Where Will We Live?

Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London
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Event has ended
This event ended on Saturday 28th of November 2015
Admission
£10 - Book Online or by telephone
Venue Information
Southwark Playhouse
77-85 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD
Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Elephant & Castle 0.17 miles

“Whether you’re green, you’re black, you’re white, we are together. We laugh together. But now I gotta leave. Where will I go?”
- Stella, Brixton Arches under threat of eviction

“Yeah, it’s white middle-class coming spending their money. Is that such a bad thing? If that’s bringing people in, that’s bringing cash.”
- Jack Hopkins, Lambeth Councillor for jobs and growth

Where Will We Live? is Changing Face Collective’s new production which combines verbatim theatre with film and street photography to reveal the human stories behind the hyper-regeneration of London and more specifically, the changing face of Brixton and Lambeth.

By working closely to document the eviction stories over the past 12 months, this play celebrates these communities and dissects the reasons for this housing crisis when hundreds of council homes remain empty. Set in Brixton’s Arches and Lambeth’s council estates, the play’s unforgettable characters bring to life the real challenges of gentrification.

This theatrical tapestry – weaving music, humour and movement through interviews with politicians, and people living with eviction – packs a punch. What happens to a vibrant community when faced with rising rents, evictions or demolition of their homes? The title of this fast-paced production is inspired by film director Spike Lee talking on gentrification in New York – it is a global issue and one which affects us all, irrespective of where we are from.

Accompanied by an immersive exhibition of photography and film, Where Will We Live? is both a documentation and celebration of the people who make London what it is, and asks: what is a community worth? How do we quantify home?

Written by journalist and award-winning writer, Elisabeth Winkler and directed by Lucy Curtis, this play is a collaborative production by Changing Face Collective. Based in the centre of Brixton, core members Lucy Curtis (theatre-maker), Dashti Jahfar (street photographer), Rohina Cameron-Perera (producer), Ivana Mazza Coates (theatre-maker), Gaurab Thakali (illustrator) and Elisabeth Winkler (scriptwriter) first came together in response to the 2011 Tottenham and Brixton riots and documented events as they unfolded. Changing Face Collective aims to discover and collaborate with emerging theatre-makers and artists to produce and commission work about the changes we see in our communities across the world.


LUCY CURTIS
Lucy Curtis is a writer, actor and director. She has worked predominately in theatre most notably for the Arcola, North Wall, Bristol Old Vic, the White Bear Theatre and the Southwark Playhouse.

“Theatre is not a means to an end – Where Will We Live? isn't about finding a solution; it is our examination and exploration in the human face of the London's hyper regeneration, amplifying voices that would otherwise be lost. This is why the theatre is such a powerful platform for new and unique voices.”
- Lucy Curtis, Founder of Changing Face Collective


ELISABETH WINKLER
Elisabeth Winkler is an award-winning writer and blogger, and campaigning journalist. A video interviewer for a genocide archive, and author of a memoir of genocide survivors, she is passionate about being true to people’s stories, using the arts to record, document and bring to life voices of the unheard. Editor of the Soil Association magazine for eight years, she continues to campaign for food justice, specialising in digital content for green companies and causes. A creative writing tutor, Where Will We Live is her first verbatim play.


Tags: Theatre

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