You’ve got to look back to truly move forward

Whilst we are only three weeks into 2025, I cannot help but feel we have been barraged with an onslaught of troubling news both nationally and internationally. We all know news cycles are fast, but it is quite overwhelming to see the number of fronts on which the news is platforming stories of past negligence and wrongdoing. It is quite confronting to see the number of ways in which the past is currently being examined or re-examined; we can only hope, in order to prevent the same mistakes from being made again and to ensure a better future.

In just this short space of time, we have had news about the Metropolitan Police investigating its own handling of allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed and the Afghanistan inquiry looking into reported actions of SAS soldiers working in Afghanistan during the height of that conflict. To top it all off, the spotlight has been shone on UK grooming gangs and the fact that not one of the recommendations or reforms suggested following the Jay Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in 2022 have currently been delivered.

This moment feels like we are at the precipice of a pivotal moment of true reflection on our past. But I have got to say it all feels pretty dismal and a very tough set of news stories dominating the news at the beginning of a new year, without even mentioning the wildfires, an obvious consequence of years of climate ignorance in California. Of course, it is right that we relook at these events not only to secure justice, change and future safeguarding but fundamentally to guarantee that things like this will never happen again.

This is something that happens all the time in the world of theatre-making. Examining the past and shining a spotlight on issues of the day is what we do day in and day out. Many creatives are compelled to do this, and in my opinion, it is something we do well and Norwich Theatre remains more committed than ever to this across all three of our stages and beyond.

The arts can be a form of defiance, resistance, or a bridge of reconciliation. They also have the brilliant ability to ask difficult questions and, in doing so, make people feel heard. The stories that are shared allow people to walk in the path of others and imagine, no matter how briefly, what it was like.

Storytelling through theatre reminds us of the times in our history that we would all care to forget. It does so to ensure that past wrongs never repeat themselves and to keep us as a society focused on ensuring we collectively take action for change.?

It does this in a multitude of ways, from the hard-hitting pieces on the topic to softer messaging running throughout a show. You only need to look at our programme at Norwich Theatre to realise how many instances of work that does just this.

In Stage Two, we have Elle Dillon-Reams, who is bringing her impactful show Meat, exploring the effects of patriarchy on women’s bodies and the shame it breeds. Our newly co-commissioned piece of work, Lynn Faces, is all about healing from toxic relationships inflicted by powerful men on less powerful women. At the Playhouse, even Shakespeare’s Macbeth makes a timely reflection of the struggle for power and the marks it can leave when power corrupts. We even have a scientific stage show from geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford about how to argue with a racist, smashing the myths that have plagued society. ?

In particular, the work of choreographer Rhiannon Faith, who is a socially conscious artist whose work is an agent for discourse and change, is bringing her show Lay Down Your Burdens to Norwich Theatre Royal. She invites the audience onto the stage, creating the feeling of being down the local pub to explore the beauty of humanity and the eternal need for community and compassion if we are to shape a better society.

Maybe we can take a lesson from the ever-popular musical Hairspray, which is a massive reminder of how systemically wrong and bad our world used to be in terms of attitudes to race and ethnicity. The line from this show that always sticks with me is “I’m all for integration; it is the new frontier”. It seems almost incomprehensible that a little over 60 years ago, wiping out systemic racism was an active frontier, but it was, and whilst there is still work to be done in this area, massive strides have been made.

I think this line from the show’s heroine, Tracey Turnblad, chimes very loudly right now. With all the horrific news that is filling public consciousness, politicians need to examine our current set of frontiers, as there are clearly many that need to be shifted.