Glasshouse - Battersea Arts Centre

Kate Tempest, the award-winning, electrifying performance poet, seems to be everywhere at the moment. Her epic storytelling show Brand New Ancients continues to tour the country, she is dipping a few more toes into the world of playwriting, and now she has paired up with Cardboard Citizens for a new piece of politically engaged theatre at Battersea Arts Centre.

Cardboard Citizens use theatre and the performing arts as a way of transforming the lives of homeless and displaced people, producing some beautiful art along the way. Their work is heavily inspired by Augusto Boal and his Theatre of the Oppressed, which uses theatre as a way of dealing with problems and opening up political debate within local communities. Essentially, they use theatre to get people talking and change things for the better.

These aims are right at the heart of Glasshouse, which weaves together three stories about a struggling family in modern Britain, promising to touch on numerous contemporary issues. As well as incorporating Tempest’s gorgeous poetry, the show will be using Boal's Forum Theatre techniques, inviting the audience to get involved in the action and propose alternative outcomes for the scenes that the actors present them with.

Glasshouse is not for those who shy away from audience interaction, but if you’re happy to get up on stage then the show offers a fantastic opportunity to get involved and see the possibilities for positive change. It’s particularly appropriate that this production is taking place at Battersea Arts Centre, an old town hall with a long history of political discussion. This might not be theatre as we’re used to experiencing it, but we can’t wait to get stuck in. And anything involving more of Tempest’s stellar work is fine by us.