Public Acts builds sustained partnerships with theatres and community organisations across the UK who share our vision of theatre as a force for change.

Since 2017, we have been working in partnership with organisations delivering visionary work in their communities, in Greater London, Hornchurch and Doncaster. Our community members take part in regular workshops, theatre trips and creative social opportunities. Through our partnerships, and in collaboration with theatre artists and professional performers, the community comes together to make ambitious large-scale productions.

To mark the fifth anniversary of Public Acts in 2023, a new journeying production of The Odyssey was told in five episodes by community companies across the country: at Restoke in Stoke-on-Trent, Cast in Doncaster, Trowbridge Town Hall in Trowbridge, Sunderland Culture in partnership with Sunderland Empire Theatre in Sunderland and at the National Theatre in London.

Finding community

At the heart of the project is the simple idea of connection, between people, community organisations, and theatres. Public Acts creates conditions for individuals to overcome isolation and builds community and cohesion among participants from a wide range of backgrounds.

Feeling confidence

Almost all participants in Public Acts reported significantly increased confidence and a sense of achievement as a result of taking part in the programme, with many taking up new creative interests. For many participants this change translated positively into their wider lives, including areas which are directly subject to social spending, from improved physical and mental health to resuming training or finding employment.

Delivering for community partners

Public Acts delivered workshops tailored to meet the social aims of community partners. All community partners increased their high-quality arts and cultural activities as a result of Public Acts, reconsidering the role of creative activity in delivering their core aims and values. The programme developed staff confidence in approaching arts and cultural organisations for future collaboration and increased understanding of the skills and resources needed to undertake successful partnership work.

Catalysing change for theatres

For the two theatres, the opportunity to build a sustained relationship over two years with participants and community organisations led to deep and often lasting partnerships that are shaping new agendas. The involvement required from staff across all departments to support the programme facilitates wider changemaking, from audience diversity to strengthening inclusive theatrical practices.

Enthusiasm for Public Acts was infectious and spread across the theatres to include many staff in different parts of the organisation. Theatre professionals learned about inclusive working practices in workshops and rehearsal, and discovered the limits and potential of their theatre buildings to accommodate such large and inclusive
companies.

Public Acts has informed conversations about inclusivity in theatre and its role in social justice and the health of communities across the nation.

Welcoming new audiences

Although audience research was not the primary focus of the first two years of Public Acts’ research, our findings showed that both productions attracted significant numbers who were new to theatre and new to the National Theatre and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

Their positive experience of both Public Acts productions inspired people to attend more regularly and take part in theatre themselves. Public Acts connected theatres to wider audiences, placing theatre at the heart of local and national communities, paving the way for new forms of audience development that are inclusive, co-creative and socially responsible.

Read the full Public Acts research report

Read the short version of the Public Acts research report