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Apply to join The Ancestors Community Chorus

Posted 15 Jul 2023 by Joe Duggan



Live locally to Portchester? Interested in getting involved in a drama project taking place this August which explores the history of Portchester Castle?

This summer National Youth Theatre is staging a new play called The Ancestors at Portchester Castle, as part of Freedom and Revolution, a collaboration with English Heritage’s Shout Out Loud Programme and University of Warwick. Through this play, written by Lakesha Arie-Angelo, we will be exploring the stories and voices of Black revolutionaries held at the castle in the late 1700s.

We are currently looking for local people to join a community chorus to join the project. Our community chorus will be help to bring this story to life, by taking part in workshops with National Youth Theatre and working with us to produce creative work exploring your own connection to the local area and your personal history.

You should be….

  • Local to the area - maybe you live in Portchester itself, or the wider Fareham, Portsmouth or Gosport Area
  • Aged 13-26
  • Interested in drama or in exploring the heritage of the Castle
  • Someone who enjoys being creative and working with others

No drama experience is necessary and anyone can apply! We are particularly interested in hearing from Black young people who would like to take part in the project.

Dates and details

We will be working towards recording sound pieces which capture these explorations and testimonies. These recordings will then form part of the wider production with a selection being showcased online.

  • Monday 9th August - 12:45 - 3pm (Zoom, Online)
  • Tuesday 10th August - 12:45 - 3pm (Zoom, Online)
  • Monday 16th August - 12:45 – 4:45pm (In Person, Portchester Castle)

Apply here

Deadline: 12pm, Friday 6th August

More on the project

The Ancestors

Written by Lakesha Arie-Angelo

Directed by Jade Lewis

A clique of Caribbean maroon warrior women, a general of Haiti and his right hand man, an ex enslaved couple reclaiming their land, a group of Black French Caribbean soldiers held captive in Portchester and their wives travelling across the Atlantic to be reunited with them. These are The Ancestors- manifesting in our world, in the hopes we can stop history repeating itself, but do we really hold the key? What dark forces are still currently at play?

A site-specific piece that explores the grounds of Portchester Castle and the voices of Black revolutionaries that history has continued to silence, until now