Housing, Culture and Women's Citizenship in Britain, c.1945 to the present
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: History Faculty
Abstract
This project will develop and extend the impact activities created by the current AHRC project 'Feminism, culture and women's lives in Britain, c.1945-c.2015'. The study on which this project builds examines in detail the relationship between women's lives and feminism, specifically within the cultural sphere. Findings from this work demonstrate that women across several generations share concerns about their vulnerability within the domestic sphere and housing market. Social housing, in particular, has emerged as a key concern. It has become clear that women have frequently taken a lead in campaigning for better housing provision. In addition, participation in housing campaigns has been a key means by which working-class women have engaged in civic life and affected political change. At the same time, many women expressed frustration at the lack of opportunities for them to express their views on housing, both within and beyond their neighbourhood, or to challenge the agenda and objectives of housing providers and policymakers. This is felt to have become much harder since the privatisation of most social housing. Follow-on Funding will assist women tenants in north-west England to express their views and encourage a wide range of audiences to listen to and learn from their experiences.
To achieve this, we will develop the impact activities created by our existing AHRC project. Our project created a theatre group, the Delaney Theatre Group, for women tenants in a Salford tower block. The women used this group to produce and perform a play which drew on their experiences of everyday life since 1945, entitled 'Sweetly Sings the Donkey'. This aspect of our project indicated that cultural participation provides a means for women to articulate their concerns and aspirations in ways that they found fulfilling and which enhanced their emotional wellbeing. The play was performed to c.240 people, including housing workers and policymakers, and audience feedback indicated that the performance had altered spectators' understanding of working-class women's ability to make a positive contribution to civic and cultural life. We propose to use Follow-on Funding to further develop the impact of this activity by touring 'Sweetly Sings the Donkey' to theatres and arts festivals which have expressed interest in hosting a performance.
We also propose to use this model of cultural participation to enable a larger group of women to reflect on their housing experiences. The current AHRC project has focused broadly on women's relationship to cultural life and feminism. Follow-on Funding would enable participants to develop cultural activities that focus specifically on their experience of, and concerns about, social housing. This will be achieved by expanding the membership of the established Delaney Theatre Group to include a wider range of women, including clients of our new project partner Salford Women's Aid. By broadening the Theatre Group's activities to include writing, the Group will go on to write and perform a new play focused on women's experiences of social housing, which will draw on oral history testimonies created during the original AHRC project.
The original project developed strategies designed to enhance working-class women's cultural and civic participation. These strategies were devised in consultation with project partners and with members of the Shadow Cabinet. Follow-on Funding will enable us to develop more targeted policy recommendations which focus on how to encourage women tenants' participation in the design, maintenance and governance of their neighbourhoods. This is timely given local and national concern over the provision and governance of social housing following the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017. Follow-on Funding will allow us to accept invitations to write and present two policy papers on this subject to the City of Salford Mayor and to the Shadow Cabinet.
To achieve this, we will develop the impact activities created by our existing AHRC project. Our project created a theatre group, the Delaney Theatre Group, for women tenants in a Salford tower block. The women used this group to produce and perform a play which drew on their experiences of everyday life since 1945, entitled 'Sweetly Sings the Donkey'. This aspect of our project indicated that cultural participation provides a means for women to articulate their concerns and aspirations in ways that they found fulfilling and which enhanced their emotional wellbeing. The play was performed to c.240 people, including housing workers and policymakers, and audience feedback indicated that the performance had altered spectators' understanding of working-class women's ability to make a positive contribution to civic and cultural life. We propose to use Follow-on Funding to further develop the impact of this activity by touring 'Sweetly Sings the Donkey' to theatres and arts festivals which have expressed interest in hosting a performance.
We also propose to use this model of cultural participation to enable a larger group of women to reflect on their housing experiences. The current AHRC project has focused broadly on women's relationship to cultural life and feminism. Follow-on Funding would enable participants to develop cultural activities that focus specifically on their experience of, and concerns about, social housing. This will be achieved by expanding the membership of the established Delaney Theatre Group to include a wider range of women, including clients of our new project partner Salford Women's Aid. By broadening the Theatre Group's activities to include writing, the Group will go on to write and perform a new play focused on women's experiences of social housing, which will draw on oral history testimonies created during the original AHRC project.
