People Show

The People Show is the longest-running experimental theatre company in England, based in the London's East End.

Founded by Jeff Nuttall, John Darling, Laura Gilbert, and Mark Long in 1966, and performing its first show in the basement of Better Books in London's Charing Cross Road, the People Show was London's first performance art company[1] and has played a seminal role in the evolution of British experimental theatre.[2]

Though some People Show performances begin with scripts, these scripts serve mostly as starting points for devised, site-specific theatre by actors, musicians, poets, and artists.[3] In 1969, they staged a performance at London's Royal Court Theatre during which they invited passersby into a telephone booth to look at "dirty postcards", only to present them with "two sugar lumps... coloured with red ink or, alternatively, a bra stuffed with baked beans."[4]

The People Show has also toured internationally. During the early 1970s, they produced four shows at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City. These included shows 39 and 44, both in 1972, and shows 51, 52, and 53, in 1973. Show 44 took place on 18 October 1972.[5] Show 39 took place on 25 October 1972.[6] Show 51 took place on 19 September 1973.[7] Show 52 took place from 19 to 23 September 1973 and Show 52 took place from 26 to 30 September 1973.[8]

From 1982 to 2013, the company was based at People Show Studios, a former church hall in Bethnal Green. People Show continues to tour nationally, having produced 127 productions. The most recent production, "People Show 127: Hands Off", was produced at the Artsadmin space at Toynbee Hall. "Hands Off" introduced a new generation of People Show artists, and explored gaming to question who really controls the outcome. People Show is now based at the Brady Arts Centre in Whitechapel.

People Show had their fiftieth anniversary in 2016, and created a series of works in preparation. They then worked on show 128, produced in a crypt in Paddington, in collaboration with students from the University of Roehampton and the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. They then began creating a short film with longstanding People Show artists.

References
  1. Neil, Cooper (1999-06-06). "People power". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  2. Kershaw, Baz (1992). "The carnival of performance art". The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention. Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 0-415-05763-9. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  3. Calder, John (2004-01-06). "Jeff Nuttall: Artist, poet, actor, and pioneer of the 'happening'". The Independent. Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  4. Kershaw, Baz (2004). "Alternative theatres, 1946-2000". The Cambridge History of British Theatre. Cambridge University Press. p. 361. ISBN 0-521-65132-8. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  5. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Video Work: Documentation of 'The People Show #44' (1973)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
  6. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Video Work: Documentation of 'The People Show #39' (1973)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
  7. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Video Work: Documentation of 'The People Show #51" (1973)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
  8. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Promotional Flyer: 'The People Show' (1973)". Accessed May 14, 2018.
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