Spark23 sat down with our artistic director Parvez Qadir for a long conversation about how Breaking Barriers came to exist – and why it had to be built in Rochdale rather than anywhere else.
Parvez talks about the early pull towards film and theatre as a kid in Rochdale, the auditions that led to roles in The Cops and Coronation Street, and the point where the parts on offer stopped being worth taking. Too many of them, he explains, leaned on tired stereotypes of British Muslim men written by people with no connection to the culture they were depicting.
Stepping back from acting led to teaching, then to making work with communities, and in 2018 to founding Breaking Barriers. Since then the company has worked with more than 15,000 young people and commissioned over 50 freelancers.
The interview also covers something we talk about a lot internally: how much cultural funding lands in Manchester, and what it takes for a satellite town to build its own creative infrastructure rather than waiting to be included in someone else’s.
There’s plenty in there on where we’re heading next, too – Blindside, more outdoor work, and the conversations we’re having internationally.
Read the full interview on Spark23 → https://spark23.co.uk/parvez-qadir/
