Janine
Save our stories is a community play about Chapel FM’s home-from-home feature where people from young to old come from the surrounding areas and enjoy the facilities the arts centre and other venues have for individuals to feel a sense of a community home. Bringing people together and enjoying the arts and culture as one. I was lucky enough to go along for the dress rehearsal at the arts & media centre, and here is what I thought:
The play was a very fun and energetic performance, with all participants seeming to really enjoy the time they had there on stage. The dynamic between each performer was really strong, and it was an enjoyable spectacle throughout. The theme is about a new company in Seacroft called SeaCorp, which want to build new, shiny and sleek buildings everywhere and replace much-loved venues and the village green. This was threatening to drive business away from the smaller shops and amenities. They wanted to scrap the arts and culture in Seacroft and, in turn, replace the much-loved culture of the town with boring office blocks and buildings.
A group of young children stumble across an archive of information and find out about the plans that SeaCorp. have to change the layout of Seacroft. They decide to find more people in Seacroft that are well connected and thus raise awareness for the goings on of this devastating company. They know of Dave, who worked at the radio station and know he is well-connected, so go to find him. They go to the radio station to find Dave and discover that he is dead, and the man he worked with tells them to clear off and get out of the building. They listen to his memorabilia there in song and dance. The man that works there eventually says that he will help them.
They go to the business and meet up with Cat, and they start singing and dancing in the meeting of SeaCorp and manage to change the minds of some of the SeaCorp staff. The woman who started SeaCorp from scratch is furious, and she storms out with another of her colleagues and says she will see them at the appeal…
The kids start breaking out into song and dance and end by singing, “save our stories, Seacroft, forever.”
The play has a real feel-good nature and makes the viewer happy and warm inside, especially at the end when the kids conquer the nasty and corrupt SeaCorp. to make for a better future for Seacroft. It highlights what great potential Seacroft has as a community, especially for those who dare to get involved in such things as community-based art projects in spaces like Chapel FM with creative input from the young to the old.
Played to a packed auditorium, you get a second chance to see it at Leeds playhouse on Friday, April 28th. I would definitely recommend going.
Credit: Coralie Datta
