(GENTLE ELECTRONIC MUSIC)
My role in the project is Director of Public Acts.
Public Acts is a really exciting new programme
at the National Theatre,
all about creating
extraordinary acts of theatre and community.
And at the heart of Public Acts is the idea of partnership,
and of learning from one another,
both as individuals and as organisations.
(CHEERING)
If our mantra is
'This theatre is for everyone,'
it's about everyone
being able to come to the theatre,
but it's also about everyone
being able to participate in theatre.
EMILY: So in this first foundation year,
we've partnered with one theatre - the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch -
and with eight exceptional community organisations
based across the city.
We wanted to connect with and unite a truly diverse group of people
from all corners of life lived.
And those organisations
are Body & Soul, who work with people of all ages
to transform the impact of adverse childhood experiences,
the Bromley by Bow Centre, a flagship community centre
working in East London,
DABD, who enable independent living for individuals and families,
The Faith & Belief Forum, who build lasting relations
between people of all faiths, beliefs and identities,
the Havering Asian Social and Welfare Association,
who work to improve the wellbeing of the Asian and wider community in Havering,
Open Age, who support older Londoners in West London
to live full and healthy lives,
Coram, a national charity supporting vulnerable children and young people,
and Thames Reach, who support men and women affected by homelessness.
So the project began with a series of bespoke workshop programmes
that were all designed in collaboration with our partners.
We're really reaching out
to community groups
we've never ever worked with before.
It's a real game-changer for us as an organisation.
The scale that we're working on, the groups that we're working with.
But also I think quite significantly is the different types of people
coming together through live performance
in a way that probably has never really happened in our organisation before.
NEW SPEAKER: We're like one big family. It's wonderful. It's marvellous.
It's given me a new lease of life
and something to look forward to
every week! (LAUGHS)
EMILY: In the summer,
we invited everybody who'd been part of those workshops
to come and be part of the
our first Public Acts production, here at the National Theatre on the Olivier stage.
(CHEERING)
♪ Haul 'em up and keep them moving Haul 'em up and don’t forget... ♪
EMILY: The company of
of 120 individuals
who'd taken part in our workshops,
six brilliant professional actors,
a professional band, our cameo performance groups,
which made up another 99 individuals
who we felt really represented the diversity
and the breadth of our city's cultural heritage.
They were the Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders,
Faith Works Gospel Choir,
the Bhavan Centre drummers,
the London Bulgarian Choir,
Manifest Nation dance company,
the Archetype dance team
and the Youthsayers ska band.
(CHORAL SINGING)
EMILY: We spent a long time deciding what story
would be most appropriate for this project,
but this voyage of one man's understanding
of what home means and what it is to belong somewhere
and to feel connected to people couldn't have felt more resonant
with all of us and with our company members.
NEW SPEAKER: One of my friends said, 'Why are we only performing for three days?
'Can't we do, like, ten?'
And Robbie was like,
'You're missing the point.'
'These rehearsals are right here,
'right now. This is where it should be.
'This is where everything was happening.'
And I was just like, 'Yeah, for real.'
We're kind of making the cake here, and the performances is the icing on the cake.
♪ Oh, Pericles... ♪
EMILY: Rehearsals were a very powerful communion.
There was a real magic that happened in the room every time
our full company came together.
There was a very joyful moment where our pirates from the company
were introduced for the first time to the brilliant Youthsayers ska band.
At the heart of our project is the idea
that we want to use theatre to connect people who might never have met,
and this was a perfect example of that.
All of us in the room, dancing, singing, acting, creating together,
from opposite sides of the city, and to then communicate that to an audience
and to share that provocation about community.
♪ If only you might hear her speak
♪ Now come hear her speak! ♪
- Say something! - That is most unusual.
NEW SPEAKER: I'm taking away the people that I've met
when we were warming up
and when we were talking
at the margins of lunchtimes and break times.
It's hard. It's so many things, and everything!
It's been great, you know.
It's the best thing I've ever done.
NEW SPEAKER: I've never liked theatre, but with this, it's really proving to me
that there is something inside of me.
There's been so much genuine love
and support.
I know that I'm now going to go on and definitely continue with
being a part of community projects and any form of creativity,
because it just makes life feel more...worthwhile.
My name is Naana, and this is Ayesha,
and we are from the company of
EMILY: We were all on that journey together.
There was an amazing moment where our company first had the opportunity
to perform publicly as a company.
That was as part of the River Stage festival.
A selection of our company members stood on the stage
outside the National Theatre and sang our finale.
And seeing them rise to that occasion was so beautiful,
and Tarek, our musical director, said he'd never heard them sound like that before.
He'd never heard them sing that way.
And they really found their voices, and I think that was
a very important turning point for us as a company.
And the buzz that everybody felt, the alive-ness that everybody felt
when they came off that stage afterwards
was something that really carried us through for the next weeks
and helped us push on to the final performances themselves.
MAN: ♪ You are my beacon beyond the horizon
♪ Give yourself to me... ♪
You gods have made me mad...
WOMAN: Let's hold there, please. Just hold your positions.
EMILY: It was a very special experience
moving from the rehearsal room into the theatre for our tech week.
And we really witnessed the company rise to the occasion.
And all of the work that we'd been doing,
and all of the detail we'd been poring over in the rehearsal room
suddenly making sense,
and the company feeling like they owned that space
and could really tell this story in a way that felt truly epic and deserving.
♪ And I thought I'd lost you
♪ Even though your contours... ♪
EMILY: The best thing about
it's actually the beginning. It's the beginning of our second year.
We're so thrilled that we will be doing another show,
led by Doug Rintoul, the Artistic Director of Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch,
there at the Queen's.
And beyond that, we hope that Public Acts as an idea,
as a movement, as a programme, can roll out nationally.
It should feel different everywhere it goes, but we hope that
that National can have a long-lasting relationship
with the idea of civically engaged theatre
and be a force of connectivity between different theatres
and community organisations and individuals across the country.
And we can't wait to see what happens next.
RUFUS: Part of being a subsidised theatre is to take risks.
And I think Public Acts and the production of
was one of the biggest risks that we've taken,
and it's certainly the one which has paid off the most.
In many ways, I think it's the most important show
that we've had at the National Theatre in the last few years.
(CHEERING)
♪ Oh, Pericles. ♪