David Farnor | On 20, Mar 2021

The Donmar Warehouse is taking to the internet this weekend to stream a new community production, Assembly.

The Donmar has joined a wave of other theatres innovating to find new ways to bring plays to audiences during the coronavirus pandemic, from the staging of sound installation Blindness in the theatre last autumn to the digital release last month of a short play, Monuments, created and filmed in collaboration with 12 young Londoners.

Now, it’s staging the first production from the Donmar Local Company – members of the community who live and work in the Donmar’s home boroughs of Camden and Westminster – and streaming it live online for free.

What does community mean in a time of division and separation? Mixing live performance, animation and sound, Assembly looks at the impact of humans on nature and what we might build together for a better future. It’s about trying, failing, and trying again. In times of emergency, it is about hope.

Created by writer Nina Segal (In the Nighttime (Before the Sun Rises), Gate), director Joseph Hancock ((This Isn’t) A True Story, Almeida Young Company) and the Donmar Local Company, Assembly is created in collaboration with video designer and director of photography Andrzej Goulding (Teenage Dick, Donmar), set and costume designer Frankie Bradshaw (Sweat, Donmar and West End), composer and sound designer Max Pappenheim (The Night of the Iguana, West End) and lighting designer Sam House (#HashtagLightie, Arcola).

It will be broadcast from the Donmar Warehouse and locations across the UK on Saturday 20th March, with a runtime of approximately one hour. An audio introduction is available to listen to or download at vocaleyes.co.uk and the livestream will be captioned by Stagetext.

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