In Development: OUR Public House
A state-of-the-nation theatre production
SYNOPSIS
Our Public House will be a 'state of the nation' theatre production exploring England today, reflecting who we are and how we talk about ourselves.
Director Josephine Burton and writer Barney Norris are currently developing the script, inspired by speech-making workshops we’ve led across the country.
Images by Ikin Yum from our script development workshop at National Theatre Studio in January 2024
BACKGROUND
Speech! Speech! Workshops
The research and inspiration behind Our Public House began with our Speech! Speech! workshops in 2023.
With our partners, Birmingham University and the University of East Anglia, we worked with diverse communities across England - including schools, women’s prisons, women’s and men’s social groups, political activists and deaf communities.
In our workshops, we learned how to create an impactful speech when exploring the question of what our participants felt passionate about and where they wanted to see change in the nation. With this, our participants explored and learned the power of words - their ability to provoke, persuade and empower.
The speeches were brilliantly diverse, ranging from the desire for Mushroom Burials to become more popular, an argument for education learning styles to adapt to individual students, increasing universal credit, easy access to music lessons to employer recognition of menopause.
Workshop Partners Included:
Arbouthorne Men’s Social Group, Sheffield Theatres, Manchester Deaf Centre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Banbury and Bicestre College, Citizens UK, Brighton and Hove Chapter, Her Majesty’s Prison Styal, Manchester, Novus, St. Hilda’s East Community Centre in Tower Hamlets, Writers Block in Redruth, Cornwall, Underground Lights in Coventry and The Common Lot in Norwich.
Speak Out! Events
At a series of live events in Manchester and London, we brought together our workshop participants alongside activists, academics, politicians to present and explore speech-making's ability to provoke, persuade and empower.
“You leave feeling a connection to the community and empowered by the knowledge that speech can truly be one of the greatest tools society can unlock.” - A Young(ish) Perspective
Events included cultural historian Edith Hall, former speechwriter to David Cameron, Jessica Cunniffe, academic Henriette van der Blom, artist and stand-up comedian Rinkoo Barpaga, youth worker and community activist Zara Manoehoetoe, poet and activist Shareefa Energy, speechwriter to some of the UK’s most senior CEOs Alice Elliot and journalist and academic Alan Finalyson.
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, individual giving and with support from HOME Manchester.
Podcast
Discover the complex process of translating our research into a tangible production by tuning into our podcast series ‘Our Public House’. Immerse yourself not only in insightful discussions but also in captivating snippets from the compelling speeches delivered by our participants.
Available on all streaming platforms.
BLOG
Catch-up on our progress by delving into our blog, where you can trace our remarkable journey from securing initial funding in 2022 to our current achievements.
FunDERS
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Arts Council England
Three Monkies
The Generate Programme, National Theatre
Individual Giving