The original project developed strategies designed to enhance working-class women's cultural and civic participation. These strategies were devised in consultation with project partners and with members of the Shadow Cabinet. Follow-on Funding will enable us to develop more targeted policy recommendations which focus on how to encourage women tenants' participation in the design, maintenance and governance of their neighbourhoods. This is timely given local and national concern over the provision and governance of social housing following the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017. Follow-on Funding will allow us to accept invitations to write and present two policy papers on this subject to the City of Salford Mayor and to the Shadow Cabinet.
Planned Impact
This project will substantially build on the current AHRC project, 'Feminism, culture and women's lives in Britain, c.1945-c.2015', and, in doing so, will be designed specifically to involve new, non-academic user communities, including clients of new project partner, Salford Women's Aid, residents and theatre audiences in Greater Manchester, residents of affordable/social housing and public sector workers in affordable/social housing across England (specifically in those regions, cities and towns where the Guinness Partnership provides housing), and in the UK media, particularly that concerning cultural, housing and/or political themes, therefore with implications for health and wellbeing nationally. The project will therefore:
1. Develop and embed housing and cultural strategies to achieve greater gender and social equality. Equality has significant personal and collective economic and health benefits (Wilkinson and Pickett, The Spirit Level, 2010). The current project has shown that an increase in gender equality enhanced women's opportunities and greatly enriched British cultural life over the second half of the twentieth century. It also highlights the important contribution that women outside formal politics make to attaining equality. The further dissemination of these findings, their detailed analysis and development has potential benefits for public bodies, organisations and cultural practitioners who are interested in increasing gender equality and community cohesion.
2. Shape political and media debate on civic political engagement. The current research and its outcomes demonstrate the significance of apparently 'non-political' activities (such as writing, performing and reading) which impact upon collective identities and political change. Linked to this, the significant media coverage of the current project and its associated activities, including on BBC News Online, BBC News North West and local newspaper The Salford Star, reflects a high level of public interest in the issues under consideration at both local and national level, further demonstrating the need for the proposed work.
3. Improve the effectiveness of public and third sector services. This work will further consolidate the unique collaboration at the centre of the current project, between a registered housing provider, community theatre group and professional writer, with a view to further replicating this highly successful model and its positive effects elsewhere, including in conjunction with new project partner, Salford Women's Aid. The proposed activities will directly involve public and third sector workers, shaping their ongoing training and workplace experience, in addition to enhancing the personal health and wellbeing of those for whom they provide vital services.
4. Increase civic engagement. By building promptly on the networks and findings established by the current AHRC project, the proposed work will act to encourage and sustain (including beyond the project's own lifespan) women's participation in cultural, civic and political life at a variety of levels and across a number of English regions.
1. Develop and embed housing and cultural strategies to achieve greater gender and social equality. Equality has significant personal and collective economic and health benefits (Wilkinson and Pickett, The Spirit Level, 2010). The current project has shown that an increase in gender equality enhanced women's opportunities and greatly enriched British cultural life over the second half of the twentieth century. It also highlights the important contribution that women outside formal politics make to attaining equality. The further dissemination of these findings, their detailed analysis and development has potential benefits for public bodies, organisations and cultural practitioners who are interested in increasing gender equality and community cohesion.
2. Shape political and media debate on civic political engagement. The current research and its outcomes demonstrate the significance of apparently 'non-political' activities (such as writing, performing and reading) which impact upon collective identities and political change. Linked to this, the significant media coverage of the current project and its associated activities, including on BBC News Online, BBC News North West and local newspaper The Salford Star, reflects a high level of public interest in the issues under consideration at both local and national level, further demonstrating the need for the proposed work.
3. Improve the effectiveness of public and third sector services. This work will further consolidate the unique collaboration at the centre of the current project, between a registered housing provider, community theatre group and professional writer, with a view to further replicating this highly successful model and its positive effects elsewhere, including in conjunction with new project partner, Salford Women's Aid. The proposed activities will directly involve public and third sector workers, shaping their ongoing training and workplace experience, in addition to enhancing the personal health and wellbeing of those for whom they provide vital services.
