Workers of the world unite on stage for epic 12-hour performance
The Guardian|October 22, 2021
A caterer, a coffee roaster, an imam and a former drug dealer were among the first to show up at Leeds Playhouse yesterday. Tomorrow they will be joined by fellow workers of the world including a midwife, dog groomer, bricklayer and astrophysicist.
Mark Brown
Workers of the world unite on stage for epic 12-hour performance

The slightly mind-bending gathering was taking place in preparation for a 12-hour arts event that could be described as an epic documentary theatre performance. Or a live exhibition of people.

At the heart of it is work: what people do for a living, whether it is helping to create life or build a wall. “So many people are really unaware of how remarkable the ways they spend their time are,” said Richard Gregory, a co-artistic director of the group behind the event, the Manchester-based theatre Quarantine.

The seeds of the project, named 12 Last Songs, beginning tomorrow at the Leeds Playhouse, were sewn in autumn 2019, Gregory said. “It was peak Donald Trump time when all the messaging was about having very limited views of who society should involve and embrace and invite in.”

This story is from the October 22, 2021 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the October 22, 2021 edition of The Guardian.

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