Yorkshire-based dance‑theatre company Northern Rascals will bring Sunny Side back to stages across the North of England following its 2025 tour. The company remains committed to highlighting the UK’s male mental health crisis through a distinctive blend of contemporary dance, theatre and spoken word.
Developed using the experiences and input of over 1,500 young people, the production continues Northern Rascals’ partnership with men’s suicide prevention charity ANDYSMANCLUB. This final tour will reach audiences in Stockton, Bradford, Rotherham, Scarborough and Leeds.
A powerful visual metaphor, Sunny Side follows K, an 18‑year‑old struggling with a lack of opportunity, isolation and an unhappy home life in a small Yorkshire village. As his friends leave for university, K attempts to navigate his own sense of identity by journeying through past, present and future moments, revealing the emotional weight carried by many young men.
The show explores how expectations of masculinity can distort emotional development, offering poignant social commentary on the lack of safe spaces for vulnerability. Under acting coach Geoffrey Colman, the cast delivers the story with striking emotional honesty. Set designer Caitlin Mawhinney’s environment mirrors K’s internal landscape, capturing the lingering memories that shape adult life.
Co-Artistic Directors Anna Holmes and Sam Ford said: ‘The world has shifted again and again and again in the 6 months since we left Sunny Side, but one thing that still remains, perhaps even more than before, is our need for compassion and connection. Sunny Side has always provided that space, a place where the very private stories of our internal world can be placed on a platform, held and bear witness too. A moment to see beyond the person that we show to the world and through to the root of who we really are. The show will always hold a special place in our hearts here at Northern Rascals, it’s a story born from our hometown, from the valleys, the grit, the North. And we can’t think of a better ending for the show than to take it back out on the road, to Northern audiences in Northern venues, for one last time.’
The cast for this tour includes Sophie Thomas and Ed Mitchell. The creative team features Co-Artistic Directors Anna Holmes and Sam Ford, Acting Coach and Dramaturg Geoffrey Colman, Set Designer Caitlin Mawhinney, Rehearsal Director Grace Ford, Lighting Designer Barnaby Booth, Digital Designer Aaron Howell, Production Manager Adam Goode and Composer Wilfred Kimber.
Sunny Side runs for 85 minutes and is recommended for ages 13+, exploring sensitive themes relating to mental health, loneliness and societal pressures on young people.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
