SORRY, I DISAPPEARED Presented As Part of 'Walk This Play' Series and Commissioned By Derby Theatre

Manchester theatre company ThickSkin will premiere a special Derby edition of their location-based audio play series Walk This Play in partnership with Derby Theatre.

The new audio play follows the story of Elle who has disappeared, again. Her brother, Kay, has traced her to Derby. He discovers the hidden messages she's left him around the city, like an Easter egg hunt or trail of breadcrumbs. Elle's been pretty creative with the truth, so grab your headphones and listen in to her unique take on the world around you.

Unique to each location, Walk This Play stories are designed for listeners as they walk. The immersive plays blend narration and original music with the physical sights, sounds and landscape around you transporting you inside the story.

Inviting you to experience a familiar route from a new perspective, ThickSkin and the partner companies have reached out to local communities and writers to create their Walk This Play stories. The audio experiences have been created by a different creative team from each local area, placing new voices front and centre.

Sorry, I Disappeared is inspired by conversations with refugees, including Derby resident and aspiring actor Gabib Gadzhialiev who has voiced the introduction and credits for the play. The Derby walk starts on the corner of St. Peter's Street and London Road, outside Derbion Shopping Centre.

The series launched in March in Manchester and features promenade walking plays including Monuments narrated by Broadchurch star Julie Hesmondhalgh (Ancoats) and Eavesdropping writtten by Hannah Lavery (National Theatre of Scotland's Lament for Sheku Bayoh) which premiered in Edinburgh at the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

As a company, ThickSkin are dedicated to developing and showcasing new-talent, while reaching audiences who don't normally attend theatre. ThickSkin are the innovators behind the pioneering Virtual Reality production Petrichor which was created to connect with young audiences during the pandemic and the hit 2019 Edinburgh Fringe production, How Not To Drown about a young asylum seeker in the UK.

Laura Mallows, co-founder and Executive Director of ThickSkin, said: "Walk This Play is really gaining momentum as more partners across the UK join us to create unique immersive stories about their local area. We wanted to create an experience that audiences can access outside of theatre buildings and that explores familiar places from a new perspective. It's been great to receive warm feedback from audiences around the country and we hope that Derby residents will enjoy this instalment which is inspired by the stories of the refugees we've met who are new to Derby."

All previous editions are available to download from the Walk This Play app: Manchester (Keep Going Then Vanish), Ancoats (Monuments narrated by Julie Hesmondhalgh), Huddersfield (Your Time is Now) and Edinburgh (Eavesdropping). For more information see www.thickskintheatre.co.uk

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