Community theatre can sometimes feel like a worthy exercise rather than compelling drama. Yet 1000 (Millennia), the final instalment of the Almeida Theatre’s ambitious Islington Trilogy, succeeds in reminding us why community performance remains one of theatre’s most distinctive forms. Written by Stephanie Bain with the Almeida Community Company and directed by Dani Parr, the production brings together around 80 local performers to tell an epic story of Islington stretching a millennium into the past and a millennium into the future.
The scale is impressive. Structured as a sequence of snapshots rather than a conventional narrative, the first half journeys through Islington’s history, from its origins as a remote Saxon settlement on the edge of the Middlesex forest to its transformation into a bustling urban district. Along the way, monks search for visions, travellers gather at the Angel Inn, Victorian audiences marvel at theatrical illusions, and Londoners shelter in Angel station during the Blitz. The production is less concerned with historical accuracy than with the myths, memories and stories that accumulate in a place over time.
The second half shifts into speculative territory. Here, 1000 (Millennia) imagines a future shaped by technological acceleration, sleepless productivity and ever-expanding human ambition. Islington extends beyond Earth itself as humanity colonises oceans and distant worlds. Meanwhile, figures from the past linger onstage like ghosts, observing what comes next. The effect is playful but also thought-provoking, suggesting that the future is never entirely detached from the histories that produced it.
As drama, the results are mixed. Bain’s script captures a wide range of personal voices and finds plenty of humour in everyday interactions, but the episodic structure means many scenes pass by before they have fully developed. The sheer number of performers inevitably leads to uneven performances, with some participants more confident than others. Yet judging the production by professional standards alone would miss the point.
What makes 1000 (Millennia) memorable is the atmosphere surrounding it. Before the show even begins, the auditorium hums with excitement. Audience members arrive carrying flowers for relatives, neighbours and friends. There is genuine pleasure in watching ordinary people step onto a stage, dance, joke and reveal parts of themselves rarely seen in everyday life. The production repeatedly returns to a simple question: does a place shape its people, or do people shape a place?
If the show occasionally becomes trapped by its own vast concept, sacrificing depth for breadth, it nevertheless achieves something valuable. The final image, with the entire company filling the stage, feels less like the conclusion of a play than a celebration of collective participation. 1000 (Millennia) may not always find the most theatrical way to tell its story, but it offers a powerful reminder that theatre can belong to a community as much as to the professionals who make it.
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