FIGHTING The Tide, a new musical drama by York playwright Kate Bramley, will be staged by BadApple Theatre Company at Oak House, Pocklington Civic Arts Centre tomorrow evening.

As artistic associate at Hull Truck Theatre Company, 25-year-old Kate has worked in Hull for three years and her passion for history has led her to write a biographical play inspired by the torrid tale of Arctic trawlerman Harry Eddom.

Eddom, from Hull, had survived the triple trawler wrecks of 1968, and his story first featured in Rupert Creed's play Northern Trawl, which Kate directed for Hull Truck in 1999.

She says: "The story for Fighting The Tide was brewing for a number of years and I eventually incorporated it into a new 'music-play'. My fictional tale follows two young men in an adventurous journey as they trace their way through the history of the trawling industry."

Her play is set in a world where the waters are rising, and Kate, who lives in St Mary's, York, admits she has been influenced by the city's great floods of November 2000.

"Both climate change and sea pollution are subjects I have thought long and hard about, and both are touched on in Fighting The Tide, as well as more human stories of love and travelling," she says.

The BadApple production introduces ten newly commissioned folk songs by County Durham singer-songwriter Jez Lowe, much to the delight of Kate.

"Jez is an astonishingly good writer and has worked some magic on the songs for the show," she says. "We're attempting something new here and we're excited about it."

Fighting The Tide, BadApple Theatre Company, Oak House, Pocklington Civic Arts Centre, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Box office: 01759 301547.

Updated: 09:12 Friday, February 01, 2002