Charlotte Jones Shares Her Experiences of Working in Poland With T21

Last November, MTG  travelled to Poland to begin a collaboration with Teatr 21 (T21), funded by the British Council as part of their UK / Poland season 2025. Inspired by Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights and Kate Bush’s iconic music video, Wuthering Heights: Cathy’s Modern Manifesto explores female identity from a learning-disabled perspective. This will culminate in a powerful short film premiering in September 2025.

In this blog, MTG artist Charlotte Jones shares her experiences of working in Poland and collaborating with T21 for the first time.

• What was it like travelling to Poland and getting to work on this project?

I really enjoyed visiting Warsaw. It was the first time going international with Mind the Gap! I found it interesting because I’ve never experienced something like it before and would love to go again. Learning a new language was different and we got to try a lot of their food. Their soups are really nice and their McDonalds is better than ours!

It was a wonderful experience to collaborate with T21 and to get the chance to work with their dancers and experience their practice. T21 performers are really comfortable in their own skin, and the way they move is very agile. It was lovely to work together and learn from them the different ways to move in the space. The final result is going to be exciting!

• How did you find the creative process?

There were similarities in T21’s process to MTG. They were very quick at picking up our warmup games! I like to see different sides and ways to be creative, so getting to work with other actors you haven’t met before was a great learning experience.

• What was your favourite moment?

My favourite moment of the process was on the filming day when we went to a different studio. I loved working in a new environment and exploring different ways to move in a new space. It was a challenge to find different ways to move and feel confident, especially when the camera is really up in your face! Trying not to look into the camera could be tricky, but this whole experience was really cool.

• Did you find anything challenging?

It could be a bit difficult to understand instructions due to the language barrier and the different ways they communicate. It took a little longer for you to adjust and understand the creative vision. This did get easier as the week went on, and google translate was a big help!

• What’s next for the project?

Next, T21 will come over in spring to film the second half. I am looking forward to them coming to Bradford, but I am a little nervous about it being cold when we film on the moors. I also hope we don’t fall on the hills! We will need lots of stamina.

When we share the film, I really hope it will make an impact on the people who watch it to be open and honest about who they are. Everybody’s stories are different, but they all have equal value to be told.