With Macbeth opening in September at Shakespeare North Playhouse and its critically acclaimed production of I, Daniel Blake soon to resume its UK tour, ETT (English Touring Theatre) today announces dates for the mixed reality installation Museum of Austerity, a co-production with National Theatre Immersive Storytelling Studio, and Trial & Error Studio.
The production will have a week-long run at HOME Manchester from 8 – 11 November 2023, followed by a tour in spring 2024, with dates to be announced.
Winner of Best Immersive Production at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, Museum of Austerity combines the skills of director Sacha Wares with the in-depth knowledge of Disability News Service editor John Pring to tell the human stories of Austerity Britain.
Running alongside the production on tour, there will be a programme of exhibitions and workshops led by Healing Justice London and local partnering organisations.
Director and founder of Trial & Error Studio, Sacha Wares said today, “Our aim is to document the human cost of austerity; to show how it has played out behind closed curtains across the nation. We have looked for a way to capture the hidden violence. Violence that there is little visual record of, but which must somehow be witnessed.”
Founder of Disability News Service and Co-Editor of Museum, John Pring said,“From the start, we knew we needed to find a different, more powerful way to tell these stories, to hear more clearly the voices of those left behind, and bring some of those we have lost back, virtually, so we could hear their stories in a way that was so visceral that it would leave no audience member unaffected. The stories told in Museum of Austerity bring home the awful truth of how so many disabled people were failed by our country’s social security system in their moments of greatest need, and of how politicians, senior civil servants and private sector contractors averted their eyes and let it happen again and again and again.”
Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and CEO, and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer of ETT said, “ETT’s exploration of ground-breaking XR technology has become an important part of our storytelling and we are so proud that this important and extraordinary piece of work will be seen across the country. The dedication and hard work of the artists at the centre of Museum of Austerity, particularly co-creators Sacha Wares and John Pring, has been hugely inspiring and we are so grateful to them and to the families whose stories are told through the piece for their commitment to the project.”
