The full programme has been revealed for A Public Address, a major takeover by award-winning Manchester theatre collective Quarantine at Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) from 16 February to 14 March 2026.
Supported by Wandsworth Council as part of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture celebrations, A Public Address will collaborate with people across Lavender Hill and the wider borough, offering audiences a rare insight into everyday lives and perspectives.
Taking inspiration from BAC’s history as a former town hall, the project asks: who gets heard in a place like this today? Across four strands, audiences will experience intimate encounters and grand-scale durational performances that explore identity, community and civic space.
Highlights include the World Premiere of Why I am and why I am not, a two-part work created especially for BAC. In The Balcony, twelve people will make speeches from the building’s exterior, tackling subjects from the personal to the universal. The following day, the same participants will appear in The Rooms, an installation inside BAC, responding to the opposite starting point of their speech.
On 14 March, Quarantine presents the London premiere of 12 Last Songs, an epic 12-hour durational work inviting people from across Wandsworth to work a paid shift on stage, exploring the role of work in our lives. This marks the tenth iteration of the piece and the last chance to see it in London.
Audiences can also experience The people of Lavender Hill, an audio walk using smartphones to hear stories from local businesses, and No Such Thing, Quarantine’s intimate conversation-based work hosted in cafes within a mile of BAC.
Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director and CEO of Battersea Arts Centre, said:
“It feels incredibly special to be co-producing A Public Address with Quarantine as part of Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture year. Our home on Lavender Hill began life as Battersea Town Hall — a place for public debate, protest and civic imagination, with a radical, rebellious streak that’s never really left the building. Quarantine’s work with us taps straight into that spirit, shining a light on the voices and experiences that make up Wandsworth today and inviting us to consider what a Town Hall means now. At its heart, the project is about what connects us, and the power of shared experiences and collective action. We can’t wait to welcome people and see how it unfolds.”
Richard Gregory, Co-Artistic Director of Quarantine, added:
“When Quarantine were invited to make a ‘takeover’ of BAC during Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture, the starting point for us was to think about the building itself – its past as a former Town Hall, the history of its very public address, and the role it might play in the life of the area. We wanted to make a space there for people to assemble and to be seen and heard.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
