Currently in its early stages of being written, Deep Mounds of Earth has grown out of a five minute story that I first wrote and performed in 2024 for ‘Flames’ (Tricky Hat Productions) at the Cat Strand theatre. The original story (‘Badger Man’) drew parallels between the persecution of badgers and my Jewish ancestors history of fleeing from violence.

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In 2025 I attended a playwrighting residential course (at Ty Newydd in Wales) that gave me the initial inspiration to turn ‘Badger Man’ into a longer more ambitious piece for theatre. I am now seeking SFA funding to help me realise my ambition of producing a fully-fledged script and testing it in a theatre setting.

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Deep Mounds of Earth features three interweaving stories: (i) my own search for a connection to my Jewish heritage (ii) the experiences of my Jewish great grandfather Haim Ofchinski who settled in Manchester after fleeing Eastern European pogroms in the 1890s and (iii) the story of a modern-day badger whose ancestral home is under threat from extremes of weather and development.

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Although deeply personal in tone, Deep Mounds of Earth is also a topical exploration of wider issues including the rise of antisemitism and far right, climate breakdown and habitat loss.