On Saturday 26 October, thirty one-person shows were staged in private homes across London.
This was Home Theatre (UK), Theatre Royal Stratford East’s ambitious new project which invited people across London to host a show which would be specially created for them and based on the host family’s personal stories, likes and dislikes.
These were recorded live on camera and those recordings will be online from 8AM on 9 November, with a new play available to watch or download every 30 minutes. In total there will be more than 15 hours of theatre.
More than 70 members of the public applied to host a show and the 30 chosen saw performances take place in a wide-variety of homes, with hosts ranging from ages nineteen to seventy.
This included a professional couple based in an Islington new build, a born-and-bred Stratford family in their Victorian two-up-two-down, a houseboat on Regent’s Canal, a care home in Newham and a neuro-rehabilitation centre in Wandsworth.
Leytonstone-based Daniel Tuffour, one of the hosts who volunteered to take part in the project, said: “I’m so glad that I took part in Home Theatre. When Saturday arrived, I didn’t know what to expect.
"My performance artist really captured my story in a way which I would never have thought was possible. The performance had everything I wanted to see. She sang, acted and took me and my friends on a roller-coaster of emotions. I’d definitely do it again.”
Performance artist Suhaiyla Hippolyte, who staged one of the performances, said: “Home Theatre was one the most intense weeks of my life. Making a show in just a few days for someone that I didn’t know was daunting but at the same time really pushed me as an artist.
"Performing in an intimate place like someone’s home was a new and very rewarding experience. It was great to be involved in a project where I could use all of my talents collectively, as I’m a spoken word artist and actress.”
This day of screening will launch the Theatre Royal’s new web platform stratfordeast.tv.