When Lung Theatre made their first verbatim show in 2016 about the Bradford City stadium fire, they set a template that they’ve largely stuck to for each production since: an important issue, a play based on testimonies from real people, a wider campaign supporting the show.
The activist group has spotlit young carers, the E15 mothers threatened with eviction from social housing, the alleged ‘Trojan Horse’ conspiracy to bring Islamist extremism into schools in Birmingham... Every show is built over a number of years of gathering testimony, gaining the trust of participants, and finding the best way to explore that issue theatrically – and every show has furthered the form of verbatim theatre.
