Our Public House: The Country at a Crossroads

Join us on the road as we travel the length and breadth of
England to hear what people want to change. In communities across
Cornwall, Yorkshire, Norfolk, the North West, South East and the
Midlands, we’re supporting people to write and deliver speeches
on what difference they want to see.


Robust public debate and the freedom to make arguments and
counterarguments are essential to democracy. Today, however,
political dispute is ever more sectarian and angry, fears of
misinformation are widespread and political discussion is often
confined to groups of the like-minded talking to each other
online.


Together with our partners at the Universities of Birmingham and
East Anglia, we’ve been exploring this 'crisis of rhetoric'
throughout the year with a series of workshops exploring
persuasive speaking across diverse communities in England. Our
research will eventually lead to Our Public House, a
state-of-the-nation theatre production, inspired by the speeches
and writing of our national participants, from writer Jude
Christian and director Josephine Burton.


Book your tickets for Speak Out! - a series of live events in
Manchester (21 & 22 November) and London (23 November), where
we’re bringing together participants from our workshops,
speechwriters, activists, politicians and academics to explore
speech making's ability to provoke, persuade and
empower.  


In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:


Participants from Underground Lights, Coventry, St Hilda’s
Community Centre, Tower Hamlets, HMP Styal, The Writers' Block,
Redruth, Arbourthorne Men’s Social Club, Sheffield, Manchester
Deaf Centre and Citizens UK, Brighton. 


Josephine Burton - Artistic Director of Dash Arts


Professor Alan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social
Theory at the University of East Anglia


Henriette van der Blom - Reader in Ancient History at the
University of Birmingham


Cristina Catalina - Senior Producer


Marie Horner - Podcast Producer


Jude Christian - Writer and Director 


Our Public House is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research
Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, and
individual giving.


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