Terror From the Skies by Matthew Bellwood

Join storyteller Matthew Bellwood for a warm, witty and intriguing new show about society, friendship and the things we hold dear about the places where we live.

Combining live storytelling, projected illustrations and intricate miniatures, Terror From The Skies asks important questions about how much those in power know or care about our communities.

It’s a hot summer’s day in the suburbs. Recently arrived in Leeds, Sheila wants a new man, a new job and a new life. Instead, she has found Joanne, a young mother with a passion for local history. The balmy weather has brought them outside, on a research trip to the local graveyard.

Mooching amid the monuments, Jake and Hasan are skipping school. Friends for life, they have played on the same football teams, chased the same girls and dreamed the same dreams. Now that GCSEs are looming, life is starting to look a little less simple. The trees are in leaf and the bluebells in bloom as they share their troubles amongst the headstones, unaware that high above them, a sinister light aircraft is scudding ever closer through the clouds.

This show has been created through months of research and hundreds of conversations with people of all ages from across the North of England.

Terror From The Skies has been awarded Bridging The Gap On Tour 2019, and is supported by Leeds Library Service, Interplay Theatre and Arts Council England.

Image credit: Lizzie Coommb

“Wonderful, magical, moving. I haven’t been so absorbed in a performance for a long time. Beautifully done. So carefully thought out in its simplicity and complexity.” - Audience member on An Icy Man

“A joyously subversive experience disguised as a cosy chat. Stories unfurl within stories, as Matthew and Alison steal the keys to your imagination and run wild through every corner of your mind.” – Audience member on Set in Stone