Provisional Figures

Friday 25 & Saturday 25 May 2018, 7pm

The Drill House, Great Yarmouth

One of Portugal’s leading film and theatre Directors, Marco Martins, is creating a new theatre show, exploring British and European identities and featuring a community cast from Great Yarmouth.

Co-produced by SeaChange Arts and presented as part of this year’s Norfolk & Norwich Festival, the show, Provisional Figures, explores ideas of migration and what it means to be British and European.

Around 30 local people from all backgrounds have been working together, with Martins’ creative team for the past year. Nine have been chosen for the final cast, with the show going into rehearsal in Great Yarmouth this month.

Martins is an acclaimed film director. He won Best Film at last month’s Sophia Awards, Portugal’s national film awards, and previous accolades include the Prix Regard Jeune at the Cannes Film Festival and Best Director at the London Raindance Film Festival. He also has a catalogue of theatre credits, working with diverse groups, including gypsy communities in Sanguedo and workers of Viana do Castelo shipyards in Portugal.

“The piece was originally developed to focus on the Portuguese community, but we quickly found a strong interest from all sorts of people in Great Yarmouth,” explains Martins. “There is an exciting tapestry of British and international communities in the town, each bringing their own perspective to life in the UK. We want to reflect, explore and give voice to their experiences.”

SeaChange Arts, the organisation behind the Out There Festival, co-produced the show which will go on to be performed in Lisbon and Porto in Portugal with the original cast.

“This has been a long-term project for us,” explains Joe Mackintosh, Chief Executive of SeaChange. “Marco’s team have embedded themselves in the town over the last 12 months. The piece will develop organically, devised in part, by the community themselves – there’s no pre-determined script. What emerges will be deeply personal to the cast – truly representing their life experiences.”

Provisional Figures previews at SeaChange Arts’ Drill House in Great Yarmouth on Friday 25 May and continues on Saturday 26 May.

Saturday’s show will be preceded by a multi-cultural celebration event with music and food. Tickets are ‘pay what you can’: £3, £6, £9 and £12 and are available on 01603 766400, at www.nnfestival.org.uk or www.seachangearts.org.uk