..... Here too a picture of the beautiful  Peyvand Sadeghian,  currently performing in the third play in Clifford Oliver's Blade Trilogy.

A bit about me and about Neville Lawrence, a tiny bit about the murder trial.

Not sure I have ever written about my history for public consumption. and it may be of little interest to anyone - but it was just a bit satisfying to write it. I keep promising to write my account and experience of the recent Stephen Lawrence murder trial that I attended with Neville Lawrence for 16 days, including being there for both the verdict and sentence - promise it will follow soon.


So here is a little bit about my history and what gets me up in the morning. I started off as an actor in 1980, cutting my teeth at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, during the reign of the enigmatic Philip Hedley! But I have always been a fan of Joan Littlewood, and by osmosis have picked up many of her directorial processes.



My other big hero is Peter Brook. I spent my early years touring Eastern Europe, and got to work with Grotowski for a little while at his laboratory in Wroclaw. He of course had a robust dialogue with Peter Brook.



These groundings really formed me both as an actor and latterly as a director. My work became more politically driven in the early nineties, and unconsciously I combined my passion for creating performance, and also developing young actors ( I adore training actors) and learning my craft with them. I also began to see that theatre ( and narrative of course) could potentially be a radical and powerful medium in a learning context.



My political instincts are driven by a sense of outrage at the inequalities faced by young people, in particular those disadvantaged by the accident of birth. This led to making much new work, with my playwright husband Clifford Oliver, that combines an actor-centered way of working, and narratives that speak to young audiences, both literally and metaphorically.



For a long time I have been very interested in the ability to take work to unusual places



(Dont get me wrong - I love a theatre space enormously too) but I guess, there is a curious challenge in being able to take the experience to people in cafes, school halls and even recently onto Waterloo station. I think this is influenced a great deal by Peter Brook's early work in Africa, during which I am sure many of you know, he simply took a carpet to tribal areas and plonked it down and then performed a piece.



I love what I call the Golden Half hour that follows the shared experience of a powerful, emotional, often funny performance of a good play. My work takes advantage of this short time,when audience's defences drop momentarily and they too can be authentic with each other in a conversation that opens the door to genuine empathy and reflection, regardless of age, ethnicity or background.



Currently I have been through an extraordinary human drama. I had the privilege of sitting alongside my very close friend Neville Lawrence at the recent trial for Stephen's murder. I sat in the Old Bailey for 16 days, and it was one of the most compelling experiences of my life. I have worked at Arc with Neville for over 12 years now, indeed he is our Patron. He accompanies my company (when not at home in Jamaica) to all sorts of wild and wonderful places where we plonk down our pieces.



Thanks to his iconic status in changing the complexion of British society with regard to race, and his current influence I am working with him on developing a brand new programme for young people and communities. Its a secret at the moment, but we will launch it at a private performance of our new play Pact - see Youtube mini-doc link if you are interested



Today I felt like sharing a bit about my work and hope it is of interest, and that indeed it can open an ongoing dialogue with people who want to share the making theatre and the social justice bit!



There are lots of performances of our Blade Trilogy by Clifford Oliver on tour to strange venues at the moment, and if you fancy catching one drop me an email at carole@arctheatre.com.



Thanks for reading.
Look forward to hearing from you.