4. Increase civic engagement. By building promptly on the networks and findings established by the current AHRC project, the proposed work will act to encourage and sustain (including beyond the project's own lifespan) women's participation in cultural, civic and political life at a variety of levels and across a number of English regions.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- Salford Independent Domestic Abuse Support Services (Collaboration)
- The Guinness Partnership (Collaboration)
- WCML Working Class Movement Library (Collaboration)
- Mad Theatre Company (Collaboration)
- Salford Women's Aid (Project Partner)
- Guinness Partnership (Project Partner)
- Working Class Movement Library (Project Partner)
| Title | 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', presented by the Delaney Community Theatre Group |
| Description | 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary' was created by project partners MaD Theatre Company in close collaboration with participants across a wide age range drawn from surrounding communities in Salford and Manchester. This full-length play is primarily set in c.1918 Salford and Manchester, features a cast of c.25-30 and addresses regionally significant economic, social and cultural issues, including class, gender and poverty, whilst evaluating key related changes and continuities over the course of the twentieth century up to the present day. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | An original play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', set in c.1918 Manchester and Salford and performed by the Delaney Theatre Group, featuring a cast of around c.25-30 members, was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays, on Monday 8 October and Tuesday 9 October 2018, followed by further well received performances at the Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones), The Met Theatre, Bury, and Salford Arts Theatre during late 2018-early 2019. The play was performed to c.240 people at the Lowry Theatre, around c.90 people at the Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones), c.220 people at the Met Theatre (Bury) and c.110 at Salford Arts Theatre. Throughout the tour of this original production, which was created in close collaboration with participants, audiences included individuals who work in creative, education, social, housing and local government sectors, many of whom are involved in policymaking and the creation and implementation of associated cultural strategies. All performances were extremely well received, as demonstrated by the Audience Evaluation Forms which were completed and returned following each performance. This highly positive feedback underlines the extent to which audiences engaged with the key social and cultural themes of the play, in addition to how much they enjoyed each performance. |
| Description | This collaboration has facilitated the successful introduction of historical research methods and related findings, as well as collaboration and public engagement activities based on these, in a series of interdisciplinary contexts. As detailed under relevant sections of this form, outcomes of this multi-disciplinary collaboration in 2018/19 include the continuation of the Delaney (community) Theatre Group and their creation and staging of original full-length play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', which was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre (Salford Quays), The Met Theatre (Bury), Salford Arts Theatre and at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones) during late 2018-early 2019. A series of five creative writing workshops, led by professional writer Charlotte Delaney at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018, were created and delivered in close collaboration with project partner Salford Women's Aid. Please see Narrative Impact section of this form for full details. |
| Exploitation Route | Please see Narrative Impact section. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Through collaboration with MaD Theatre Company and members of the Delaney (Community) Theatre Group, this project has resulted in the creation and development of original, full-length c.1918-set play 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary'. A series of public performances of this play throughout Greater Manchester has further disseminated the creative and educational outcomes of this collaboration with socio-economically diverse audiences at venues including the Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays, Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones), the Met Theatre, Bury, and Salford Arts Theatre, as have three related free public performance and discussion events held in Salford, Manchester and at the University of Oxford. This project resulted in the continuation and expansion of the (Shelagh) Delaney (Community) Theatre Group which was first established during the preceding AHRC project 'Feminism, Culture and Women's Lives in Britain, c.1945-c.2015' (2017). This has resulted in the involvement of a greater number of participants from throughout Salford and Manchester and varied socio-economic backgrounds, who have engaged creatively with regional socio-cultural history and the present-day social issues explored in the play, as well as in preparatory drama-based activities and at post-performance discussion events. Similarly building on the research, interdisciplinary networks and public engagement activities of the original AHRC project, 'Feminism, Culture and Women's Lives in Britain, c.1945 to c.2015', a series of five creative writing workshops were created and delivered successfully in collaboration with project partners Charlotte Delaney, professional writer, and Salford Women's Aid at Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018. In addition to the project-generated original, full-length play 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary' having been a successful stage production in theatres across Greater Manchester, this work has also established, developed and further embedded long-term networks of interdisciplinary project partners and members of local communities in Salford and Manchester. The continuing experience of the project team and its established partners across the arts and housing sectors in Salford and Manchester, whose networks have been further consolidated in the course of this follow-on project, provides an extensive resource for future development of similar networks and related cultural strategies within these organisations, as well as more widely within the arts, housing, social, education and community sectors throughout the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | 'Scenes from a Play': Public Performance & Discussion Event at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | This event in which, Dr Andrea Thomson (Project Research Associate) introduced a bespoke performance of scenes from the original play created by Rob Lees and Jill Hughes, directors of Mad Theatre Company, facilitated a subsequent discussion of a range of key project findings in relation to the cultural and civic participation of women, including those belonging to historically underrepresented groups. Audience members learned from MaD Theatre Company members about this recent work, their distinctive creative process and experience of collaboration with academics and other partners, as well as their own various creative inspirations and the particular issues that the project-associated play highlights, with reference to contemporary economic and social problems. This event therefore acted to influence the outlook of researchers currently working in academia and their future practice in collaborative activities involving different partner organisations and the public. |
