David Farnor | On 04, Feb 2021

The Young Vic theatre has released a trio of plays online called Twenty Twenty.

In November 2019, Young Vic Taking Part announced the year-long collaboration with Blackfriars Settlement, Certitude and Thames Reach, three community organisations working in Lambeth and Southwark. The project was launched to foster in-depth creative relationships with people in the local community.

Each of the groups in our partner organisations began working with a director and writer, with a focus on enhancing creative skills and building a community company. The groups started to develop three new plays which were set to be performed by the community companies at the Young Vic at the end of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic, however, made that impossible, and so the groups have continued to meet online in the past year instead, with Zoom meetings and script readings. Now, the end result is a trio of filmed plays, shot in socially distanced conditions.

All three are available to stream for free on YouTube, including behind-the-scenes videos and subtitled and audio description versions.

Tapestry

A group come together to form a community choir, and work towards their first ever competitive performance. With a sprinkle of magic, unlikely bonds begin to form as they sing, eat biscuits and quietly alter each other’s lives forever. Tapestry is a story about love, loss and letting go.

This inspiring film about the beauty of friendship was written by Nessah Muthy (Small Wonders) for the community participants of Certitude, a leading provider of support to people who have learning disabilities, autism, mental health support needs and their families and carers. Directed by Audrey Sheffield (We Too Are Giants).

Even at Our Age

Imagine a world where you can take your power back and use all the things perceived as your disadvantage, for your good. The host of Even at Our Age, Saturday night TV’s sensational matchmaking show, disappears. Four of the gameshow contestants are interrogated. What entails is a hilarious murder mystery, as the contestants reclaim their strength and power from a patronising, dismissive society. This dark and mischievous take on gameshows and secret societies was written by Tolani Shoneye (My White Best Friend) for members of Blackfriars Settlement’s Positive Ageing group. Directed by Jade Lewis (Quarter Life Crisis, Superhoe).

Home(Body)

Minute by minute, hour by hour and day to day, they live their lives. Caught up in their own separate bubbles of their existence. Until one day everything grinds to a halt. This heart-warming, and at times chaotic, tale was written by Jasmine Lee-Jones (seven methods of killing kylie jenner, Curious…) for a group of participants from Thames Reach, a charity supporting people facing homelessness through prevention, intervention and recovery. Directed by Milli Bhatia.

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