Theatre, But Not As You Know It
Every year Sez-U brings together a local groups of adults to create a new piece of theatre.
At The Crossroads
In April 2008 Sez-U Theatre was commissioned to write four 15 minute plays for the Henley in Arden Arts Group. The plays were performed twice in one day by various local community groups, schools, drama societies, and individuals. The plays were performed in and around the town on the day of the Court Leet festival 6th June, an ancient municipal gathering that is still celebrated to this day. Using church halls, the river bank, the Norman Church and the Guild Hall as venues, the Henley Arts Group brought together a community of artistic practice, where the skills and talents of its population were used to create a day of theatre that celebrated the history and culture of this unique English market town.
Sez-U was given access to the towns heritage centre and with the help of local people we worked closely with the various community groups to tailor the scripts to meet there practical needs. In the end the four plays spanned Henley's history from the Normans to the present day with the local schools performing a promenade piece on the banks of the Great Alne that included the march of the cray fish army.
A video has been produced of the day and will be shown in Henley in January at the guild hall for all the participants. The day was a great success and is a glowing example of how rural arts activity can deliver when community based professionals work closely with local groups.
For further previous theatre projects - take a look at our archive