| Description | 5 Sold-Out Public Performances of project play 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', The Lowry, Salford Quays, Monday 8 & Tuesday 9 October 2018, Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival, Thursday 18 October 2018, The Met Theatre, Bury, Tuesday 30 October 2018, and Salford Arts Theatre, Thursday 7 February 2019 |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The opportunity to perform in MaD Theatre Company's original play, which dealt with both historical and present-day social issues, allowed participants in this project to express themselves creatively whilst engaging with regional socio-cultural history. Participants and audience members were predominantly based in the local area, many of whom themselves live and work within Greater Manchester and surrounding regions, including in the creative, education, social, housing and local government sectors. Audience feedback, gathered at the end of each performance, demonstrated that the play prompted audience members to consider both contemporary and historical cultural and social conditions in the north-west region. This work also contributed to improved understanding, amongst cast members and audiences, in relation to key developments influencing current economic and social contexts in their own north-west communities, whether related to legislation, protest, enfranchisement or other factors. These public performances have also served to consolidate long-term networks of project partners, members of the local community and local public venues in Greater Manchester and further afield. |
| Description | Continued running of Delaney Community Theatre Group |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The long-running drama activities undertaken in the course of this work encouraged participants, who include young people (from c.10 years old) and men and women across a wide age range from across the surrounding communities, to reflect in detail on issues of class, gender and whether life has changed in Manchester and Salford since c.1918, when the project play itself was set. Participants were supported in drawing widely on their own experiences as part of the creative process, in order that related activities acted as a means for theatre group members to articulate their concerns and aspirations in ways that they found personally rewarding and which benefitted their emotional wellbeing. For example, this can be seen in participants' significant contributions regarding stage directions, character development and dialogue, a level of artistic involvement which was encouraged by MaD Theatre Company, whose approach nurtures both this creativity and confidence more generally, and the other project partners. |
| Description | Series of Creative Writing Workshops with Charlotte Delaney, professional writer, and Salford Women's Aid - Autumn 2018 |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | In collaboration with project partners Charlotte Delaney, professional writer, and Salford Women's Aid, the project team created, organised and delivered a series of five creative writing workshops for women, which were held at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018. Each session lasted around 120 minutes (with a break in the middle) and participants were given their own writing materials, so as to enable them to continue writing outside of the workshop and in their own time, if desired. The experiences of women which emerged during the original AHRC project acted as a starting point from which workshop participants were able to explore their own experiences of key project themes including family, motherhood, social relations, communities and feminism. These workshops acted as a highly social space, as well as constituting a welcoming and confidential environment in which attendees were able to freely discuss and reflect at length in their writing on past experiences and current aspirations, including pursuing creative writing and similar activities independently in the future. Participants reported that they had found the writing workshops enjoyable as well as personally rewarding, and that these had allowed them to reflect on their own creative abilities in a highly supportive and positive context. |
| Description | John Fell Fund, University of Oxford |
| Amount | £41,882 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 171/118 |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2018 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | Delaney Follow-On Project Partners |
| Organisation | Mad Theatre Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The project research team has initiated, coordinated and led this follow-on collaboration throughout the duration of the project (until March 2019 inclusive). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professional writer Charlotte Delaney, Manchester-based community theatre group MaD Theatre Company, the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) the Guinness Partnership (affordable housing registered provider) and Salford Women's Aid are partners in this project and have been closely involved in its various outputs, which include, amongst other activities, the staging of five sold-out performances of an original play at theatres across Greater Manchester and a series of creative writing workshops held at Salford Women's Centre. |
| Impact | This collaboration has facilitated the successful application of historical research in a series of non-academic environments. As detailed under relevant sections of this form, outcomes of this multi-disciplinary collaboration include the continuation of the Delaney (community) Theatre Group and their creation and staging of an original play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', which was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre (Salford Quays), The Met Theatre (Bury), Salford Arts Theatre and at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones) during late 2018-early 2019. A series of creative writing workshops was led by professional writer Charlotte Delaney at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018 in collaboration with project partner Salford Women's Aid. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Delaney Follow-On Project Partners |
