Join acclaimed theatre maker Andy Smith and award-winning applied arts practitioner Lynsey O’Sullivan for an engaging day of play, discussion, and action at Shakespeare North Playhouse on 17th June 2025.
“Plays For The People” represents a unique approach to theatre. These plays aren’t performed by traditional actors; instead, they invite groups of individuals to come together, read, and explore the material collaboratively.
Participants will each receive a book of plays to keep, offering an invaluable resource for future use. With expert guidance from Andy and Lynsey, you’ll gain the skills necessary to lead and perform these works yourself. An exciting aspect of this initiative is that you are welcome to utilise the plays in your own communities, classrooms, or groups—absolutely free of any royalties.
The curated plays are bold and thought-provoking, designed to ignite conversation amongst participants. During the session, you will delve into three short works:
- A Citizens Assembly, which addresses the pressing issue of the climate emergency
- How Can We Be More Anti-Racist?, which confronts structural inequality
- The Actions, which poses challenging questions about political activism and effective change
These pieces can be performed in any space that can be transformed into a theatre setting, even if just temporarily.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought-provoking material and enhance your skills in a welcoming and supportive environment.
Ahead of the event we sat down with Andy Smith and Lynsey O’Sullivan to learn more.
What can you tell me about Plays for the People?
Plays for the people are plays that ask questions of acting in both a theatrical and political sense. They are plays that approach big ideas through collective acts of play. They are not written to be rehearsed and presented, but instead performed by the audience who are there, who at one point get to discuss the themes they are exploring. The plays
How have you curated this event?
We (Andy and Lynsey) have been working together on this project for a few years now. Andy has been writing plays like this since 2017. We now have enough examples to put together a day of plays like this one. We have put the ones we want to do in the order we want to do them in, starting with the most recent work, and finishing with the play that was the first one to be written.
How did you select the plays that will be featured in the day?
We’ve been performing all the plays individually in a lot of different places for a long time now. Their writing and performance have informed each other. We have put these three together in this order in the hope they will speak to each other more and people will be able to see and participate in them, and in doing so understand that they can organise and present performances of the works themselves.
The plays we are doing on the day are all suitable for the type of people that we want to reach. We’d like all sorts of people to come along. Curious audience members, freelance artists, lecturers, teachers, youth and community workers.
How important was it to select plays that reflect how storytelling can make a difference?
All plays should tell a good story, I think. The stories these plays tell are stories about people who are meeting to discuss and think about big and sometimes complex ideas, which is exactly what the audience are doing. By playing other people in a story the hope is that we can think about how we — collectively and individually — can make a difference. Does that make a difference? That’s up to us.
Why have you chosen to give these plays away for free?
The principles that lie behind these plays is that anyone between about 14 and 100 should be able to be in an audience for and participate in them. You don’t need a theatre or any special equipment, just a quiet room that you can turn into one for the duration and enough scripts for everyone. We’ve always said that we wouldlike to reach as many people as possible. We want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, so we are challenging others as well as ourselves to think about where they could take the play. We don’t want to put any restrictions on this so we are giving them away.
Plays for the people are plays that ask questions of acting in both a theatrical and political sense. They are plays that approach big ideas through collective acts of play. They are not written to be rehearsed and presented, but instead performed by the audience who are there, who at one point get to discuss the themes they are exploring. The plays
How have you curated this event?
We (Andy and Lynsey) have been working together on this project for a few years now. Andy has been writing plays like this since 2017. We now have enough examples to put together a day of plays like this one. We have put the ones we want to do in the order we want to do them in, starting with the most recent work, and finishing with the play that was the first one to be written.
How did you select the plays that will be featured in the day?
We’ve been performing all the plays individually in a lot of different places for a long time now. Their writing and performance have informed each other. We have put these three together in this order in the hope they will speak to each other more and people will be able to see and participate in them, and in doing so understand that they can organise and present performances of the works themselves.
