Dash Arts Reveals Full Cast for OUR PUBLIC HOUSE at Leeds Playhouse

Full casting has been announced for Dash Arts new play OUR PUBLIC HOUSE, which will open to press at Leeds Playhouse before travelling to Prescot, Coventry, Cornwall, Sheffield and finishing the tour at London's Marylebone Theatre. 

Josephine Burton directs Chaya Gupta (Anika), Gabriella Leon (Mary), Lauren Moakes (Jo), Bharti Patel (Sanjana), Feargus O'Donnell (Scott) and Kit Esuruoso (Tom) in award-winning playwright Barney Norris's funny and big-hearted new play with live music about community, connection and what might change if everyone had their say.

Set in The Albion, a struggling pub at the heart of a town that has turned its back on politics, Our Public House begins when an entire community spoils its ballot papers and refuses to vote. As a storm rages outside, landlady Sanjana brings together a family in mourning, familiar regulars and unexpected visitors for a night of debate, confession and open-mic speeches.

Inspired by the real words of more than 600 people across the UK, the production converts  lived experiences of frustration, hope and disconnection into a moving and uplifting story of a community, ripped apart by politics (and a love affair), finding its voice. With original live music woven through the action, the play is both a celebration of the public house as a shared civic space and a timely exploration of what happens when people feel unheard.

Told through spoken English, British Sign Language (BSL), Sign Supported English (SSE), creative captioning and music, Our Public House brings together a cast of hearing and deaf performers.  At each tour location, a local ensemble of community participants will join the production, ensuring that local voices become part of the story on stage.

At a time when trust in democratic systems is under strain, Our Public House transforms a state of the nation into a warm, funny and deeply human drama.      

Barney Norris's work has received awards from the International Theatre Institute, the Critics' Circle, the Evening Standard, the Society of Authors, and the South Bank Sky Arts Times Breakthrough Awards, among others, and been translated into nine languages. His plays include Visitors, Eventide, Nightfall, The Wellspring, The Band Back Together, and adaptations of Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Second Best by David Foenkinos; his novels include Undercurrent and Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain.

Josephine Burton directs, theatre credits include Offie-nominated The Reckoning (Arcola), Dido's Bar (Royal Dock/Oxford Contemporary Music/Journeys Festival), The Great Middlemarch Mystery (Coventry City of Culture) and Songs for Babyn Yar (Munich Kammerspiele/Theatre Podil/JW3).  She has also served as dramaturg on Lyrical Alliance (Roundhouse) and Renegade Orchestra (British Library). A playwright and Artistic Director of Dash Arts, she co-founded the company to create award-winning cross artform work connecting audiences with global stories and she hosts its podcast OffScript.

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