Tackroom Theatre Announces World Premiere of WHY IS THE SKY BLUE? (OR HOW TO MAKE SLIME)

tackroom theatre today announces the world première production, Why is the Sky Blue? (Or How to Make Slime), devised by the company around a collection of interviews with children from around the UK, it opens in The Little at Southwark Playhouse on 1 May, with previews from 26 April and runs until 19 May.

An extraordinary new show exploring love, connection and the impact of pornography on children.

Searching, fearless, intimate, and with a frank honesty only the young can bring, Why is the Sky Blue? is drawn from interviews with thousands of children across the UK. The young company perform verbatim songs - from the profound to the very silly - and share the experiences today's younger generation face in their own words.

With a live score the show will be different every night.

Everyday in the UK, hundreds of children come into contact with pornography via the internet, with children as young as 5 years being exposed to content whilst browsing. Why is the Sky Blue? is a vital and urgent multi-tiered project that involved meeting over 10,000 children and young people aged between 5 and 22 across the UK to hear their ideas about pornography, love and connection.

Working with hundreds of theatres and schools across the UK and with Barnardo's this is the largest piece of research ever done on this subject. In addition to creating a production tackroom theatre will launch a digital platform to display their research, as well as a nationwide education project for parents, teachers and children in collaboration with Barnardo's to change the national conversation.

The company have also launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the production - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1483928292/why-is-the-sky-blue-or-how-to-make-slime?ref=creator_nav, which has already garnered support from Emma Thompson, Gemma Arterton, Sue Perkins, Dawn French, Harriet Walter, Louise Brealey, Lucy Porter, Lindsay Duncan, Hattie Morahan and Pippa Nixon.

Emma Thompson said today, "I am so excited about this project. It is brilliantly vitally timely. Who isn't worried about the effects of such easily accessed porn on this generation of kids? Attaching it to discussions about love and connection is a masterstroke. I urge everyone to get behind it. It will help with so many mental health issues, and could actually save lives. Bravo."

Hattie Morahan commented, "Now, more than ever, does the conversation about porn and it's effect on a whole generation need to be had. That tackroom theatre are tackling it with such rigour, on such a grand scale, and with the grace and imagination to transform their findings not only into a thrilling piece of theatre, but into a nationwide education project that could make a real difference to people's lives, is a cause of great celebration! Please get behind it and support all you can."

Louise Brealey added, "We desperately need to engage with the damage that online pornography is doing to our children - to how they feel about their bodies and themselves. We are sowing the wind by letting our young people learn about sex, about intimacy, about love, about consent, from porn. I know that this project will help every young person it touches."

Abbey Wright is a theatre-maker and director. She is Artistic Director of tackroom theatre. Previously she was Associate Director at Nuffield Southampton Theatres and New Vic Theatre 2016-2017. Her theatre credits include The Cocktail Party (The Print Rooms), The Mentalists (Wyndham's Theatre), The Father (Trafalgar Studios), Mrs. Lowry and Son (Trafalgar Studios), Dublin Carol (Donmar Trafalgar), Diana of Dobson's, Talent, The Mountaintop, Ghosts (New Vic Theatre) and The Grapes of Wrath (UK tour). Her upcoming work includes The Outsider in a new version by Ben Okri at the Coronet.

Shireen Mula is a theatre-maker and making Why is the Sky Blue? alongside Abbey Wright and the company. She is also a writer and her writing credits include The Rise & Fall (Somerset House), Soon Until Forever (Theatre503), Nameless (Arnolfini) and Same Same (Ovalhouse and international tour) which was also shortlisted for the Royal National Theatre Foundation Playwriting Award. She was previously an Associate Artist at Ovalhouse and is currently an Associate Artist of fanSHEN with whom she created Lists for The End of the World (Summerhall) and Disaster Party (UK tour). She is also on residency with the New Musical Development Collective at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Matt Regan is a musician and theatre-maker. As a Music Director his credits include The Grapes of Wrath (Nuffield Southampton Theatres), Spectretown (Edinburgh Fringe Festival/UK tour). Other credits include Theology (The Arches) - for which he was nominated Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland - Within the Shadows (The Beacon Arts Centre) and under the alias Little King, Greater Belfast (Edinburgh Fringe Festival/Tron Theatre). Most recently Matt has been selected by National Theatre of Scotland for support through the NTS Starter for 10 programme, and contributed music to a Mark Cousins' feature documentary.

Please note the production is rated: PG.

The production's partner theatres and organisations include: National Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, National Theatre Wales, Almeida Theatre, Dundee Rep, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Derby Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Chichester Festival Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Brit School, Mosaic, Gendered Intelligence, Nuffield Southampton Theatre, Royal & Derngate Northampton, Newcastle Live, Hull Truck Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, the Duke's Lancashire and many more across the UK.

www.whyistheskyblue.co.uk

tackroom theatre was formed in 2013 by Abbey Wright to create new work which speaks to the moment. Their first production, Mrs. Lowry and Son, opened at Trafalgar Studios and received critical acclaim. Tackroom presented a double bill of two new Australian plays, Raimondo Cortese's Holiday and Lally Katz's The Eisteddfod at The Bussey Building as part of the city-wide Australia and New Zealand Drama Festival in 2014 and The Glass Supper at Hampstead Theatre.

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