FOR THE FUTURE OF ALL OUR CHILDREN
Directed by Deborah Wilding
PROTEUS THEATRE’S 25 TH ANNIVERSARY OPEN-AIR, PROMENADE PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCES: 13 TH & 14 TH JULY 2007 AT 7.30PM AND 4.30PM ON 14 TH JULY 2007, CENTRAL STUDIO, QUEEN MARY’S COLLEGE, BASINGSTOKE
“For The Future of All our Children” is a new community project by Basingstoke-based theatre company Proteus, based on the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common. A quarter of a Century later, Proteus has teamed up with the Performing Arts Department at Queen Mary’s College and adults from the local community to create a new play based on the experiences of local people and to reinterpret the events of 25 years ago.
The aim of the play is not to glorify or to vilify the Camps – but to take a fresh look at what inspired the people behind this extraordinary event, which drew the international media spotlight to a normally quiet corner of the Hampshire/Berkshire borders.
Thanks to the local media, Proteus has gathered stories from people who remember the camp, both active campaigners and opponents, and using photographs, diaries, published and unpublished memoirs has created a new play exploring the lives of the women at the camp and the highs and lows of the campaign.
Director, Deborah Wilding, says: “ 2007 marks the end of Proteus’ 25 th touring season. To mark the event I wanted to create a new piece of theatre that was both relevant to the Company and relevant to our audience ”.
Deborah elaborates: “ On 5th September 1981, at the very time Proteus was being formed, the Welsh group “Women for Life on Earth” arrived on Greenham Common, Berkshire , England . They marched from Cardiff with the intention of challenging, by debate, the decision to site 96 Cruise nuclear missiles there. On arrival they delivered a letter to the Base Commander which among other things stated ‘We fear for the future of all our children and for the future of the living world which is the basis of all life’. When their request for a debate was ignored they set up a Peace Camp just outside the fence surrounding RAF Greenham Common Airbase. The rest, as they say, is history! ”
Proteus is one of South England’s foremost touring theatre companies with a packed work schedule of residencies, workshops, training and large-scale participatory events alongside a busy performance schedule which tours nationally.
Proteus’s other current work includes Modern Major General , a performance project bringing together amateur operatic and dramatic societies to create a new “Gilbert and Sullivan” musical. This year’s winter tour Beauty and the Beast follows on from the success of the spring 2007 tour The Elephant Man and continues to address the themes of beauty and celebrity in an image obsessed culture.
Age suitability: 12+
Venue: Central Studio, Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke
Dates & times: Friday, 13 July 2007 at 7:30pm and Saturday, 14 July 2007 at 4:30pm & 7:30pm
Prices: Adults £5, Concessions £4 and Students £3
Box office: 01256 418318
Please note this is an outdoor promenade performance in the grounds of Queen Mary’s College. Please wear comfortable footwear and appropriate clothes for the weather conditions on the day