The plays we are doing on the day are all suitable for the type of people that we want to reach. We’d like all sorts of people to come along. Curious audience members, freelance artists, lecturers, teachers, youth and community workers.
How important was it to select plays that reflect how storytelling can make a difference?
All plays should tell a good story, I think. The stories these plays tell are stories about people who are meeting to discuss and think about big and sometimes complex ideas, which is exactly what the audience are doing. By playing other people in a story the hope is that we can think about how we — collectively and individually — can make a difference. Does that make a difference? That’s up to us.
Why have you chosen to give these plays away for free?
The principles that lie behind these plays is that anyone between about 14 and 100 should be able to be in an audience for and participate in them. You don’t need a theatre or any special equipment, just a quiet room that you can turn into one for the duration and enough scripts for everyone. We’ve always said that we wouldlike to reach as many people as possible. We want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, so we are challenging others as well as ourselves to think about where they could take the play. We don’t want to put any restrictions on this so we are giving them away.
How important to you both that the arts are accessible to all?
Very important. Art can do many things. Allow us to appreciate beauty. Think about and experience difficulty and challenges. Encourage sympathy and empathy. Consider each other. Think about things together. See things differently. It can bore and frustrate us too! That’s fine. It’s all art, and we should all be able to access it, appreciate it and think about the value it brings us, not just economically and not always in the ways that we think or expect it might.
How much of an impact do you believe an event like this can have on the local community?
We don’t know! Another great thing about art is that it is hard to measure the impact of it, however hard people try. We think and believe it has massive potential. In terms of what impact it might have, we think there is potential for plenty, but that needs to happen through hard and joyful work, both by us and the people who come along.
How do you hope this event will inspire people going forwards?
We hope it will inspire people to put on the plays themselves, or maybe write one of their own, and of course do something about one of the themes that the plays are addressing, however big or small, visible or invisible.
What was the first piece of theatre you saw that had a big impact on you?
Lots of things. I (Andy) grew up in Cumbria, so the work of Welfare State International, a company based there, had a big impact on me when I was small, and I can still see the effect of engaging with it now. In a county without many dedicated theatres the company would bring the work to you – on a bus, to your street. I would also say Jesus Christ Superstar, which I saw when I was about 14 probably. I still think it is a great piece of work, economical and effective in its lyrics and storytelling. Great drama and ethical dilemma. And rocking 70s tunes.
What keeps you inspired?
Lots of things. Doing the work in different and sometimes unexpected places. The attempt of it all. My family. Nice walks. Massive national and global injustice. Other work. All these things keep me going, and help me to keep the courage up. That’s what I hope this work might do, if only a little bit.
When and where can people attend the event?
It’s happening at Shakespeare North Playhouse on Tuesday The 17th of June between 10 and 5pm. Tickets start at 15 but there are also bursary places available. All the details are here: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/plays-for-the-people/
How do you hope this event will inspire people going forwards?
We hope it will inspire people to put on the plays themselves, or maybe write one of their own, and of course do something about one of the themes that the plays are addressing, however big or small, visible or invisible.
What was the first piece of theatre you saw that had a big impact on you?
Lots of things. I (Andy) grew up in Cumbria, so the work of Welfare State International, a company based there, had a big impact on me when I was small, and I can still see the effect of engaging with it now. In a county without many dedicated theatres the company would bring the work to you – on a bus, to your street. I would also say Jesus Christ Superstar, which I saw when I was about 14 probably. I still think it is a great piece of work, economical and effective in its lyrics and storytelling. Great drama and ethical dilemma. And rocking 70s tunes.
What keeps you inspired?
Lots of things. Doing the work in different and sometimes unexpected places. The attempt of it all. My family. Nice walks. Massive national and global injustice. Other work. All these things keep me going, and help me to keep the courage up. That’s what I hope this work might do, if only a little bit.
When and where can people attend the event?
It’s happening at Shakespeare North Playhouse on Tuesday The 17th of June between 10 and 5pm. Tickets start at 15 but there are also bursary places available. All the details are here: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/plays-for-the-people/
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