23 Sep – 16 Oct 2025
Venues across Bradford District
Otherhood
Old Bird Theatre
A story of radical love and found family.
A grieving widow and a queer millennial discovered the power of finding family in unexpected places. A poignant and funny new play that explored the heartaches and joys of ageing child-free.
A Bradford 2025 Artist-Led Award project.
About the project
An immersive theatre experience and soundscape mixed with real life stories, created by Old Bird Theatre. Otherhood switched between the here and now and an audio storytelling realm where the audience travelled in time to an imagined fantastical Bradford.
Children or no children, we all matter, and we all leave a meaningful mark.
Otherhood was showing at various venues across Bradford in Autumn 2025.
Performances
- Tuesday 23 September – Beacon at Lister Park 7:30pm
- Friday 26 September – Thornton Community Centre 7:30pm
- Saturday 27 September – Caroline Street Social Club 7:30pm
- Friday 3 October – Keighley Creative 7:30pm
- Saturday 4 October – Mind the Gap 7:30pm
- Thursday 16 October – Bradford Arts Centre 7.30pm
About the artist
Writer Emma Adams and Director Deborah Pakkar-Hull set up Old Bird in January 2025 to create disobedient, playful and relevant work inspired by their home city of Bradford and the people within it, to surprise, delight, inspire and connect.
Deborah is a Bradford-based Director, Theatre Maker and Researcher, specialising in small-scale, collaborative touring work. She was previously the Artistic Director of Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah, The Birmingham Play House and the York Mystery Plays and has recently worked with Libellule Theatre and Victoria Firth and Company.
Emma is a queer, neurodiverse playwright and screenwriter from Bradford. She’s written plays to be performed in houses, libraries, swimming pools and graveyards (and on stages too). Emma has worked with Leeds Playhouse, Opera North, Red Ladder, Slung Low, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre 503, Freedom Studios, Ovalhouse, Paines Plough, Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah, Bradford City of Culture 2025 programme launch, Longboat Pictures, Shiny Button, ITV and CBBC.
Introductory notes
Listen to an audio described introduction to Otherhood below.
Audio Description
Listen to an audio described flyer for Otherhood below – you can read the full transcription here.
Arist-Led Project Awards
This project is supported by the Bradford 2025 Artist-led Project Awards programme.
Find out more about this programme and the projects we’ve supported below.
Writing for wellbeing workshops
Writing for Wellbeing workshops were running alongside the show. You can find out more information here about the workshops.
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