Arena Theatre A Little Gem!

The Mayor said "Last night we were at the Arena Theatre as they celebrated their 30 year birthday by putting on a play' Bolt Hole' by Arzhang Pezhman a former pupil of Wolverhampton Grammar School, and an Iranian whose home is in Wolverhampton. It was a brilliant play and was a fitting performance for such an historic occassion."

In a run-down youth club in Birmingham, 16 year old Asif and Nick are good mates, drawn together by a love of pool. As they prepare for the national youth championships the sudden arrival of Somalian brother and sister Asad and Deka, on the run, challenges both their attitudes and their friendship.

As George, the long suffering club leader, tries to keep everyone onside Asif and Nick’s sense of loyalty, identity and right and wrong are pulled in all directions, and the rising wave of community tension builds to a shattering climax as their relationship is put to the test. Is Asif and Nick’s friendship finished, or can something still survive?

The Bolt Hole is a funny, bold and provocative new play that has been developed through work with young people in Birmingham and the Black Country and asks direct and demanding questions about race, friendship, belonging, and challenges audiences to search for their own answers.

An Arena