Staging work in rural community spaces lets artists forge a deeper connection with audiences and the issues that are important to them The van arrived at the village corridor at 2.30pm sharp,alert for the two actors and the stage manager to start arranging the lights and sound before the evening performance. But the corridor had been double-booked, and the bridge club were inside, and refusing to budge. [br]This happened final week on our production of This Land,a new play about fracking and energy that tours the country over the next few months. It’s a classic example of the unexpected trials and delights you find when making theatre for community spaces rather than theatres. The space isn’t automatically ours just because we’re the “artists”. Its a shared space – theirs, ours, and everyone’s. Its a space people rightly feel connected to and proprietorial over because they know it so well. It’s where they depart for birthday parties,pilates, music nights, or parish meetings or,indeed, bridge club. It’s a space packed with recollections of great nights out, or a community memory bank. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com