Theatre

Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire and bereaved family members of those killed in the blaze are calling on the BBC and the National Theatre to halt upcoming dramas about the event.

A planned TV drama and a stage play based on survivors’ testimonies have elicited fierce opposition from those affected by the fire on 14 June 2017, which killed 72 people.

The play, Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors, due to open at the National in July, is based on verbatim interviews conducted over the past five years by scriptwriter Gillian Slovo.

“Grenfell was something the National Theatre needed to address on the national stage. It was our responsibility to make sure their voices were heard,” she said.

But some survivors feel that the theatre is stealing their experiences.

“Who gives them permission to do these things and then tell us after? Before you do this sort of thing, you should get our permission, because this is our pain, our story,” Maryam Adam, who escaped from the burning tower while three months pregnant, asked the Guardian.

Another reason cited by those opposing the productions is the short amount of time that has elapsed since the tragedy. 

A long-awaited enquiry closed last year. The final report is yet to be published and criminal prosecutions in connection with the fire may not begin until next year.

The TV series, Grenfell, will dramatise the events of the night of the fire. Writers said it will begin months before the fire and cover the botched refurbishments, as well as the “woeful responses to the disaster”.

A petition calling for it to be scrapped has attracted more than 50,000 signatures and opponents have threatened to disrupt filming near the tower. The drama, which will be in three parts, is not scheduled to air for at least two years. 

Not all survivors oppose the productions. Some hope they will help to keep the story of Grenfell alive, spurring the public to action.

A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster is “extremely mindful of the impact that a project of this nature can have on those whose lives have been personally affected, and this programme will be made with the utmost sensitivity and respect”, with a view to ensuring “that the events at Grenfell can never happen again elsewhere”.
 

Seven venues on the Theatres At Risk Register are to receive grants from a new Theatres Trust fund.

The theatres receiving a share of the £60,000 fund are Burnley Empire, Derby Hippodrome, Doncaster Grand, Margate Theatre Royal, Morecambe Winter Gardens, Salford Victoria, and Tameside Hippodrome.

The grants have been awarded through the trust's new Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme.

The programme aims to help progress the restoration of historic venues, with the ultimate aim of them reopening to the public.

Work supported by the first round of grants includes governance reviews, a conditions survey, an audience development strategy, and an oral history project.

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan said: "We believe every theatre on our Theatres At Risk list has the potential to be returned for use by their communities, providing performance venues of types currently lacking in their local areas, and bringing much needed footfall to town centres.

"We are pleased to support these theatres with projects that will help each theatre move a step closer to their ultimate goal."

Southwark Council has appointed a new operator for Canada Water Theatre, the performance space in the Piers Gough-designed Canada Water Library.

Theatre Peckham will take over from Deptford's The Albany, which has managed and programmed the space for the past 11 years. 

The new operator of the 150-seat space plans to rebrand the theatre as an artist development hub.

It aims to create free research and development opportunities for Southwark-based creatives, offer free rehearsal space for artists performing in the Peckham Fringe festival and Theatre Peckham's Young, Gifted & Black programme, and create affordable rehearshal space for companies based outside Southwark.

It will also facilitate hires for local community groups.

Councillor Catherine Rose, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks, Streets and Clean Air, said: “The new direction of the space reflects our ambition not just to platform local artists and theatre-makers, but to cultivate their talents and provide them with the resources to hone their practice and make a living."

Artistic Director and CEO of Theatre Peckham Suzann McLean said: "The venue will provide a much-needed space for Southwark artists to come together and collaborate on projects, be a resource for sector-wide theatre companies seeking a performance space, and continue as a community hub for local groups. 

"This opportunity will allow us to further our commitment to artistic excellence, social change, and community connections."

A new campaign has been launched to save a Victorian theatre building in Plymouth.

The Palace Theatre on the city's Union Street was first opened in 1898 as a music hall, before re-opening as the New Palace Theatre of Varieties in 1899 following a fire.

In more recent times it has been a bingo hall, a theatre and finally a nightclub. It closed to the public in 2006.

The Grade-II* listed building was put on the Theatre Trust's 'at risk' list 14 years ago and has continued to decline, despite several attempts to save it.

The campaign is calling on the building's owners to carry out emergency repairs in order to halt its further decline.

Campaign supporter Oliver Colvile, former MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, said: “The Palace is in desperate need of emergency repairs and I support any initiative that will bring this beautiful building back into our cultural and civic life again.”

The building's current owner is Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh. Last year, Plymouth MP Luke Pollard unsuccessfully called on Bahmanzadeh to either renovate the Palace or sell it to someone who would.

A theatre in Staffordshire is asking people of South Asian heritage to share their stories for a chance to see them retold on stage.

The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme is working with local arts company, Appetite, to create a new play, Punjab to the Potteries.

Playwright Shahid Iqbal Khan and Writer/Director Sarah Bedi will use the real-life stories to create the play's script.

Appetite Director Gemma Thomas said: "We want to hear from, celebrate and capture people's lived experiences of migrating to the Potteries, or being born here and raised in a South Asian family." 

The idea for the project was inspired by local man Val Bansal, who had shared his own family's story of migrating from the Punjab in India.

His father had moved to Stoke-on-Trent in 1964.

Bansal said: "There must be countless stories and memories, as well as many more photos in numerous households of people and families who took a similar journey."

There will be an open storytelling event in Newcastle-under-Lyme on 28 April.

A digital theatre group is working with young people in Edinburgh to tackle the online radicalisation of masculinity and 'Incel' (involuntary celibate) culture.

Civic Digits will co-produce a new theatre production, 'Many Good Men', with the Edinburgh-based Stellar Quines theatre company, YouthLink Scotland, Zero Tolerance Scotland and Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Award-winning playwright Clare Duffy, Civic Digits’ Founder and Artistic Director, said: “We're planning to support two groups of young people to write and direct two new forum theatre plays about the radicalisation of masculinity online. It will be performed by professional actors at Hearts F.C. stadium.”

The project will involve working with groups of 15–to 18-year-olds in their communities and will be developed over the next nine months.

The performances at Tynecastle Stadium in Edinburgh will take place in December.

'Many Good Men' is one of 46 projects to receive a total of £1.6m in National Lottery funding in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards. 

Other funded projects include the 2023 editions of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and Edinburgh Festival Carnival, and this year's Open Studios Hebrides.

Paul Burns, Interim Director of Arts at Creative Scotland, said "a range of new and important stories will be told as part of the latest round of Open Fund awards". 

As part of Norwich’s designation as a Living Wage City, Norwich Theatre, Royal has signed up to the Living Wage Foundation’s Real Living Wage scheme, awarding pay increases of at least 10% to eligible Theatre Royal and Playhouse staff.

Eligible full-time employees will receive an average pay increase of 10.3%, while variable-hour employees will see their hourly pay rise 14.7%.

The theatre’s decision to join the scheme comes amid a three-year plan, spearheaded by the city council, to significantly expand the number of employers in Norwich paying the Real Living Wage.

As of April 1, the government's National Living Wage is £10.42 per hour for workers aged 23 and over. The minimum wage for workers aged 21 and 22 is £10.18, with those aged 18 to 20 receiving £7.49 and under-18s and apprentices £5.28.

The Real Living Wage – which is calculated based on the cost of living – is higher, with participating businesses agreeing to pay any employee aged 18 and older at least £10.90 per hour, rising to £11.95 in London.

“The news that one of our key cultural institutions is to become a Real Living Wage Employer is tremendous and a significant boost to the campaign to ensure everyone across Norwich gets a decent wage,” said Norwich City Council leader Alan Waters.