Who are we as people? Are we a single person, or multiple people vying for dominance while being trapped in one body? These are the questions that the play The Hundred We Are will ask its audiences.

At the helm is 34-year-old director Jamie Harper who takes the play, originally written by Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri, and explores the separate fragments that make a person who they are.

“It’s about three women, who turn out to be the same person, who take the decision to go back and make their lives perfect, but all of them have different ideas about what ‘perfect’ is,” says Jamie.

“And as the play progresses the fragmented view of themselves prevents them from interacting with the rest of the world because they are so obsessed with themselves.

“People are in such a fragmented state, where multiple versions of ourselves are fighting inside us until you can find a sense of cohesion.”

“I was attracted to the play’s playful nature and its fast moving, storytelling, form. I wanted to catch the playfulness and find a balance between celebrating the play and the characters, while also giving emotional impact.”

Although, as Jamie points out, it would be misleading to mistake the central themes have a particular focus on women, the roles that are played are genderless, reflected in the characters’ names just by numbers – One, Two and Three.

“The roles can be played by men or women; there is no specificity in the script,” Jamie says. “Jonas is interested in how we use the word ‘we,’ what does it really mean?

“In reality we are all scattered and fragmented. How can we find a deeper unity with others when we are so fragmented ourselves?”

It is this fragmented and re-forging of identity that drew the Northern Irish director and his theatre company, HOBO, to performing The Hundred We Are at The Yard.

“The Yard is a beautiful theatre space and how it came into being is an inspiring one. It has so much character as a reconstructed place, with the woodwork, bricks and metalwork all exposed as opposed to being in theatres where they paint everything black and it all looks neutral.”

In the past the theatre company has performed in tapas restaurants, out on the street, in bakeries and more as long as the place supports the framework of a play.

“We look to do work in places that have real character. I don’t know why anyone would want to put on a play in a space that has no character.

“There is so much more that you can get out of a space that has its own character and complements the play.”

  • The Hundred We Are is at The Yard, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN until Saturday, November 8, various times. Details: 07548 156266, theyardtheatre.co.uk