| Organisation | Salford Independent Domestic Abuse Support Services |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The project research team has initiated, coordinated and led this follow-on collaboration throughout the duration of the project (until March 2019 inclusive). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professional writer Charlotte Delaney, Manchester-based community theatre group MaD Theatre Company, the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) the Guinness Partnership (affordable housing registered provider) and Salford Women's Aid are partners in this project and have been closely involved in its various outputs, which include, amongst other activities, the staging of five sold-out performances of an original play at theatres across Greater Manchester and a series of creative writing workshops held at Salford Women's Centre. |
| Impact | This collaboration has facilitated the successful application of historical research in a series of non-academic environments. As detailed under relevant sections of this form, outcomes of this multi-disciplinary collaboration include the continuation of the Delaney (community) Theatre Group and their creation and staging of an original play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', which was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre (Salford Quays), The Met Theatre (Bury), Salford Arts Theatre and at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones) during late 2018-early 2019. A series of creative writing workshops was led by professional writer Charlotte Delaney at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018 in collaboration with project partner Salford Women's Aid. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Delaney Follow-On Project Partners |
| Organisation | The Guinness Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The project research team has initiated, coordinated and led this follow-on collaboration throughout the duration of the project (until March 2019 inclusive). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professional writer Charlotte Delaney, Manchester-based community theatre group MaD Theatre Company, the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) the Guinness Partnership (affordable housing registered provider) and Salford Women's Aid are partners in this project and have been closely involved in its various outputs, which include, amongst other activities, the staging of five sold-out performances of an original play at theatres across Greater Manchester and a series of creative writing workshops held at Salford Women's Centre. |
| Impact | This collaboration has facilitated the successful application of historical research in a series of non-academic environments. As detailed under relevant sections of this form, outcomes of this multi-disciplinary collaboration include the continuation of the Delaney (community) Theatre Group and their creation and staging of an original play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', which was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre (Salford Quays), The Met Theatre (Bury), Salford Arts Theatre and at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones) during late 2018-early 2019. A series of creative writing workshops was led by professional writer Charlotte Delaney at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018 in collaboration with project partner Salford Women's Aid. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Delaney Follow-On Project Partners |
| Organisation | WCML Working Class Movement Library |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The project research team has initiated, coordinated and led this follow-on collaboration throughout the duration of the project (until March 2019 inclusive). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professional writer Charlotte Delaney, Manchester-based community theatre group MaD Theatre Company, the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) the Guinness Partnership (affordable housing registered provider) and Salford Women's Aid are partners in this project and have been closely involved in its various outputs, which include, amongst other activities, the staging of five sold-out performances of an original play at theatres across Greater Manchester and a series of creative writing workshops held at Salford Women's Centre. |
| Impact | This collaboration has facilitated the successful application of historical research in a series of non-academic environments. As detailed under relevant sections of this form, outcomes of this multi-disciplinary collaboration include the continuation of the Delaney (community) Theatre Group and their creation and staging of an original play, 'It's the Wrong Way to Tickle Mary', which was performed to sold-out audiences at the Lowry Theatre (Salford Quays), The Met Theatre (Bury), Salford Arts Theatre and at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival (Touchstones) during late 2018-early 2019. A series of creative writing workshops was led by professional writer Charlotte Delaney at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018 in collaboration with project partner Salford Women's Aid. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 'Scene from a Play': Performance & Discussion Public Event at Manchester Central Library, Performance Space |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Andrea Thomson (Project Research Associate) liaised with the Library Live Team at Manchester Central Library to stage a bespoke performance of scenes from the original project play created by Rob Lees and Jill Hughes, directors of Mad Theatre Company, which also featured the cast in its entirety (c.25-30 participants). In the course of the event, Lees gave the audience a detailed overview of the production, with reference to the creative process, MaD's various inspirations and those themes that the project play and the project itself addresses, with discussion too of this work's relevance to contemporary economic and social conditions in Manchester and the surrounding area. As with events associated with the initial AHRC-funded project, this event demonstrated significant potential for future collaboration with Manchester Libraries, for example, to organise similar events, involving drama-based activities and creative writing workshops, across a range of public locations in the region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.librarylive.co.uk/event/its-the-wrong-way-to-tickle-mary/ |
