Telling Tales with Women & Theatre

The stories of women and working people have typically been excluded from history. Women & Theatre want to address this imbalance and tell the tales of the un-chronicled majority. The time periods we will focus on will be the seventeenth century and the mid twentieth century to present day. We will research and uncover stories of those working at Aston Hall during the seventeenth century and record contemporary oral histories through interviewing those that currently live or work in the vicinity of the Hall. We hope that by focusing on these two strands of history, participants will draw links between historical and contemporary life and connect with heritage sites such as Aston Hall.      

All research will be archived at the new Library of Birmingham and an audio play and live site performance will also be produced from the stories collected. Community members will work alongside the Women & Theatre team to transform research material into short monologues and play scripts. Residents will also be involved in the creative process and inform the audio sound effects and the staging of live performances.

We invite you to the unveiling of our work which will take place at Aston Hall on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May 2013.

Aston Telling Tales is an exciting new project in partnership with Aston Hall and Birmingham Settlement. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’.

For more information please email info@womenandtheatre.co.uk