bit preachy or self-righteous.

The second reason is that the company now includes two old friends - namely Emma Bagnall and Hannah Parker. I was lucky enough to act with both of them at the summer schools - Emma and I were in a production of Joshua Sobol's Ghetto in 2004, while I acted with Hannah in a devised piece called The Great Leap Forward in 2006.  Both are immensely talented, and you will get your money's worth when you see them perform.

To find out more about next year's tours, and how you can book Roughshod to come into your community, you can read the original blog post here or visit http://www.ridinglights.org/.

Daniel