'Tea & Tonic Productions' is an exciting, new theatre and dramatic productions company co-founded by Emily Parker-Barratt and Keri Bastiman. Having trained together at Drama School in London, both actresses went on to separately pursue careers in professional acting for stage and screen, drama and musical theatre teaching, theatre directing and writing. Emily and Keri are excited to now be collaborating their talents in the launch of their new production company, 'Tea & Tonic Productions'. The company will be making its debut performance at the 2017 Greater Manchester Fringe Festival (The King’s Arms, 7 & 8 July, 9PM) followed by the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival (The Vault, 5- 12 August, 7:10PM) with their play, 'Ballot Box', written by Emily Parker-Barratt.

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Our productions are all self-written; focusing on hard hitting social and political issues. The company's ethos was provoked by international relations and global politics in 2016- which we felt demonstrated a lack of tolerance, a focus on differences rather than similarities and a building of walls rather than bridges. For us, it felt as though the theatre was the ideal platform to discuss, reflect and resolve the hostility and hurt that 2016 had brought upon many of us. We are not miracle makers, we cannot prompt world peace but we can remind people of the things that bind us together and  the things that make us human. What is the most effective way to heal when people cannot see eye to eye? Laughter. Therefore, 'Ballot Box' attempts, through comedy, to see beyond our frustrations, cynicism and differences and instead find the laughter, hope and similarities between us all. At Tea & Tonic Productions', our mission is that each show we produce will be like a comforting cup of tea or medicinal tonic that the audience needs in order to leave the theatre seeing a lighter, funnier, more hopeful side to life. Our target audience is as open as we can possibly make it; being that our aim is to try and bind people together through laughter and reflection. Our current show, 'Ballot Box', has an age restriction of 16+ due to strong language and adult content but is intended for older teenagers and adults young and old; from every background possible.

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