PROTEST SONG Comes to the Arcola Theatre Next Month

Inspired by the true story of Jimmy McMahon, the Big Issue seller who became an icon of hope in the Occupy London movement, Protest Song tells the story of rough sleeper, Danny, who in the lead up to Christmas wakes up to find himself surrounded by a canvas city of protesters on his patch. First performed ten years ago, writer Tim Price (Nye, Teh Internet is Serious Business, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning) Protest Song explores hope and the power structures we unwittingly create even among activists.

In an era of austerity, Occupy London set up camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral, bringing food tents and nourishment, and Danny finds himself swept up in the movement. When one day, Danny is handed a microphone and speaks in front of a cheering crowd, for the first time he feels listened to and has purpose. In a matter of time, the protests end, the food tents close and the local homeless community are angry, leaving Danny caught between two worlds: the activists, and his homeless family. A funny and savage solo play which will leave you questioning our society’s norms and how we can change them when – after all – we’re only human.

Playwright Tim Price said, “I wrote this play after spending time at the Occupy protest in 2011 and 2012. I could have written 10 plays from my time there, but this is the story that moved me the most. Homelessness is not a lifestyle choice, but simplifying other people’s problems is.”

Director Sarah Bedi said, “I have wanted to work on Protest Song ever since I first read it. The brutality of our government to its own people has only increased in the eleven years since it was written. How have we ended up here? What comes next? In moving forward we’ve got to look back: to examine where we were a decade ago - the hope, the fight, the explosion of protest - and see how that path is connected to the one we are on now. But more than anything, we must never stop listening to the people who are failed again and again by those in power. If we can do that, then maybe we can figure out where the hell we go next.”

Tim Price is a former journalist and writer. His stage plays include the Olivier Award nominated Salt, Root and Roe, the James Tait Black Award winner The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, and Teh Internet is Serious Business at the Royal Court in 2014. In television, Price has written for popular series such as River City (BBC), Casualty (BBC), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (ITV), and The New Worst Witch (ITV) as well as writing for Jodie Whitaker on the eleventh series of Doctor Who (BBC). Price wrote Protest Song in 2013 and it first opened at The National Theatre's Shed Theatre ten years ago. Premiering in 2024, Price’s latest work Nye starring Michael Sheen will play in The National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre.

David Nellist is an actor know for Netflix hit Bull, the recent UK tour of I, Daniel Blake and appearing in BBC’s Sherlock. Other recent theatre work includes A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare North); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime (Apollo Theatre) and War Horse (National Theatre at New London).

We Light Up the House was formed in 2014 and toured Futebol Dance Theatre, a dance show celebrating pioneering afro-Brazilian footballers across the World Cup Summer. The company then developed Day of the Living a musical satire on Mexico's disappeared which was later produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Palace in 2018. We Light Up the House is currently adapting Oscar Wilde’s story The Canterville Ghost written by Henry Filloux-Bennet for the West End.

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