THERE is something rather apt about staging a post-apocalyptic play in a disused city centre department store.

North Country, the new production from Bradford’s Freedom Studios, opens tonight in the old Marks and Spencer on Darley Street, now the Wild Woods arts centre.

The play is about the survival of three young people in the aftermath of a plague. Nusrat, Harvinder and Jason must each decide what to keep and what to discard from the old world as they build new communities.

Writer Tajinder Singh Hayer says North Country is a “recession play”. “It’s about communities in a time of scarcity; there are parallels with life post-2008 when recession hit. But also there’s a post-apocalyptic feel about Bradford’s post-industrial landscape," he says. "This is a city that never recovered from the decline of the 1970s and 80s. I lived in Bradford the first 30 years of my life; the abandoned husks of factories punctuated the landscape of my childhood - I remember Lister’s Mill with trees sticking out of it.”

Examining the journey from old to new world also has a resonance with Tajinder’s background. “From a second generation British Asian context, that idea of choosing what to keep of your culture resonates,” he says. “The play asks: what do you hold onto when your whole world is changing? If plunged into scarcity. do you work together with those around you, or do you scapegoat people? In some post-apocalyptic dramas, characters often take on a new name and adopt a whole new identity.

"It’s about a journey from an old country to a new country. The characters choose what customs to preserve, re-shape or leave behind. These are choices my grandparent and parents grappled with, and myself and my children will continue to grapple with for years to come.”

In encompassing British Asian stories in a post-apocalyptic setting, Tajinder brings something new to the genre.

“When I first had the inkling for this play, people laughed at the idea of a post-apocalyptic Bradford - it’s generally America or London in this genre. But I thought: ‘Why not?’ As I explored the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror, I discovered a process of change; an awareness of cultural diversity in fields that have had a problematic relationship with it in the past. The book that set the scene for the horror genre was Dracula, which is very much of its time. If you're reading it now, from an Eastern European or female perspective, you may take offence at some of its central themes!

"Sci-fi looks at possible futures; British Asian writing shouldn't be excluded from that vision. A post-apocalyptic story asks: 'What is my place here?' Realism isn’t the only narrative for British Asian stories.”

He adds: “Bringing to theatre sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres traditionally seen through film, video games, TV and books offers the chance to reach potentially vast, socially-networked audiences. In recent years there has been an explosion of theatrical interest in these genres - the big one this year was the Harry Potter play."

Tajinder says North Country feels "very relevant" in a Britain preparing for life post-EU. "The power of the fantasy genre is that it creates different worlds, and there are interesting parallels with the world we live in. Since I started working on this play we've had Brexit and now the situation in America with Trump. North Country feels of this time," he says.

"And we're telling this story in an actual deserted space. The process of telling stories about the place where you're from is a way of uniting a city of strangers. One of the reasons I like City Park in Bradford is that it brings fellow citizens together. That's important in this internet age we live in, which is largely solitary. ”

Tajinder, a former Bradford Grammar School pupil, got his break writing for an Asian soap opera, after spotting an ad in the Telegraph & Argus. He went on to get his first writing commission. He's currently a creative writing lecturer at Lancaster University, and has taught at the University of Bradford. He has been writer on attachment at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, writer in residence BBC Radio Drama Manchester, and was nominated as one of the Royal Court’s 50 promising playwrights. He won the BBC’s Spin new writing award in 2003 with People Like Me, and has written for BBC Radio Four, Radio Three and the Asian Network. He has also written for CBeebies and has had short films shown at festivals worldwide.

Previous Freedom Studios productions have included The Mill - City of Dreams, performed in the deserted Drummond Mills in Bradford, which burned down earlier this year; Home Sweet Home, performed in Bradford's Ukrainian social club; Brief Encounters at Bradford Interchange and

Chip Shop the Musical, at the Inn Plaice in Bradford and the Wetherby Whaler in Guiseley.

Tajinder has worked with the theatre company on developing North Country in workshops. It is directed Freedom Studio’s new co-artistic director, Alex Chisholm. "I've directed my own stuff in film, but this is different," says Tajinder. "I quite enjoy stepping back in theatre and letting the director and actors bring their own take to the play."

* North Country runs until November 5. There are no performances between October 29 and November 1. For tickets visit freedomstudios.co.uk