Our Public House: The Country at a Crossroads

Join us on the road as we travel the length and breadth of England to hear what people want to change. In communities across Cornwall, Yorkshire, Norfolk, the North West, South East and the Midlands, we’re supporting people to write and deliver speeches on what difference they want to see.

Robust public debate and the freedom to make arguments and counterarguments are essential to democracy. Today, however, political dispute is ever more sectarian and angry, fears of misinformation are widespread and political discussion is often confined to groups of the like-minded talking to each other online.

Together with our partners at the Universities of Birmingham and East Anglia, we’ve been exploring this 'crisis of rhetoric' throughout the year with a series of workshops exploring persuasive speaking across diverse communities in England. Our research will eventually lead to Our Public House, a state-of-the-nation theatre production, inspired by the speeches and writing of our national participants, from writer Jude Christian and director Josephine Burton.

Book your tickets for Speak Out! - a series of live events in Manchester (21 & 22 November) and London (23 November), where we’re bringing together participants from our workshops, speechwriters, activists, politicians and academics to explore speech making's ability to provoke, persuade and empower.  

In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:

Participants from Underground Lights, Coventry, St Hilda’s Community Centre, Tower Hamlets, HMP Styal, The Writers' Block, Redruth, Arbourthorne Men’s Social Club, Sheffield, Manchester Deaf Centre and Citizens UK, Brighton. 

Josephine Burton - Artistic Director of Dash Arts

Professor Alan Finlayson - Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East Anglia

Henriette van der Blom - Reader in Ancient History at the University of Birmingham

Cristina Catalina - Senior Producer

Marie Horner - Podcast Producer

Jude Christian - Writer and Director 

Our Public House is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, Three Monkies Trust, and individual giving.

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