In February 2024, we began work on our 10th anniversary Literacy Project production with a group of young people in Gainsborough. The theme chosen this time was ‘utopia,’ and a story set in a post-war future emerged.

The young people collaborated with professional writer Neil A. Edwards, paying a visit to Nottingham Playhouse to see the world premiere of Philip K.Dick’s ‘Minority Report,’ to get some ideas and inspiration on how a high-tech utopian society might function. We then did some historical research on how nations have worked to rebuild post-war societies in a ‘better, brighter’ way.

Once the characters were fleshed out and the script was bursting with everyone’s creative ideas, we brought the group to Carriage Works Theatre in Leeds, where we held a casting session to select our 3 professional actors. Our young people then continued to broaden their skills by designing sets and costumes, and they also worked with Identity Agency to create the marketing for the production.

Synopsis

The year is 2084, and the world is recovering from a catastrophic war. People desire change, a new dawn, one which offers hope for every citizen; welcome to Newtopia, a self-proclaimed paradise and answer to a million dreams. Meet Newtopian native Johne, female, 19: a model citizen, looking to connect. But when she does so with Cesar, a charismatic young lawyer, she is forced to question not just who he is but everything she has ever known. Is her home really the utopian dream she’s been led to believe, or is there more to this paradise than meets the eye?

As part of our commitment to touring our work, Newtopia was to be performed in both Gainsborough and Market Rasen, and we worked with another 2 groups of local young people to create curtain raisers for both performances, in partnership with Gainsborough Heritage Association and Market Rasen Festival Hall. For many of the young people, it was their first time on stage.

Both groups used ghost stories as their inspiration, but came up with very different pieces of theatre. Gainsborough’s group created ‘Behind Closed Doors’ – a ghost story focused on an unlikely bunch of friends who stumble across a gateway to the past and a wrong they can help to right after a visit to the Heritage Centre. Whilst Market Rasen’s group came up with ‘The Incident of Barlow Manor,’ a tale of mystery and intrigue at Lady Izabella’s Manor, where an evening of luxury and ghostly encounters quickly turns into a deadly power game.