| Description | 'Scenes from a Play': Performance & Public Discussion Event at the Working Class Movement Library, Salford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Andrea Thomson (Project Research Associate) introduced a bespoke performance of scenes from the original play created by Rob Lees and Jill Hughes, directors of Mad Theatre Company, as part of this project, featuring several members of the cast. Afterwards, audience members were invited to ask questions and participate in discussion about the production, the creative process, MaD's various inspirations and the themes that the project play and the project itself addresses, with reference to contemporary economic and social conditions. This event was well attended and attendees, who came from a range of backgrounds, participated in an engaging discussion. As with events associated with the initial AHRC-funded project, this event suggested substantial scope for building on the public engagement activities undertaken thus far through future collaboration with many of those who attended, particularly with regard to the Delaney Theatre Group and the potential for additional creative writing workshops and drama-based activities, in which the attendees at the Working Class Movement Library showed considerable interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.wcml.org.uk/whats-on/events/mad-theatre--scenes-from-the-play-its-the-wrong-way-to-tickle... |
| Description | 'Scenes from a Play': Public Performance & Discussion Event at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Andrea Thomson (Project Research Associate) introduced a bespoke performance of scenes from the original play created by Rob Lees and Jill Hughes, directors of Mad Theatre Company, which was held in the Jacqueline Du Pre Building, St Hilda's College, University of Oxford, featuring several members of the cast. Afterwards, audience members contributed questions and participated in discussion with MaD Theatre Company members about this recent work, their distinctive creative process and experience of collaboration with academics and others, as well as their own various creative inspirations and the particular issues that the project-associated play highlights, with reference to the wider project and contemporary economic and social conditions. This event was well attended and produced an engaging and highly thought-provoking discussion, which served to reinforce the value of this type of collaborative activity from the perspective of academics and their partner organisations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://wih.web.ox.ac.uk/event/its-the-wrong-way-to-tickle-mary |
| Description | Presentation of paper at 'Women & Power: Redressing the Balance' National Trust Partnership Conference, 6-7 March 2019, University of Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The 'Women & Power: Redressing the Balance' conference formed part of The National Trust Partnership, which is a collaboration between Oxford University and the National Trust which creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange, public engagement with research and training. This event brought together researchers and heritage professionals to reflect on previous practice and explore specifically the delivery of and response to 2018 events marking the centenary of the Representation of the People Act. Alongside colleagues from Oxford University's History Faculty and the 'Women in the Humanities' research programme, Dr Andrea Thomson, Project Research Associate, explored the links between women's history, public engagement and the commemoration of both the centenary of the First World War and The Representation of the People Act in MaD Theatre Company's production of 'It's The Wrong Way to Tickle Mary'. This production formed a key component of the 'Housing, Culture and Women's Citizenship in Britain, c.1945 to the present' project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/women |
| Description | Public Book Launch event, Salford Museum & Art Gallery, 12 September 2019: 'Tastes of Honey: The Making of Shelagh Delaney and a Cultural Revolution' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The public launch of project publication 'Tastes of Honey: The Making of Shelagh Delaney and a Cultural Revolution', the authorised biography of the writer by Professor Selina Todd, Project PI, was held at Salford Museum & Art Gallery in September 2019 and attended by around c.120 guests. This public event included a roundtable discussion on related themes, featuring Professor Todd, Rob Lees (Artistic Director, MaD Theatre Company), DJ Lippy, Vanessa Maria (musician) and Jenna Omeltschenko (Touring Partnerships Manager on the National Theatre's 2019 production of Delaney's play 'A Taste of Honey'). Attendees, including representatives of all project partners, also watched a live performance of the opening scenes of 'A Taste of Honey' by MaD Theatre Company, themselves partners in the AHRC project. Guests included many of those who had been involved with the research undertaken for 'Tastes of Honey', including oral history interviewees who had known Shelagh Delaney and those who had drawn on or been influenced by her work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-tastes-of-honey-by-selina-todd-salford-museum-art-gallery... |
| Description | Series of Creative Writing Workshops with Charlotte Delaney, professional writer, and Salford Women's Aid - Autumn 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with project partners Charlotte Delaney, professional writer, and Salford Women's Aid, the project team created, organised and delivered a series of five creative writing workshops for women, which were held at the Salford Women's Centre during autumn 2018. Each session lasted around 120 minutes (with a break in the middle) and participants were given their own writing materials, so as to enable them to continue writing outside of the workshop and in their own time, if desired. The experiences of women which emerged during the original AHRC project acted as a starting point from which workshop participants were able to explore their own experiences of key project themes including family, motherhood, social relations, communities and feminism. These workshops acted as a highly social space, as well as constituting a welcoming and confidential environment in which attendees were able to freely discuss and reflect at length in their writing on past experiences and current aspirations, including pursuing creative writing and similar creative activities independently in the future. Participants reported that they had found the writing workshops enjoyable as well as personally rewarding, and that these had allowed them to reflect on their own creative abilities in a highly supportive and positive context. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |