NINE "ordinary" people with no acting experience will have a voice when they perform a play about democracy at Bradford City Hall.

Theatre company Common Wealth and West Yorkshire Playhouse have joined forces to bring together the group for The Deal Versus the People.

The play has been put together in four weeks and written by the actors, who include single mums, an unemployed graduate, a woman blighted by benefits sanctions, and people who have worked zero-hour contracts.

At its heart are austerity measures and their effects, and a push to bring into the open the "closed door trade negotiations between the EU and the US" - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

A spokesman said the play will ask how much power people have, how much has been given away, and how it can be taken back - and it will be performed in the Council Chamber at City Hall next Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

There are four main stars and five people providing support with the group being described as passionate, charismatic, angry, unheard and above all hopeful.

Two banners relating to the play have been put up outside the main entrance to City Hall, and a website has been set up at http://notstupid.co.uk. Common Wealth has a website at commonwealththeatre.co.uk and a Twitter account @Common_WealthHQ.

Evie Manning, co-director of Common Wealth alongside Rhiannon White, said: "TTIP is one of those things that you usually find out about after it's happened, when it's too late to do anything. So we find it quite exciting that we know now.

"We're interested in thinking about what you can achieve if you bring 100 people together in a room. Through working extensively in the communities in Bradford most hit by austerity, we've become really aware of how people are feeling – that they're angry, they're not stupid and they know what's going on.

"More and more people are saying let's take a stand, so that's what we intend to do. The Deal Versus the People is a play about civil disobedience, about not just putting up with what the powerful tell us we should put up with, and seeing what we can do through theatre to express our anger, action and solidarity."

Rhiannon said: "It is by nine local people who have never performed before and we have been rehearsing for four weeks.

"We went out into the community to cast the show. We wanted to feature people who did not feel represented in politics.

"It is about people power - how can we reclaim our voice. Some of our cast have experienced real hard times because of austerity measures.

"It is about saying we are pretty strong if we stand together. It is ordinary people speaking about stuff that affects them directly."

On the stars of the play, Rhiannon said: "Honest to God, they are incredible. There is a certain quality with working with ordinary people - they don't put any layers on, they are just themselves. It is incredible to work with such generous people from the community."

Gilly Roche, of West Yorkshire Playhouse, said: “West Yorkshire Playhouse is committed to creating vital theatre that makes us think differently about the world we live in. To us, Common Wealth are a perfect representation of this ethos – they tackle big political stories with fierce, tenacious theatricality and dynamism.

"Moreover, they strive to ensure that their work is accessible to communities that would not normally engage with the theatre, ensuring that the political impact of their work is felt across as diverse a cross-section of society as possible.

"We are delighted to be co-producing The Deal Versus The People and can’t wait for audiences to join us at Bradford City Hall.”

Common Wealth is an award-winning, Bradford-based theatre company with previous work including No Gut, No Heart, No Glory (Scotsman Fringe First Award 2014).

The company has made site-specific theatre in places such as medical operating theatres, courtrooms, disused houses and boxing gyms.

The 60-minute play - which is suitable for those aged 12 and up - will be performed at 7.30pm each day, with a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Tickets - priced £10, £5 concessions, or £1 for unwaged or disabled people - are available from wyp.org.uk or 0113 213 7700.