WE THE YOUNG STRONG
By Nicola Baldwin
Directed by Cat Robey
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Cast:
Elizabeth Twells, Stephanie Houtman, Zoë Templeman-Young, Dan Parr, Peter Clements
We The Young Strong explores far-right radicalisation. Inspired by archive testimony of young women detained under emergency regulations during the Second World War, it discovers Britain riven by political division, austerity, economic marginalisation, extremist radicalisation, street violence and fake news.
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Flora, Eva, Violet, Charlie and George – unemployed, troubled, kicked out of school. Years of austerity following a banking crash they can barely remember has crushed their hopes. They join a new political movement, which promises to train them, pay them, empower them: the British Union of Fascists. The Blackshirts insist the future belongs to those willing to fight for it. But what if this means fighting each other?
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Performed at Bloomsbury Theatre (main stage) in October 2019, hosted by UCL Urban Laboratory and UCL Culture as part of Bartlett100:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/urban-lab/events/2019/oct/we-young-strong
The performance was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Aditya Chakrabortty, Guardian columnist and senior economics commentator, with Julie Gottlieb, Professor in Modern History at The University of Sheffield whose research includes 20th Century British Political History, women’s history, and British fascism.
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Creative team: Nicola Baldwin, Cat Robey, Gabriel Finn, Abi Bown, Junior XL.
Listen to tracks from Junior XL We The Young Strong score
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Running time 80 minutes without an interval. Trailer video for this performance below.
