Meet The Tees Valley Theatre Maker Telling Important Stories Across the North East and Yorkshire
Umar Butt, an award-winning theatre-maker, writer, director, and performer based in Tees Valley, tells us what he's working on right now and why he remains passionate about telling global stories close to home
‘My background as a first-generation migrant fuels my passion exploring Global human stories, invariably centring on themes of belonging, family, community and displacement,’ he says. ‘I am a physical theatre specialist and a casual lecturer at The Northern School of Art. My work has been widely presented, ranging from community centres, outdoor, studios and mid-scale theatres across national and international platforms.’
Umar is also a consultant for theatre makers throughout the country. ‘I have been lucky and fortunate enough to have been in many creative spaces and had a chance to work with some of the most brilliant, talented and generous theatre makers in the UK and beyond,’ he says. ‘As an actor, my highlight would be a one-person play called Eclipse, by Singaporean writer Haresh Sharma. It’s a play about a young Singaporean son making a journey to his father’s birthplace in Hyderabad. It’s a play about three generations: a father, a grandfather and a son. I found it enthralling playing all the characters within the play including a Japanese wife, and an Indian wife.
‘As a writer, my third play Alex & Eliza was special to me as it was a play about my grandmother and her story about living through the partition between India and Pakistan in 1947 and the legacy that she left. As a director, my play Welcome to the Jungle was quite special as it was the first time I’d directed a show that I wasn’t acting in.’
Umar’s newest play is called Jolt and he is currently researching and developing it. ‘Jolt is about riots and resilience,’ he explains. ‘It’s about the riots that happened in Hartlepool and in Middlesbrough in 2024. I was there at the clean-up with my brush and shovel the day after, in Middlesbrough. I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer diversity of people who gathered at the centre to help clean our streets. So, the idea of Jolt came from the different communities wanting to show and celebrate a collective resilience. I did a research and development at ARC in January which was purely focused on information gathering and trying to create a world of the play and very little dialogue and I deliberately didn’t do a sharing of it as I wanted to give myself time to concentrate on solely researching.’
Meanwhile Umar has been taking part in a writing residency at Theatre in the Mill in Bradford, having worked with the theatre’s AD last year. ‘I played the lead role in Shabina Aslam’s (AD of Theatre in the Mill) play called A Teaspoon of Shampoo in February 2025,’ says Umar. ‘It was a story of a real GP in Bradford. All four performances were sold out. I spoke in three different languages, the script was written in Urdu, Punjabi and English, so it was nice to be able to act in those languages too. I really love Theatre in the Mill’s ethos of making work for local Bradford audiences. Whilst I was working there, I spoke to Shabina about a play I wanted to write, after I finished Teaspoon of Shampoo, [and] Shabina and Theatre in the Mill commissioned me to start the process of writing. It was lovely to be at Theatre in the Mill, focusing solely on ideas, research, writing – being in the zone. I have nearly finished the first draft of the play. The plan is to get funding to put the play on in autumn 2027 – so watch this space!’
Umar is also working on another exciting play for Leeds Playhouse. Planet Omar (playing this April) is a new stage adaptation based on the beloved books by Zanib Mian. ‘I’m currently reading the new draft and it’s making me laugh out loud so hopefully the audiences will love it as much as me,’ Umar says.
‘I’m really lucky that I get to tell stories for a living and there are so many stories that I want to tell, and be part of, and share with a diverse audience and hopefully those stories will inspire both young and old.’
What's your advice for budding creatives in the North?
Work hard and be canny.
Where's your favourite cultural venue in the North?
It must be my local arts centre, ARC.
An item you couldn’t live without?
My 30-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan snooker cue!
